I grew up near Ashover (over the hill from Matlock), every weekend we’d cycle out Chasworth/Bakewell way – I’d love to live there still, and probably could if I could come to terms with going down the M1 every morning to south Notts.

Do it – Ash’er born and bred for me too, living in Milltown now and working in Nottingham. It’s worth it.

I know the biking will be good but are there any local clubs etc? Thanks!

Forgot about this bit – Matlock CC, best club in the country :wink: :D

Bakewell is closer to Chatsworth (a lovely ride away) and is a nice place, although busy with tourists at the usual times.
Matlock/Darley Dale area can be quieter if you stay away from Matlock Bath, and avoid Hurst Farm estate if you can.
Plenty of beautiful villages within striking distance, but as they’re beautiful, and also close to Manchester/Sheffield/Nottingham etc, property prices are high.

Is there such a thing as just a ‘cx rider’? I can’t think of anyone who does cx and doesn’t do mtb as well.

The missus has had an 05 plate 1.6 petrol for 3 years and beyond routine servicing/tyres it’s needed a new power steering pump for about £250. She averages 37mpg over ~8k miles per year. It’s easy to drive, the seat arrangement is good and it swallows bikes easily – even with my daughter in the back my 64cm road bike goes in with both wheels attached.

Before getting a van for bike race duties I slept in the boot (all seats removed) at Mountain Mayhem. Remarkably comfortable :D

It’s a white hole

Somebody punch him out!

KoolStop salmon

I like the look of the craft ones luke, do they go baggy quickly tho?

I’ve had one of my Craft base layers for 4 years – still tight as a drum.
Craft make some of the best gear I’ve used. They’re particularly good if you’re tall and slim. A size L baselayer fits my 36″ chest but has arms which cover my wrists, which is a bit of a miracle when you consider that I have most of my long-sleeve stuff made with 4″ longer arms normally.

Nokian WR G2s on my Subaru. Fantastic, managed to get to work today for the first time since Monday while everyone else near me who has anything less than a Defender is stuck at home.

Would have made it in yesterday as well but ground clearance became the problem instead.

£64 a corner when I got them on Friday, currently £168 :D

Phew. That’s a relief. I’ll just make sure I get out of the way of the proper riders with their big calves, then. I wouldn’t want to hold them up on their way to undoubted glory.

I’ve only got skinny calves – should I stay at home and save myself an hour or so of bike cleaning afterwards?

Notts and Derby league for me. Should be mud-tastic!

It’ll still be lighter than the Dolan. Also, if you’re tall, the bigger Dolans have a steep (74 deg) seat angle the same as the small ones, rather than getting slacker as the size increases.

Edit – just spotted that the Alan has a 74 deg seat angle as well, so scratch that point!

The Alan is a proper racing frame, the Dolan is a modified road frame with canti bosses. I’d have the Alan (I owned a Dolan for a while) if you want to race, but if you need to put bottle cages or any other stuff on it, you might be better with the Dolan.
The Alan will be better quality tubing and more nicely made, I can guarantee that :-)

MTB rear mech will be fine, front mechs don’t like road-size chainrings and can be made to work, but less than optimally. A road groupset will work with no problems.

Have my arm warmers custom made too…..
Off the peg ones can be long enough but the circumference is far too big.

6’2″, 37″ inside leg here. No joy with any cycling overtrousers as the waist (I need 30″) is always massive on the longer leg ones, which still tend to come up short. In the end I’ve got some longer-leg Berghaus Paclite ones which have been modified with extra poppers on the leg to keep them out of the chain’s way. Still not ideal but they’ll do.
I also have a similar problem with long-sleeve tops as I need the arm length of xl or xxl but the chest of small or medium. Club kit in custom sizes from Impsport and Endura has been the only remedy for that.
Pro (the Shimano sub-brand) are good for big gloves, they go up to xxxl I think. I’ve got some of the waterproof ones in xxl and they’re spot on.
I’m also a fan of Specialized shoes, but then compared to some I don’t need a really big size, only 46 or 47 (for winter) :-)

Aluminium frames are cheaper, definitely. Carbon? Not so sure. Mine were custom-made to my geometry by a well-known cross manufacturer for less than the price of a Kinesis C-Six or a Kuota Kross.

However, In all the CX races ive done i havent seen anyone riding Ti in the top end of the field

That isn’t because it’s no good, but because it’s harder to get hold of a cross frame in Ti than it is to pick up one of the myriad available in aluminium (and now carbon).
Cross is a small market and an expensive Ti frame isn’t going to sell in huge numbers.

