Apparently entry opens on 14 December.

If you race on the road you will need a license. Most mtb races don't require a BC license – the exception to this is the BMBS where you would require a race license to enter.

I would use the mud shark in extremely muddy conditions. They cut through the mud like nothing else and give massive amounts of frame clearance. BUT the 1.5" ones and are sketchy as hell on roots and in corners. I used them at SiTS this year for the first few laps before switching to Nobby Nic 1.8s and the finally RR as the course became dry. I have also run a 1.8 NN on the front and a 1.5 BS on the back with good results.

They're certainly not an everyday tyre. I used mine once last year.

@thisisnotaspoon – new ones. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if it had been the old noodle SIDs but I thought the new ones were much stronger. Pisgah NC terrain is pretty brutal though.

@robinbetts – Its better than staying indoors but I doubt you'll find it particularly challenging.

Anecdotally, when I did it last year some guy fell off in front of me (front wheel slid in the mud) and ripped open his knee on his stem bolts. He went pale and shakey, so I decided to wait with him. Getting any sort of medical support was a nightmare and in the end I had to coax/help him down to the mainroad where he got picked up by a car and taken to hospital. Other than that it was OK. I wont be going back this year though.

Not me personally, but in the Pisgah 4 day stage race in October, I saw a broken fork bridge on a Rockshox SID Race fork. I know a lot of people who ride this fork (or the Team/WC) including me and it was the first time I had seen this.

Wasn't that funny for the guy who owned the bike. He had to walk about 20 miles of the course…and we still had two days of racing to go!

I rode it last year on a singlespeed. It was pretty muddy but OK. I don't remember there being anything particularly exciting (or difficult) about it but it made for a pleasant Sunday.

Word of advice – last year 'on the day' entries were ridiculous. It took us over an hour to pay and collect our number. One person doing the entries. Hopefully they will have sorted it this year but just in case get there early.

I bought a pair back from the US when I was there in October – there wasn't a distributor in the UK at the time. They are very popular with lots of racers out there.

I bought the chunky grips to use with X0 gripshift and it is by far the best grip I have used. One grip was enough for both sides and it butts up nicely against the shifter. Applied with Windolene and despite a horrendously wet race stayed solidly in place. I'll be replacing my ODI lock-ons on my FS with a white set asap.

It is Pronghorn. They're Danish. They actually ride very well.

Its not worth it at the 12/24 hour races. You do enough laps as it is and there is rarely anything technical. I never pre-ride those course and I've done OK this year with this approach.

For short course races it's worth the effort but on the day, not weeks in advance.

Having set up a couple of courses, we always make changes to the circuit the day before anyway. You always see bits and go "we should put that in" or "that's not going to hold up" so riding it weeks before probably wont give you any advantage anyway.

You're doing yourself a disservice James, you were a couple of steps higher on the podium than me

Who's counting the steps? 🙂

West Drayton are a big club, I've been a member for about 9 years, and I know about 10% of people now!

135 members as things stand. But Nick is right its a friendly bunch with everything from National Champs through to those who like to be in the pub more than on the bike. We had 55 riders at Bontrager 24:12 this year. A veritable sea of black and yellow. A good few podiums too hey Nick? 😉

We will be resurrecting the monthly Beyond North Downs shop ride in November (exact date TBC) but there is always a Saturday or/and Sunday ride somewhere or other. 15 riders just returned from a club weekend in Afan. You can't beat £40 for accomodation and food for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Why not come down and ride the Borden Enduro as a forum ride. There are categories for all types of rider – fun, beginner, 2hrs, 4hrs pairs, even a frankenbike category 🙂

We're going down this weekend to do a little trail work and video the course but I can guarantee it'll be fast twisty fun singletrack with a few fireroads thrown in to help eating and drinking.

IMO Borden is much more fun that Swinley and only just down the road.

Nick, you'll be good. Rachel is riding strongly atm. Hopefully there will be a team or two to battle against. Its a bit of shame you don't know who has signed up though. I wonder why Jon never posts up the entry list.

Mens Pairs for me this time. Good training for Pisgah in October.

@woodsman – that's what Vimeo Help seemed to suggest 🙂

Hmm. I don't know. I uploaded it as a quicktime file which may be the problem. Anyone know what to do?

Its been a couple of weeks since the Big Dog and I've only just got round to editing my video. Still, it was one of the best events of the year IMO and I make no apologies for posting the video late. If you weren't there (or even if you were) take a look 🙂

Used them at SITS the other week. Come up quite small so are good for clearance but can be a bit sketchy on roots. I would say they are perhaps a bit narrow for all round usage. The 2.1 isn't exactly fat so I would consider that if thick mud wasn't all you were riding.

