Cornwall. **** bikes, I’d just surf

Or in south wales, do both!

What about southernXC? Surely that’s your nearest regional series?

I have these: https://www.wiggle.co.uk/gripgrab-racethermo-x-waterproof-winter-mtbcx-shoe-cover

which are the only ones that havent failed quickly (all others failed at zip, as others have said).

They are good but i think they were under £30 when i bought them, not sure I’d pay £50!!

Well done @jonba – suprised at seniors though, for some reason I had you pegged as an old bloke :lol:

Cheers 👍 I was just chuffed with how much she enjoyed it.

Good to see you @shedbrewed – it was a shame those offcambers werent really coming into play they way they did last year but I enjoyed the course, though i blame those logs for the way my legs are feeling today! Unsurprisingly, my current lack of interest in riding a bike outside of occaisional racing, led to me blowing up at the half hour mark but it was fun chasing you while I could. Stuttered in somewhere near the back of the field as i was expecting but like you thouroughly enjoyed. The course map shows lots of corners for next week so hoping to hang on a bit longer in Newport, though I have a feeling it will be even colder next week

Highlight of my day (week actually) was my daughter doing her second ever race and riding really confidently to get on the U6 podium in 3rd – which she hasnt stopped talking about since… and was practising her hairpin turns on the way to school this morning.

So ATB was the better term all along!

Belter of a course at the Welsh League round in Builth Wells yesterday. Not as muddy as I’d have hoped for after the weeks of rain, but probably a blessing with only one bike. Slippery in places and a great lay out with a fair bit of offcamber and some fun hairpins. Much less climbing than is traditional at Builth, made for more of a cx course and evened the balance out between skills and fitness at bit.

Happy with my mid pack result, definitely felt better than last race, and and some fun close racing in parts. Most gratifying part of the day was going round one offcamber corner and hearing someone say ‘that’s the line, he’s nailed that’ as I went past :-)

Cheers all, yes Civil service so I *think* it’s a good defined benefit and I assume won’t go bust!

I find I tend to like medium roast espresso as well. Is it more of a UK thing? Don’t seem to get it abroad in the same way. I like origin coffee for my beans, reasonably priced and tasty

Clearly everyone should be pissing in them to do their bit. Should help with all the sewage in the sea too if we store as much as possible in the reservoirs

That is a ludicrous amount of money! I think people just don’t want venues getting churned up anymore… which kind of defeats the point of ‘cross!

Was meant to be organising our clubs round on Sunday but the council cancelled our booking on Tuesday because of all the rain. Pretty irritated to be honest, a lot of wasted work and the bit we use wasn’t hugely boggy. While it would have undoubtedly got badly cut up, it always recovers.

Busy trying and currently failing to find an alternative venue for a back up date at the moment.

I kind of wonder if the way people got in the habit of using their local parks during the lockdowns (which is obviously a good thing), has made finding CX venues harder.

I used to pretty regularly get top 10 positions in senior cat at a few of the nearby regional leagues; but I used to train to do so.

I barely ride my bike now but still entered a nearby race last weekend, coming in the bottom quarter.

The difference in competitiveness made no difference in enjoyment level. Give it a crack 👍

It’s definitely something I think about. I certainly wouldn’t take a long haul flight for a short holiday, seems totally unnecessary. Likewise I try to cut down on driving.

Carbon offsetting is snake oil

I’m not sure they are that screwed. If a gneral election can’t be forced by spring (I don’t think it can), peopel will start to forget and I imagine the ‘labour would have been just as bad’ narrative will seep to the front and ratings will go the tories way once again.

I also like the vittoria wets. Shed mud well so the relatively low profile isnt an issue. Very reliable.

Yeah good to see you too. Thanks for the offer of help! I think we should be Ok but might need a marshal or two. Got to double check everyone that said they’d help still will … and double check everthing esle for that matter :-)

Shock to the system yesterday. First race of the year and first time riding with any pace in a long time too. It showed 😂 I was wrecked after doing two practice laps!

Last year I had done similar amounts of riding but managed to keep up ok, I guess the residual fitness from my last full cx season in 2019 has now all seeped away!

Interesting to see this from the Western Cyclocross League, thinking about removing the whole league from BC:
All,
Following several conversations with committee members, riders, volunteers and organisers at this Sunday’s WCCL race the committee held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the ‘Shell BC partnership’
There were differing views between committee members, and we obviously all respect the many views of all league members. After careful consideration, a tactical way forward was agreed.
For the remainder of the 2022-23 season we will continue, as planned, with our schedule and run events under the BC system.
A review of the options for race organisers and the league as whole will take place early next year (after the end of the season) to explore the viability of alternatives.