I race on Ti cross frames. I win the odd one here and there and can just about squeeze myself into the top 20 in the senior race at the Nationals.
I’ve also broken a Ti cross frame in the past (not at a weld). But then again I’ve broken ally and steel cross, road and MTB frames as well, and a carbon road frame.

Ti is more than stiff enough for racing on if it’s built properly.

We had a hot-water system installed for the entire ground floor of our house 7 years ago when we renovated it. Probably the best decision we made as the thick slate tiles in the dining room/kitchen have the chill taken off them (they’re flippin’ freezing otherwise), and also act as a giant storage heater so once warm, stay warm for ages. Great in the winter in an old stone house.
In the lounge there are 5 windows and 2 doorways, so with rads we’d have had no choice but to locate them under the windows, wasting a load of heat.

Last year we fitted an electric system to the bathroom when we re-did the floor with stone. Still got a rad in there for the main heating but it’s nice to have warm feet on a cold morning.

Getting my arse kicked by Blazin-Saddles (again) at Alfreton :lol:

Cyclocross is also a very easy way for youngsters to get into competitive cycling, as it’s away from roads and requires no equipment beyond a helmet and whatever bike they’ve got already.

At the Notts and Derby league event the other week there were 61 finishers in the under-10s race, 34 in the under-12s and 38 in the under-16s (not to mention 165 in the main race).

:lol:
Ignoring the start loop, I tend to be just as fast (or slow, I suppose) on the last lap as the first.

Don’t get me wrong, the start should be very hard, I’m just saying not ‘as fast as you can’. An hour is a long time when you’re on the rivet and pushed it too hard, too soon.

matthewlhome – Member
go as fast as you can at the start – the pace will ease slightly after 5-10 mins, but if you lose everyone at the beginning it will then be really hard to catch them up again. As the race is so short, dont rely upon any hare and tortoise strategy.

I’ll disagree with you there. It’s very easy to blow up after the first ten minutes and lose a shedload of places. Speaking as a grade-A tortoise I can assure you that it’s common to sail past these folk after half an hour or so. Unless the course is very narrow and makes lots of overtaking a problem, of course.

Don’t be surprised if it feels like the whole race gets away from the line quicker than you do, half of them will be two-lap wonders who you’ll gain on over the course of the hour.
Drink what you want from whatever receptacle you want, just so long as you’re carrying it yourself you’ll be fine. Nobody will laugh at you because a) they really don’t care, and b) they’ll be breathing too hard.
If you get lapped, try and stay out of the way. Don’t panic and fall off in front of the front group.

Beyond that, have fun, it’s great!

Reflex rims are fine offroad. I use 28s for racing with no bother.

"So what will you be feeding this abandoned giraffe on then, Lard?"

"Fish Fingers"

Dobbins or Bobbins?
Figment or Pigment?

Ten Pence short

Baby moles are our cat's current favourite, but of the things we give her then the Whiska's sticks and catmilk are her preference.

Another Litespeed Teramo here, bought s/h as a frameset off Ebay about three years ago. Puts up with all the abuse (250-300 miles a week, road races, commuting) I throw at it from March-October and still looks brand new. De-decalled it when I first got it, which probably helps.

6'3", 37" inside leg, 180mm cranks on everything. Switched wholesale from 175mm a couple of years ago after trying them on the road bike to start with.
Feel great, never had any ground clearance issues. Try them, nothing to lose if they're a good deal.

Will Derbyshire get it's bit of Sheffield back first? (Not that we really want it, just being argumentative :D )

The footage with Philip Schofield is up on YouTube somewhere. Tim has seen it and apparently it made him chuckle :-)
Like Bikerbruce I (and quite a few others on here I suspect) know Tim fairly well. He still pops up at events now and then as his children have started to ride.

I assumed just for racing – I'd 2nd Open Pro on Hope for all-round use.
Agreed about Ksyriums as well, although I have had to change a few bearings. Mind you they're the 2003 models :D

£500?

Cartridge hubs of some sort, Reflex rims and either DT or Sapim db spokes.
Spend the rest on some Dugast or FMB tubs.

Rory Gallagher for me, ta.

GP4000S are the best tyres I've used in terms of speed/grip/comfort etc, but whether they're up to really rough roads and lots of grit is debateable.
GP4 seasons were marvellous in terms of grip and lack of punctures but the sidewalls on mine started to fall apart after a while. Since then I've been using Michein Krylions on the winter bike and I think they're brilliant – tough as you like, but still fast and grippy. At 80psi in the winter (I'm 70kg) I had no moments at all, and no punctures either.

According to my OH, at my daughter's nursery there was a little lad called Blade, and his twin sister Trinity 8O