XC Racers , dalby advice req,d.

Hi , Ive never done any XC or race style riding before , but would like to set myself time round dalby red ( aprox 23 mile ) and chip away at it over the summer.
I regularly ride the NY moors and trail parks – I get out on average 3 times a week , and do around 20 miles each ride –
Ive done Dalby quite a few times and know it quite well , As I said I havent got a clue about racing but just wondered what advice you speedy lads out there can give me –

PACE , Do you try and maintain an average , right round or just go for it when you can?
SUSTENANCE , what fuel do you reccomend, pasta & energy bars ?
TRAINING , What muscle groups & exercises should I be doin at the gym ?
BIKE, I have a decent specialized full susser or can borrow a cove stiffee – the susser is nice to your backside – but is it just unnesesary weight to drag round on a timed lap. or are sussers faster over the rough coz they soak up the bumps?.
CONDITIONS , I am planning doing it soon, because the recent dry weather conditions round dalby is very dry – so what tyre for its dry sandy trails.

In fact any advice would be gratefully received.

Hi

Pace – attack where you can, recover where you can. Hills are good for attacking and making up time.

Food – when racing, just gels and energy drink. I don’t use bars or energy drinks when training for 2 reasons – health mainly but also expense. Water and Cake is much nicer and doesn’t stain my insides.

Bike – personal preference. I’m a hardtail man myself. Try both and see what goes more quickly?

Training – buy some cheap dumbbells and Davina – Super Body Workout DVD. Do ‘Super Legs’ – It’s brilliant. I challenge you to do it more than twice a week if you use heavy enough weights.

Tyres – Racing Ralph snakeskin 2.25 for Dalby in the dry are good and last a lot longer than the non-snakeskin versions.

GB

cheers gee , I think the ex has that DVD lol.
Am hoping for a sub 2hr 30 minutes ? – by the end of the summer.
What do the top racers get round in ?.

I reckon the elite will do the red route in around 90 min or less .
Just aim for getting faster yourself.
I was there yesterday and its really dry, too dry to be fast I reckon.

Did a lap of the red yesterday too on my Anthem. It is super dry and very sandy right now but I still managed a PB time – mainly by hitting the uphill bits harder than usual as mentioned above. Much prefer it like to this to the mid-winter quagmire 🙂

For tyres I leave 2.0 mud-x bonty’s on all year (ran tubeless) as I find they work well in the dry too, though the rocky bits at Dalby do chew them up a bit.

i race a bit, can do o.k. in vet (over 40) xc races. timed dalby red twice this year. 2 hours 19 seconds was the fastest attempt. i think i can knock abit off that but not a massive chunk. i can count on losing 10 minutes per hour to good quality racers.
that was hard sustained effort, not quite time trial/race pace. on a 29er hardtail. i was slower on a 29er full sus, but it had much slower tyres.

My best is 1.54 that was when i was 14st 2 years ago just under 12st now so need to back back up there & see what time i can do.

cheers lads – will post my time once Ive set it, and chip away over the comming months – Keavo you GOT to go for a sub 2 hrs, if your that close, that would drive me mad . I can see this becomming an obsession and me shaving me legs before long.

I’ve done in 2:03 on a single speed 29er (32:20 gearing)

2:08 yesterday, not racing but also not hanging about much, so I have more questions than answers…

Bike: I was on my bog standard ill-maintained 456, and I did find myself wondering if a full sus would be faster (not that I’ve ever ridden one, but they look good). Dalby always feels very stuttery and rattly at my pace, it feels like all those sharp rocks kind of convert your momentum upwards and slow things down lots. I can imagine a double boinger (or being faster, or being lighter, or having big wheels) would get around this, or am I being daft?

Conditions are really fast at the moment, a bit sketchy and dusty on the faster downhill corners, but good fun.

On a similar subject, I saw a tempting flyer yesterday:

On One Hundred[/url]

If you lot all enter, it looks like I’ll be last.

Full sus 100mm 29er would be fastest for Dalby, towards the end it’s not smooth at all

i was thinking of doing it every 1-2 months just to monitor fitness and try some different bike/tyre set ups. however, i have a loop closer to home i prefer (great ayton/guisborough area). when i was just outside 2 hours i had to get off and find my through a fallen tree….so as good as sub 2hours:-) took 2 hours 15 on the full sus 29er but i wasn’t in great condition and it had slowish tyres on. next go i think i’ll try the full sus again with race wheels and tyres. its a far more enjoyable experience on that bike. i find it is quite bumpy though not technically difficult.

did – pinchinthorpe visitors centre to standing on high cliff in 29 and a half minutes last week , collapsed ,vommited , freewheeled back down , went straight home and didnt move for the rest of the night – but I got under 30 mins so yaay !

“Hi carb” meal, would pasta and brown bread be about right ? can anyone sugest a hi carb meal ? and do you have that the night before or the morning of the ride ?

Porridge a couple of hours before you ride is a good option in my experience. Lots of slow-release carbs.

visitor centre to the gate below highcliffe, straight up the main fireroad climb takes me a bit over 20 minutes. i don’t pay any special attention to food/drink on shortish and not actual race efforts. however, don’t do it with tired legs.

‘twed’ enter the dalby dare, sat 21st may. you’ll get a time round the world cup xc course (and free entry to spectate at the races) to compare against the worlds best. its aimed at all levels, not just racers.