Great work to everyone who got out there and raced.

I had a cracking at the southern xc. Should I have raced? Probably not with my current asthma challenges. But I hoped to enjoy the riding and weather. I managed a front row grid which was nice and saved my race tbh, I couldn’t maintain the pace through the start field and slid back to 10th ish and spent the next 1-2 laps trying to recover. In the end I pulled myself back to a sprint finish for 6th, which I won. No part of me is disappointed, I absolutely tore my legs off today and feel battered from it. I’m really hoping for some good health and training now. The course was typical Checkendon, tight corners, hard to pass and soo dam slippy!

Newmen
https://www.newmen-components.de/Konfigurator?&StuffId=236efeb2-bd13-4285-baa0-a9eea412f8fb

I got my little girl a Cannondale Quick 24:
https://www.cannondale.com/en-gb/bikes/kids/7-to-12/kids-quick-7-to-12/kids-quick-24

She loves it, its light, doesn’t have massively wide (heavy) tyres. Quality seems good, the only thing I grumble about is setting up v brakes.

Previously we brought Pinnacle (Evans own brand) which also were great quality, seemed equal to Frog, etc, but at a very good price point. Evans also had the advantage that you could pay with Tesco club card points (might be relevant to you)

I wonder what the sales figures look like this month….

@clubby Nope, steering does not work either. I will grab a ew receiver and test. Thanks!

Hi, Hopefully some one on this group can provide a little help?

I brought a Team Associated SC10 a couple years ago. All has been good until recently when its failed to respond to the transmitter. I have replaced the battery and repaired the transmitter/receiver (no issues reported here). But as soon I try and operate the car the ESC beeps and red light starts flashing and the car is unresponsive. I assume this is down to either the receiver or ESC failing. Any ideas which I should buy first or if I am completely off track?

Thanks

Ernie

oh that wheel change…I’ve got a feeling that will not be repeated!

Some great close racing in both elite Men and Women races. And seeing the best in the world make mistakes is reassuring e.g. Pidders. I wondered what happened to Mathias Fluckiger, just found a clip which somewhat explains it: he came un clipped down the Cannondale drops and looks to have managed to keep it vaguely under control until the bottom where I assumed he tossed his cookies! Mental.

I’m out. Now on a second round of antibiotics and steroids so a ride is probably not the best idea. Desperately trying to get fit for the next race

Where to meet? As an option; I drive a bright green mazda 2 – it could act as a gathering beacon for STWorlders? Or we could loiter at the red/blue trail head?

Aim to meet at 0830?

@kryton57, I get you. Been there, done that, tried to ‘just carry on’ and almost put myself in an early grave. Every week a race takes place I look at the results, see who is racing and winning and wonder how the f@#k do they manage all it takes to race with family life? Back in 2011-2013 was the end of my elite racing days, my two children arrived, I finally started to have a career; I could no longer do what I wanted to do (or what I used to do). Believe me i tried and it ended up with me on anti-depressants, sleeping in a separate bedroom, pulling out of every race I entered in fury at myself…generally in a very bad place. The pivotal moment came when I stopped focusing on trying to beat everyone I used to beat and turned to a new page. I spent a fair bit of time just riding with no power meter and no structure. After a bit of personal reflection a few key points dawned on me a) I like training and wanted to continue training, but self-guided, b) I didn’t need a goal/key race, and c) training was commuting on the bike (lucky me). With the exception of c), I am where I am now. Looking at my results they are spiky, but this is something I have accepted as my family comes first. With a new job I squeeze in 45-60min training on the turbo in the evenings (pre work training is not possible because of family) and a couple of 2hr rides at the weekend.

The above may not be useful, but I certainly feel like your feelings towards racing after Sunday were a similar position to where I was at crisis point. The above is my story (abbreviated). From what you have written, you’ve lost all sense of fun and enjoyment from riding. The only advice I will give now is stop. Take some time off the bike and get back on the bike when you want to, Sunday 30th sounds good; lets ride bikes, eat cake and talk shit then?

Yes, very up for it. I would ideally like to aim for first lap 80% effort, coffee stop and then two 20min race pace with 5min easy pedalling between. Having some to chase/chasing would be great. Sunday 30th at 0800 (ish)? i.e. get there early before the car park fills and enduro boyz fill the trails.

Hahha. I knew it was Holywell. Anyone got advice on the course? I’ve never been there.
Also git covid right now. I really hope I’m over it for next weekend

Ref work: depends what you do. I am office based so no problem working with a strapped finger.

Ref follow up: definitely. The hospital discharged me with no follow up after I ‘missed’ the follow up. My finger healed poorly which still causes pain. A follow up may not have prevented this, but then it might have.

I’m planning on racing the Farnham national (first national I have raced in maybe 6 years). Dont be stressed about the competition. I think the southern xc races get a really competitive turnout and should give you an idea of how fast the ex pro’s will go. Most importantly, enjoy it and hopefully see you there.

