Just like njee…I have a large collection of Oakleys (Radar EV’s and Jawbreakers) that have been custom made to match. I have a pair of ‘urban camo’ Radar EV’s that I had made by Optiek Van Gorp in Belgium just so that they matched my Northwave shoes and matching gloves.

I also once drove to Belgium for the day to visit a store that sold a t-shirt that matched the brand of bike I rode, just because I couldnt get it in the UK and didnt want to wait for the delivery

I thought I’d give some of the TR ‘prerace’ stuff a go this weekend. I started with Truuli on Saturday afternoon (as close to 24hrs before yesterdays race as I could) and then I did Pahrah yesterday as a warm up.

I think it would work brilliantly if I had the option of pre riding the course on Saturday and not first thing yesterday morning as I thought my thighs were going to explode on the last 2 laps yesterday…too much pre race perhaps?

Still, it felt better than the British Cycling recommended warm up which is based on rpm so is obviously targetted at track cyclists rather than XC racers

We had an excellent weekend finishing 6th in the 12hr Open Male Team against some proper fast boys.

I’m considering an official email suggesting some sort of ‘grand tour mountain stage’ motivation for the climb. Especially at the 22/23hr mark… If they could drum up some volunteers to go up there and make an atmosphere it would be great fun 😀

The jump from Sport to Vets has been massive
Your pretty good though Gaz, but Vets is different company altogether, its a tough Cat.

Well thank you…I dont feel it though. I seem to have got massively better technically but massively worse everywhere else.

Saying that, when you’re up against some of the fastest old blokes in the country and you try and mix it up with them, it generally doesn’t last long.

I thought my season was pretty much the same as last year, but comments at Beastway and gridding at MSG seem to reveal an incremental improvement.

I feel like this…I usually look at where those guys I was racing against last year are finishing and think what and where I could have been this year. They’re finishing on and around podium places and im languishing in the mid 20’s…its like a kick in the baby birds

Kryton57 – as I said in the XC race thread, you looked liked you got a pretty decent start on Sunday. It took me a while to pass you. I even thought about sitting on your wheel for a while because I thought you were going ok.

I’m not having a great season either to be honest. The jump from Sport to Vets has been massive. I’ve gone from finishing around the top 10 to being one of the last to not get lapped at National level. It gets demoralising.

I’m also not training very well and therefore, I struggle after the hour mark at an XC race. My lap time consistency is horrendous. Sundays MSG race saw over 2 mins between my fastest and slowest lap. My last 3 laps of the 7 got about 30secs slower per lap 🙁

I won’t be at Fforest Fields for that reason

**** me. I just found Hadleigh hard today. 25 degrees and 7000ft if climbing in 90 mins, I think my 34 oval didn’t help.

First I was surprised to be gridded then when home realised I’m 27th overall is the reason for that. I made a reasonable start after a few people hit the tape in front of me on a downhill off the line, gazhurst came past from the back and then I was consistently 50m from the HKR chaps so I knew I was ok.

But the hills just sapped my strength big time, and tbh even though I’ve finished +1 and 33rd I wasn’t unhappy to see the end of that. Maybe yesterday’s z2 was too much, who knows but I would have loved to taken a point – double to 2 as it was a Regional champ – from it.

Cest la vie and onward, the next one is flat so should suit me better.

To be fair, you looked like you got a decent start. It took me a while to catch on. I got held up a bit off the line, missed my pedal and then got pushed out really wide on the first corner at the bottom of the grass hill.

I felt pretty good for the first hour but then started to drop off the pace. Not sure if it was the heat, fuelling or general lack of fitness but I towed a guy around for about 4 laps and he attacked me throgh the Olympic feedzone after we went over the tunnel. I had no answer and had to watch him pull about 30 seconds on me by the time we got to Leap Of Faith.

Hey ho…got to take some positives…I completed the 7 laps and rode every A line without one single crash (oops tell a lie, I might have had a little lie down on that little rock garden climb on the last lap when my thighs decided they didnt want to play anymore)

Applied for a job as a prison officer 13 years ago.

It’s $hit, had 11 prisoners go ‘under’ on NPS this afternoon alone.

