I think the main thing you need to do is work out what you most want to improve on and work on that. Pick a weak point and try and fix that.

I'd second chakaping's suggestion about practising the same bit repeatedly. If you're out on your own get into the habit of noting the bits you think you could ride better and stop and ride them until you work out what you think you're doing wrong. And then ride it using that insight ride it till you think you've improved it. It's ridiculously satisfying to finally get a bit 'right'.

Even bits you do feel happy with have a look at them and see if you can see different ways to ride them and try them. There are bits I've ridden loads of times that after I stopped to think about them I found better lines through.

And if you do crash go back and work out why and see if you can see how you could have avoided it.

When you're out riding with mates then try and work out where it is you loose time to them. Do they take different lines, brake at different points, shift their weight differently?

And then after a while of doing this sort of thing you can always go back to do a skills course with a shopping list of specific things you want to improve which should help you get more out of it.

I've got one and I'd agree with the heavy for a road bike sentiment. I'm not sure it's a great out and out cross bike either as the clearances are a bit tight. And you'd need a disc compatible rack to carry luggage.

That said it's pretty versatile, surprisingly capable off road and good fun. I've not touched my road bike since I got it.

Given that a large chunk of Tentsmuir is sheet ice I'd not get my hopes up for Pitmeddan being a whole lot better.

If it's like last year there is a big old carpark next to the handover area where you can set up your car/var/easyup/bedouin encampment. At most you're going to be a minutes slow cycle from the handover area. The handover area is a chunk more relaxed than the other endurance events I've done ( I think, I was solo so wasn't really paying much attention ).

If you're bothered about being really near the course I'd bagsy a space early but otherwise it all seemed good to me.

Not sure if it's the same thing but I have the MT500 jersey thing from a few years back and it's not too bad in the cold. Not too windproof though so you'll need a gilet or similar.

I use the maps here and they seem good: http://sites.google.com/site/talkytoasteruk/ukmaps

I have an SD card in mine but I copy it across over USB so perhaps you can do this without an SD card. They're based on the openstreetmap maps so are possibly not as complete but they do have topo and are routable. I've only really made use of them on the road though. The chief advantage of them is that they're free.

Last time I needed to create a route I used http://www.bikehike.co.uk/. Think I just double clicked on the saved tcx file and the garmin software did the rest. This is all on a mac so YMMV.

I'm really not sure what all this very steep at 100mm stuff is about. I run my soul at 100mm and it's fantastic. Really nippy through tight singletrack and seems perfectly fine on everything else. I've not run it at longer travel but don't really feel inclined to as it's great as it is and I quite like nippy bikes.

That said, I imagine if you do a lot of steep stuff you'd want it a bit higher at the front but I'm also not sure it's really the bike for that sort of thing anyway.

I'd wait for the colour you want though. And March is when the nice weather starts so you'll have less getting the new bike clarty angst.

I've got a set of the Endura Event 3/4s and they seem pretty good. They keep me dry when it rains and seem pretty comfy.

I've battered mine down chunks of afan with the lockout on and no damage done so I'd not worry too much. Not sure I'd want to do it all the time but I'd guess that the odd time is ok.

If you're worried ask on the magura forums as they seem to be fairly helpful over there.

> Calling Cy to the thread

I think he is on holiday this week.

I'm hoping for 2nd time lucky with the finishing. Impressive how fast it's filling up.

Blimey, who knew it was all so contentious? Perhaps we need a system of seatpost stickers?

I had the same problem and combined the brush with ajantom's solution and extended the brush using some sort of stiff wire I had kicking about.

ISTR reading that next years brushes are longer but you have to wonder how hard it would have been to test the original ones.

There is a really lovely bit of singletrack that someone has cut down to one of the car parks at pitmedden which I love.

I like my Genesis Crox de Fer. It's not a proper cross bike in that it's got discs but it's been great for commuting which is a mixture of road and tracks and was fine in the one cross race it's been used for. It's been pretty capable on the bits of local single track I've taken it on too.

You'd need to get a disc compatible rack for it but they do exist and it does at least have the mounts for it.

Only down side is that the mud clearance seems a bit limited which may be an issue. It's not been one for me as yet but I've not taken it anywhere really muddy. It's maybe a bit on the weighty side as well due to it being steel.