Racing Brighton Big Dog a few years back. I had attached over the top of a climb and into the single track and suddenly found myself in the dirt, I quickly jumped up to get back on the bike and fell right back down after my right leg just have way. That’s when the pain hit me. I dragged myself of the course and withered in pain for about 30min until I conceded defeat and allowed another rider to get a Marshall. The medics followed, looked at my leg and said ‘I think you’ve broken your femar’. They cut my shorts to my groin to get a splint on, I refused to let them cut of sidis off. Splint went on, IV in and carted down to the arena when paramedic arrived and gave me morphine and agreed my femar was bust. High as a kite I then called and told my wife the news. Ambulance arrived, agreed with paramedics diagnosis and off to A&E. Triage nurse looked at my leg, agreed broken femar and said get ready for overnight stay and surgery in the morning. Doctor arrived, agreed with broken femar diagnosis and off I went to x-ray. Five x rays later and a confused call with the doctor, they could find no break. Doctor scratched her head and concluded I had a massive dead leg. I still feel robbed of an injury after all the drama and still have to defend myself cause it really really hurt.
Needless to say my buddies were very supportive and didn’t take the piss. Much.

APM are the default organisation (love them or hate them). Of the courses they run, I would aim for anyone to go straight to the APM PMQ. This can be completed as either a 5 day course or over single days over several weeks with exam at the end. It teaches the generic APM project management process that can more or less be picked up and transplanted into (most) organisations, irrelevant of size.

From Reading your needs, my experience would direct you to this course.

Providers- a list is provided on the AMP site.

Oi! I live in Tadley, actually the border between Tadley and Pamber Heath which is nice. I concede Taldey has a rep for being a bit rough.

Riding Road and mtb (I include gravel as mtb riding)- it’s good. Since living in the Reading area I always rode west in the downs North of Newbury, great road riding and quiet roads. Pangbourne I always found far to busy. On the mtb there is plenty, but nothing too technical. But you are close to the M4 for Wales. Locations: look at areas between Reading and Basingstoke (2 trains/hour to Reading or Basingstoke with usual fast train links). I think Newbury is nice with good Road and train links.

I don’t have much experience around Godalming. But when I worked the area in ~2007 it was busy. Rush hour was mental! And also very expensive. It does have the tremendous advantage of being close to the south downs

First round of the southern xc report:
I’ve mixed feelings with Matterly. If you are on a bad day you get found out quickly. On Saturday I was nervous, having not raced for a year and some back issues last year meant poor training and I felt a little uncertain on my form. Coupled with my lack of self confidence and medium/high aspirations, race day could go badly.

Race day: practice lap done and I enjoyed a) the single track, b) the climbs (right gradient for me). I hated a) the sticky mud. Still, everyone was in the same boat.

I lined up at the back of the grid and went with the tactic of holding position across the grass start and then try and make time on the gravel climb (as people blew up). This kinda worked and I think I entered the first singletrack in the teens, certainly better than the 40s. I picked off a few more places through the single track (go seated sprint training) and continued to pick people off in the open climbs. After two laps I was into 4th. The top 3 were someway off and I couldn’t quite spot them ahead of me so rode my race, encouraged whenever i spotted either a expert cat rider ahead of me or someone I thought could be the 3rd place vet (I still couldn’t get close to him). The last lap was quite grim, a bit of rain made the course a little slippy and the legs were screaming whenever they track went up. I held on and crossed the line in 4th about 2min down.

All targets were met. Hopefully at the next race a better gridding will help me stay in contact with the fast guys.

Hope everyone enjoyed the day. The southerns are superbly organised and course seem fun so far

Another Garmin 5s vote here. I was quite cynical of the product until my wife brought me one (had to for Vitality Health Insurance).

Pro’s
Reasonable battery life
Pairs to phone and After Shocx very easily
Pairs with other blue tooth products (power meter etc) when needed
Map is actually easy to follow based on the screen size
Great to tailor front screen to show what you want/need
Easy to navigate around the watch menu, far easier than the Suunto

Cons
Pretty expensive- there are deals so shop around. Mine came through SportsPursuit
Initial set up was fiddly
Garmin app is still feels irritating to use

What would my wife do if she spotted last.gmbh on the credit card statement?

Not just Americans

Not just any business that’s owned by shareholders.

I work for Network Rail. The Route just released a new flexible working policy that supersedes the Agile Policy. Now states everyone back in the office 3 days/week or min. 2 days/week. No consultation. Not many are happy as lives have been built around a model NR were happy to use for the last 4 years. But this new Policy also coincides with another massive round of cuts (starting with round 2 of voluntary redundancies) and leading to compulsory. Co-incidence or another tool in the box to trigger people to leave voluntarily and avoid VR/Compulsory pay outs?

When I say work for Network Rail, Monday is my last day.