Anecdotally, I found the combination of a 1.5 Mud Shark on the rear and a 1.8 NN on the front to be an excellent combination in stick mud situations.

Dobo – lets hope so. The ground is quick draining and should hold up well to a bit of rain should we be unlucky. Also the car park and other facilities are on hard standing ground so are completely weatherproof. More info should be out in the next few days. We're just waiting on some of the current events to pass before announcing more details.

What about the Pronghorn Bordon Enduro on Sunday 1 November. 4hr (solo and pairs) and 2hr solo. Uses the course we put together for the first round of the Southern XC. Twisty fast single track with some power climbs. We'll have to throw in a small amount of fireroad to give riders a chance to take on some fuel and to get it to around 8 miles. Details on XCracer.com if you are interested. Oh and Pronghorn will be supplying prizes for the quick and the brave 😉

Thanks for all the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the event. What weather huh?

I completed the 121km in just under 6hrs, so it was a fair bit quicker than I had expected. The pace was pretty blistering from the start and when I got to around 100km I started to really suffer.

Good work Tim. Especially considering our official photographer had car troubles and couldn’t make it!

Very nice photos Tim.

Just bought some in red. Haven’t had a chance to fit it yet but it is rubberised and feels very grippy.

Cool. If I see you I’ll say hi.

As I mentioned, we don’t want to turn anyone away so I am sure if you get there a bit later you’ll be OK. If you are doing one of the shorter routes its not so important to leave at 9am either.

Did I mention there is free energy drinks and energy bars!

Its going to be a blinder 🙂

Some feedback on the course:

“Bone dry today whilst marking out ,its going to be fast, and bumpy in some places but with the Bluebells out very pretty, having gone round a lot of the route over the last week I know why people rate this ride so much better than the HONC, there is some great single track out there”

If you rode NE from Fingest towards Wendover and Great Missenden you might get caught up in the festivities.

Map here: http://www.bucksoffroadsportive.co.uk/downloads/Routes/BORS2009-100km&121kmMap.pdf

Why not come over and ride it? There’s a 30km and 70km version too!! And you get a t-shirt for finishing.

I would say it is comparable with full distance Merida. The weather has been kind to us so there shouldn’t be much (if any) mud. I would still reckon on over 6hrs for most on the 100km and more for 121km. These are guidelines only and I am sure there are some people here who can do it quicker (and slower) 😉

I’m targeting 7hrs for the 121km. If you were struggling there is a route split at 67km. Give it a go 🙂

It should be well sign posted but it is worth taking the map and card as sometimes thoughtless locals mess with the signs 🙁

Say hi if you see me. I’ll be in a WDMBC black and yellow jersey riding a GT Zaskar Carbon Team. The Catlike helmet and bright orange oakley radars usually make me easy to spot 🙂

aP – really hard to know. We’ll try not to turn anyone away. I would say 8am will likely get you a place. The start is at 9am which would give you a chance to faff around, use the facilities etc. If you are doing the 121km I would aim to leave as close to 9am as possible. Its a long day in the saddle 🙂 You can download an entry form below which will speed things up.

http://www.bucksoffroadsportive.co.uk/downloads/BORSEntry2009.pdf

greasystain – yes but let them know when you get to the finish line so they can record your time in the right category.

The extra 21km over the 100km is pretty tough. While not steep it consists largely of two neverending hills! I was thinking about riding it SS but I think its too tough.

Anyone thinking of riding the BORS on Sunday should make sure they get there with plenty of time to register. We’ve had record pre-entries and there is a rider cap at 400.

If the recent Southern XC and Black Park Races we’ve organised are anything to go by we will get good numbers on the day.

Likely be closer than the North Downs.

Yep…the 121km monster. Its going to pretty tough but the trails are dry which will help.

Its going to be a cracker!

Check out http://www.bucksoffroadsportive.co.uk

30km, 70km, 100km and a wopping 121km of the Chiltern’s finest.

Online entry has closed but you can sign up on the day.

We had more than 40 women racers at the Black Park Race last Sunday. We even had enough to have a SS womens category!

I would whole heartedly recommend Pure Mountains. In fact, I’m off there next Thursday to ride in Ciudad de El Ejido Mountain Bike Marathon with them. Tim and Jenny have a beautiful house up in the hills of the Alpujarras. Excellent trails and first class guiding.