Hmmm interesting…I’ve done 18yrs now…its more $hit

I’m currently sat in an office, in a fairly secure establishment full of quite a few undesireables.

I can’t take a photo for obvious reasons but be assured the views aren’t anything to talk about.

Oh, and to make it even better, I just waiting for 10 men to arrive and talk about how they commited some pretty serious domestic violence.

I defy anyone to be in a better place right now 😛

Maybe there is a case for trying some of the new HRV (Heart Rate Variable)software like ithlete? The only problem with it is you need a bluetooth HR strap as it won’t work with a Garmin strap.

From what I understand, you take a reading every morning and it reads your heart rate and then some clever software works out how fatigued you are and recommends training or not.

I’ve downloaded the software but dont have a compatible HR strap at the moment so can’t vouch for it but I hear some really good things about it and TrainingPeaks are raving about the new HRV data

Gaz thanks – not sold on the Recon fork on the Area tbh…

Aera Pro comes with Reba fork

Could probably source you a KTM Area or potentially a Myroon for that budget

I ride and race a 27.5 (the same frame as Beth for what its worth). I went from a 26 to a 29 to the 27.5. I chose the 27.5 because I’m pretty short (5’6″ ish) and the 29er I raced (sponsored) was just too big. The smallest frame I could get was a 17″ with a 120mm head tube and so get the front anywhere near low enough meant using a 40 degree negative stem. All that happened then was everytime it went downhill, I went over the bars.

The 27.5 fits me much better but it has its disadvantages in ny eyes…I usually get a cracking start from the gun which I put down to the bike but by the time the race hits anything flat and straight, the 29ers just swamp me. For example, at the first Welsh series race at Llandegla, I got the holeshot into the first corner and led the race to the foot of the big climb, I then got mugged by the 29ers which just seemed the go faster and climb better for less effort on that long straight section.

In my case, I’m not sure exactly how much faster (or if) I’d be on a 29er but it’s done my technical riding the world of good and I certainly feel like I can throw the bike around far better than I ever could on the 29

Doesn’t really seem worthy of a new thread when the relevant audience are likely all on this thread… First Connect IQ app that could actually be interesting, prob gonna give it a go tomorrow – I’m intrigued by what it’s offering. I like the idea of medals whilst I ride!

Nick, how did/do you find this? Any good? Does it work?

The thing about those complaining that the X minutes (I don’t know for sure but I expect the time penalties are being over-estimated) per lap penalty is too much is that of course the technical challenge/bravery is an aspect of MTBing, and really you shouldn’t be able to win (or make up the X minutes) in general on the B lines

I’m not complaining about the time penalties in the sense of actually complaining. I knew I was never going to bother the sharp end of the race so it didn’t really matter whether the B lines cost me 8 minutes or 8 seconds…what I thought was a bit much was just the sheer amount of tech sections. 2, 3 or 4 would have been perfect but 9 was a bit steep.

If you’re losing sleep about it though, just take the B lines – certainly better that than not racing at all. If spectators are getting on them during practice, this does need sorting, but that’s another matter.

Losing sleep over it is purely pschological and pretty irrational. Especially as I rode that particular A line without issue. If we don’t push the boundaries then we’ll never improve however if those boundaries didn’t make us feel somewhat uncomfortable then we wouldn’t be human….and EVERYONE has boundaries.

We had several exposures to that particular feature at it’s slipperiest during the winter series, utterly terrifying watching the tandem go down it on one round

On a tandem??? Shitabrick!!!!!!!!!!!!

For me its compounded by the lack of practise times for saturday racers. I didnt have time to try out all the a/b lines before the race, primarily due to the massive queues of sunday racers looking at things. For example with Kong i decided I wasnt confidnet enough to ride the a-line, but I couldnt even get at the b-line as people were standing on it to watch a-line practise, I managed two half arsed attempts (couldnt even ride the line i wanted due to watchers) at the b-line crashed both times and ended up running it in the race. I think that there should be more practise time on Sat and that the first hour should be reserved for saturday racers if courses are going to get more technical.

I was there last year mate, I feel your pain. I 100% agree that the first practice period on Saturday should be reserved for those racing in the first race. Either that or open the course earlier!!!!!