WCCL committee

If Boris got in he’s probably make Nadine Chancellor as reward 😳

Various Twitter journos saying he is not going to go quietly so hopefully highlighting it was Truss’s vision in the resignation is just the start

I wonder if any tories are thinking that the country is in such a mess that it might be worth holding a GE now, then blaming labour for the pain over the next couple of years and winning the next, rather than holding on while things get worse and worse, and then to be out of power for a couple of cycles

@IdleJon

. If you’re at Pembrey on Sunday, see you there!

It’s next Sunday not this Sunday! But yes I will be there, I still haven’t cleaned my cx bike since the Welsh champs at Pembrey last year 😂

Their climate policy is unlawful, so presumably a u-turn on that too

NEW: Government accepts its flagship climate strategy is unlawful

That petition to hold a GE is being debated on Monday – I’m sure the answer will be f-off but I hope Labour and others can use it to stick the boot in

There aren’t actually many dedicated CX bikes being made these days, because of the gravel boom

Which is very annoying, even though I don’t actually want a new cx bike at the moment. My more modern, but properly cx, cx bike, is definitely slower round corners than my cheap old ridley with trad cx geo, so I really wouldn’t fancy a gravel/cx bike as a race bike

I’m sure there will be a bank holiday on the Monday, how on earth can true patriots celebrate appropriately with fighting and alcohol poisoning if they don’t have an extra day to recover?

Plus the news said the politicians favour an extra bank hol according to the news… I guess it might distract from the piss poor performance of the govt for a morning

Seems like the WA group approach, when it gets as large and organised as above, is asking for trouble if there was an issue!

Which do you mean by the boat people, numenor & elendil is the start of Gondor if I remember LOTR correctly.

I’ve more or less enjoyed this, but with one episode left I feel we are going to be left wanting a fair bit of info.

I quite like the Harfoot stuff – gives a bit of balance to the program.

Anyone else on groundhog day, I used to open the Johnson thread hoping to hear he had gone, doing the same on this thread now.

With Johnson I had the hope things might get better though. I’m totally despondant now. I can’t see a general election being likely, nor can I see it being a quick and easy process if the tories do decide to replace Truss. Moreover, I can’t see anyone better than Truss taking up the mantle. The country is desperate for leadership and we are in complete paralysis.

Yes, as per the bike cost thread, GCN subscription and Trainerraod subscription gone. Also Babbel language learning thing, which to be honest I’d have sacked off anyway as not going abroad for a while.

I’ve cancelled my subs to trainerroad and to GCN (bit gutted I can’t watch the cx but needs must).

My mtb is out of action, needs extensive maintenance, leaking brakes etc., and I’m not rushing to get it fixed due to money… but then I’m mostly riding my cx bike which is in working order anyway. I’d probably normally have spent more maintaining the cx bike in the past too, but that was probably over maintaining due to my racing vice :-)

I haven’t ridden my bike in months apart from popping down to Singleton a couple of times to plot the course there. I’m most worried about getting carried away and then blowing up spectacularly after 2 laps 😂😂

Looked like a cracking course, bit gutted to have missed it. I need to find a way to get fit before rnd 3 (also missing Foxley) – think I’ll end up pottering round at the back!

Surely half the fun of CX is trying to change tubeless tyres in the rain with 40 minutes to go before your race??

I have also been impressed with the terreno range. The dry does surprisingling well in wet grass and light mud and the wet seems pretty fast for the amount of grip. I sometimes feel the mix is a bit tracky but that is probably in my head (or my dodgy headset)

I have not been there in years, but for a longer ride I used to like doing BlueScar-Y Wall – Penhydd. There is/was a little mini loop at the top of YWall that runs by the skills park and I remmber being worth doing

I also like the whites climb, but I used to find bits of blade a bit much on an xc hardtail, doable but not super fun

Lydford gorge is cool, like jurrassic park.. not sure if its dog friendly as some walk ways from memory, but a lot of the walk would be (also NT I think)

A_A – as someone said above, MVDP has a back issue that last year or the year before people were saying would end his career, before that he was head and shoulders above everyone in cx, no bad days.

I am mildly surprised at how well WVA has done, but having watched him dominate cyclocross along with MVDP for the last however many years, I can happily believe it’s good training not a more old-fashioned preparation.

The number on times that Pogadcar and Vinnegard (sp??) have been called unreal or unbelievable in the commentary over the past couple of weeks is more of a red flag to me