Back in 1999 (I think) I worked at Middleburn. The company was approached by a frame builder who had built a high pivot full sus frame with idler. At the time there was very little about that used this design (this was pre BMW); I don’t recall anything tbh. His prototype was rough but worked. At the time of riding I was blown away, it pedalled so well compared to other bikes I had ridden and with over 100mm travel. M’burn eventually had a mock up made for one of the bike shows (mock up made by Engima), it gained a fair bit of media but unfortunately never went anywhere. These designs have been around for a while, just for some reason never quite gained the market foot hold until now.
I will continue trying to find pictures….

What do you mean: “acoustic Saracen Ariel 60 Pro”. Is it noisy in some what? Does it sing a song when the trail is sweet?

Thunderburts for Matterly!

Go as Arthur Dent. Easy costume that leaves you ready for bed when you get home

<And the undeniable evidence of not staying on my bike for the whole race>

I thought was roost from you carving all the turns

Serious race face there bigdaddy.

In an attempt to start racing again I have now entered the Southern XC Round 1. This is followed by Battle on the Beach. Beyond that nothing is in the plan though I have aspirations of all the Southerns and some of the Nationals.

I’ve actually started to train again properly, following my old plans and adjusting to fit around family life. My back is fixed, my neck is fixed, my asthmas is under control, fingers crossed…..

It’s gotta be

Memories of endless summers. Shredding the quantocks with buddies, driving to races with ,in tapes,

After 9 years with Network Rail I’m working my last 4 weeks. I’m sad to leave but cannot reconcile with the direction being taken within the Western routes capital delivery (projects). On a brighter note, I’m really excited with the new role and it’s 11min walk from my front door!

No gardening leave, no reduced notice period which is a shame.

You’re mad or a genius!  Watching with I interest😃

A second for the (semi) Pro Trainer Table.  Got one for Xmas and it is worth it, very little chance of computer/tablet/beer crashing to the floor during those sprint efforts.

My fan certainly needs an upgrade, although just opening the garage door right now gives me all the cooling I need.

My brother and his family is coming over from Australia for the first time in about 10yrs. My mum has booked a cottage in Cornwall for 7 days. There will be 6 adults, 4 kids. One dog. House sleeps 8. My wife pointed out my autistic daughter doesn’t cope well with people she doesn’t know and new places. My mum dismissed it, blamed my wife for causing trouble. Wife isn’t happy. I already feel like it’s going to be a shitfest

What about xc?
Gwendolyn Gibson to Trek
Martin Vidaurre & Victor Koretzky to Specialised
Filippo Colombo to Scott
Lars Forster to Thomas
Annie Last to Lapierre Mavic Unity (rumour)
Maxime Marotte to Rockrider
Ondrej Cink to PMG Racing team.
Jordan Sarrou to ??? (back to BMC maybe)

Arrive min 30min from the sailing time. If you get there earlier there might be chance of getting on an earlier ferry.

My with is a first generation caulk head and her parents still live in Seaview. If taking the car we normally use Ref Funnel from Southampton – Cowes (come in slightly cheaper than Whitelink). If you’re flexible on travel time you can get far better rates travelling early morning.

Where to stay? We always stay in Seaview. Its a lovely village now heavily populated with second homers from the Smoke. Beach is awesom and used to be quiet until the Telegragh advertised it as ‘best beach…’. From Seaview there are a couple of very nice pubs: Old Fort – very popular with Londoners and you will pay London prices) and Seaview Hotel (very good food and cheaper than the Old Fort). From there you can enjoy a lovely walk east towards Ryde with cafe/pub stops enroute.

Alternatively I would head to the south as mentioned above, Ventor is nice and having driven to and from the village you will understand why the IOW Tour of Britain stage would have been carnage! Beach is good, some nice pubs.

I find the IOW a mixed bag; typical of an aging Victorian seaside resort. Attractions I’ve enjoyed: Osbourne House and Carisbrooke Castle (Natural England) – some good events on at the Castle e.g. jousting. Steam railway (runs from Havenstreet. The Needles (National Trust) and old Battery. Shanklin Chine. Amazon World. Wildheart Animal Sanctuary (lots of rescue big cats). Tennyson Down to stretch the legs. Monkey Haven.

IOW is very good for walking trails, all very well sign posted and varied. Cycling in general is very good though not much is flat. MTBing is best on west wight.

Interesting one this.
Illegal campers who a site in a mess will continue as they have no respect for clamping in a national park.
My question: how will this ruling impact the ten tors competition which relies on wild camping? This may or may not be of consequence depending on where the land is. My assumption is the land owner will grant permission or not. Or with suitable compensation

Yeehaaa. Woken up at 0545 with Prodigy Outer Space. No need for coffee this morning1😀

We have private health care via Axa. All through my wifes organisation, we agreed to pay extra to cover me and children. The scheme has now been extended to cover SEN diagnosis e.g. ADHD, AS. The scheme has been extensively used by myself with no problems and I would recommend it.

Use to date:
3 x steroid injections to neck for herniated disc
2 x MRI (neck and lower back)
1 x surgery for neck
12 x physio (and counting) for neck and now back treatment.

My wife has ongoing physio as well.

I have no idea how much it costs my wifes employer, but for us its been a massive benefit.