Forgive the question gazhurst as I don’t know your racing experience, but is that because it was a step above the other races you’ve done, or because it was a step above the other National rounds you’ve done?

I’ve done a bit of racing but on this occasion, I’d say the technicality of the course above most other courses I’ve ridden and the potential of really hurting myself. The one thing that kept going around my head was this image of me bottoming out on Derrifords Drop and smashing my face to bits on my stem.

As it was, I raced most of the A lines (the 2 I didnt do were Cottage Carnage and the switchback one) without a single incident which was a victory for me.

In context, Hadleigh Farm doesn’t bother me in the slightest…far from it, I can’t get enough of the place.

Probably prefect proof that its all psychological

One thing I’ve not seen in the, admittedly limited, races I’ve being doing is a nice nadgery technical climb, seems like often the technical stuff is kept for the descents which is a shame.

Agree with this…if taking the B lines at Newnham lost 8 minutes across the race, could this be made up on the climbs??? Absolutely not in my opinion! 1 or 2 minutes yes, 8 minutes? not a hope in hell

and those outside of racing who just ride casually most of the apprehension and worries about entering racing seem to come from the competition aspect and the ‘other people’ rather than the course itself.

My experience is totally the opposite. At Newnham for example, I was awake for most of Saturday night because I was freaking out about the technicality of the course. I know for a fact that I wasn’t the only one in this boat too….in fact, at least 4 people that I know of decided not to race at all

I raced (vets) at Newnham last week and personally I thought it was a bit too much. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the fact that I had to put myself massively out of my comfort zone to ride the A lines (and I still didnt ride 2 of them) but just the sheer amount of tech sections was a little too much in my opinion. Did we really need 9 technical sections with at least 4 of them losing up to 20 or 30 seconds if you took the B line?

On the flip side, I thought Pembrey had a good balance of tech sections (2 x triple arrows and 2 x double arrows) with the B lines costing a considerable amount of time but certainly not 8 mintes across the race.

That sounds like the opposite of the Vets start which seemed to be mental full gas until peoples legs exploded on the steeper section before the top!

That was exactly what it felt like for me….I led the Vets race around that first left hand bend then thought tactically and tucked in behind one guy at the bottom of the climb. 2 of us became 3, 4 then 5 and I went backwards from there.

My saddle went on the first drop on the 4th lap so I spent the rest of that lap with it pointing literally vertically. I didnt know whether to just can it or nurse it back to the tech zone and fix it

I chose the latter and fixed it in the tech zone with some help from a guy who allowed me to use his tools….I didnt get the chance to thank him so if anyone knows who he is, please say thanks for me. I did manage to hold my tongue at one point when I overheard someone say I should be disqualified for having tech assistance….I ignored it though

Anyway – I managed to finish but I’ll be surprised if I was in the top 20 🙁

Boards bob – 48 on this occasion, usually about 60 in that race. The conditions put a lot off – see Gaz post – I was on the wrong bike for mud clearance reasons. In context I was 13 of 35 at Hadleih the week before on a dry albeit Hilly course which doesn’t suit me – I’m better in the flat

So there you go….forget the MSG race, scrub it off. Its obviously just one of those races. I suspect the conditions played with your head so ignore it and get ready for the next one

Ah, I wondered why you didn’t appear when your name was called!

OOO interesting….do you remember whereabouts I was gridded?

Kryton, as you’re well aware, I’m in a pretty similar position to you.

There are days and even weeks where I wonder if its all really worth it. Sundays MSG race had the potential to be one of those days. I arrived and rode 1 mile of the practice lap at 0930 before turning around, loading the van back up and going to Hadleigh instead

I’m glad I did as I had great fun on the bike and regained some love, enthusiasm and confidence rather than making it all even worse riding a race like that!

Get out on the bike and have some fun…go to a decent trail centre and rediscover why you do it…It never ever fails to work for me!!

i was only joshing, I wondered if you were some kind of modest xc-supremo!
nah, they’re coming up from the south.

Well, there are some KTM guys coming up from t’south but XC-supremos???? Hmmmmmmmmmmm 😆

For those that arent aware, Premier Inn now have it as part of their policy that bikes are welcomed to be stored in rooms when you stay…

I had every intention of going out on the road for an hour or 3 yesterday but I was going to be riding alone and I rapidly started to lose the motivation.

I went and bought a direct drive turbo instead and thougt I’d do Mount Cross for 3 hrs. I didnt get the Misuro sensor though so the turbo wouldnt read the virtual power. Never mind I thought, I’ll do it on HR and feel….after an hour and 20, I was bored shitless and jacked it!!!!

^^^^^^ this….

I kind of knew what I wanted to say but whitestone and thisisnotaspoon have pretty much summed up exactly what I’ve been told by those that know!

I took it all in, absorbed it all then forgot about it haha

I’m sure someone will be along shortly with a full and proper explanation but I seem to remember it being slightly different to calories of food.

It’s to do with energy expenditure rather than burning calories or something like that! I THINK it actually works out as 1kj = 3 calories when it comes to food calories whereas energy is energy!

I could be spouting a load of old bollox though

The Blue is the first part of the Bed if that makes sense…you have to ride the Blue to get to the start of the Red but in all honesty, I can’t think of anything in the Red that would make the bike feel any different than the Blue

If I was in your position, I’d ride the blue…probably looking at 2 laps in an hour so I’d do 1 lap to get used to the bike and how it handles and then look at doing a pretty full on lap…

Do this for both bikes and I’d say you’d have a pretty good comparison

I usually do my own custom workouts on TR but I decided to do Julius Ceaser last night. TSS of 60 odd and an IF of 0.87. I was expecting to feel pretty rough at the end but I was suprisingly chipper…in fact it didnt feel hard at all really.

I suspect I’ve got a fair bit fitter since my last test so I’ve booked in for a VO2/lactate test on Wednesday.

I’m hoping to see at least a 20w increase in FTP

I tend to find that I really struggle to do a ‘proper’ interval type session out on the road so do most of those type of sessions indoors.

I tend to get quite focused on numbers so if for example, I wanted to do 280w for 5mins on the road, I’d have to work mega hard to hit the NP because of the stochastic nature of the ride.

Totally my opinion (and I know nothing really), but I’d say an outdoor session where you’re trying to ‘hit targets’ will be totally different for that exact reason.

I think I’m waffling and not making any sense at all but I know what I mean

Gazhurst- I’ve never heard of them.. I’m not really a fan of the bar mount, it looks cheap and flimsy. Also, the battery life isn’t fantastic. I’ll have a closer look though.

There is a much much sturdier bar mount available and it integrates the battery mount too so all on one clamp.

As for battery life, everyone I know that uses Four4th lights has never had anything less than 1.5hrs on full power.

I had issues syncing my TR road session last night. I just left it as it was only a turbo ride but when I got up this morning it had uploaded.

I noticed Strava had auto updated on my phone too so perhaps that was something to with last nights issues

Juyst throw something else into the mix…have a look at http://www.four4th.co.uk.

I may be a little biased because we’re sponsored by them but the lights are amazing. I’d definitely use them even if we weren’t sponsored.

I just picked up one of the OMG lights…over 4000 lumens on my helmet and coupled with a Holy Moses on the handlebars, it really does make the night time almost as bright as daylight

If you want mental do the MB Race in Combloux. 140km, 7000m+ climbing, insane descents. Easily the hardest race I have ever done and the most ruined I have ever been.

Ooo god no….you’ve seen me ride, I’d kill myself 😆

If you live in the South, there are lots in Belgium which usually work out easier to get to, cheaper, better and a lot bigger in terms of atmosphere/numbers. Roc Ardennes being one (Houffalize) but there are others.

Gee – how tough is the Roc’Ardennes?

Ha, yeah….it started quick and didn’t get any slower at all

Did you go on the Phil P ride on the weekend? Going to try and get out on one of them if it becomes a regular thing. Can’t do this weekend unfortunately.

I did indeed…it was actually organised by a local lad and then all the big hitters turned up. I knew I was in for a tough ride when my NP was only 20w lower than my FTP after an hour and we still had about 2 and a half hours to go haha!

I made the stupid mistake of not taking any food with me too….3 and a half hours at that pace with those guys on a bottle of water didnt really work. I bonked big style on the way home