YGM, and ditto regarding customs nonsense.

I'd be interested in this as well as I fancy a gecko mount.

Another vote here for the Ground Control.

I run mine with 100mm Maguras and it handles great. It's certainly quite lively set up like that but I'd not call it twitchy.

I also pulled out partly due to lack of willpower and partly lack of training. However, I think as long as you're reasonably fit it's almost more a question of being able to just keep going on the day. As a comparison I managed about 90 miles at 10 under the ben earlier in the year and really enjoyed that and found it no trouble but by the time I got to the 50 mile mark at keilder I'd had enough.

Part of that was the weather – it was glorious at 10 under – and part of it was just not being in the right frame of mind on the day. It's also the one big loop aspect which makes, in hindsight, a surprising difference in that you can't chunk up the riding in quite the same you can with lap based events.

I think it's achievable for anyone who rides their bike a decent amount fitness wise. It's the bloody mindedness half of it that's hard to prepare for. I think the best recommendation is the number of people that didn't get round, myself included, that seem determined to give it another go next year.

Beware that those Conti 1.5s can be a serious pain to get on and even worse to get off.

ribble do aci spokes in boxes of a hundred:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ProductList.asp?A=resetsearch&ProdPerPage=999&CatID=4&BCat=1,4&RootCatID=1

no idea if that's cheap though.

I seem to recall reading that the production bikes rule was mostly aimed at the British olympic team and their custom bikes. The theory being that if everyone has to use 'off the peg' machines then there is more of a level playing field and teams with big R&D budgets like GB don't get an unfair advantage. Sadly it also rules out people like Obree.

It does seem to be fairly unclear how the rules will be interpreted with regard to teams using development models or indeed how available to the general public the bike needs to be.

Having done my first cross race today I'm glad it was on a cross bike as trying to keep up the required speed through the large chunks that weren't at all technical would have resulted in me being even more of a wreck at the end. Great fun though.

The few times I've been to Pitmedden I've found enough great trails to make it worth going back. You do need to spend time there learning where the good stuff is though. I still get lost every time I go there. It does have some of my favourite bits of single track though, the sort of stuff I'd happily spend a few hours riding the same section repeatedly.

I bailed at the 50 mile mark as the be able to get home to my own bed tonight or another 7 hours in the saddle maths wasn't that hard to do. If the conditions/weather had been better I might well have stuck at it, although realistically I wasn't where I needed to be fitness wise. Bit gutted to only have got half way but it was definitely the right decisions as it wasn't being fun.

Seemed like a pretty well run event though and the fact that all the marshals were really friendly and encouraging was great.

Definitely up for another go next year.

I love mine. Livened up my commute no end and done wonders for my fitness.

I figured I’d give it a go.

How hilly is it round those parts?

I think the 50 odd quid for the replacement damper for the AMP linkage forks I had way back when. Mostly as I broke the forks just after I got it. 350 for the forks was a lot to me at the time too.

They were the most “oooh, what are those” component I’ve every had though.

I was like this till I started on the 2nd breakfast when I got to work. Museli before I leave and then porridge when I get to work. Usual lunch and then torq bar a bit before I head home. This is for a 35-40 mile round trip.

You might want to consider having a bit more food the night before as well as I’ve found that makes a difference too.

Oh, and drink water as you need that to absorb the carbs properly.

trail_rat: I went down that a few times. The drop half way down was a bit of a surprise the first time round.

Managed 7 laps which I was pretty pleased about.

I liked the course. Nice fun descents which were technical enough to make a difference which is always good. Was really quite warm though.

25 litres of liquid is an astonishing amount. I thought I was drinking a lot and only went through about 10.

Food that you will want to eat at 4 in the morning when you are tired, covered in mud, are having the “I am never doing this again. This is the least fun I have ever had. What was I thinking?” moment that is inevitable and are due to go out on a lap in half an hour.

Camping chairs are also a must. Being able to have a nice comfy[0] seat and a cuppa is astonishingly restorative of one’s feeling of well being.

And wellies. Definitely wellies.

[0] any seat will be comfy after the first 10 hours.

oldmanbreezer – forecast looks like there’ll be a bit of a breeze which is more likely to keep the midges down.

I guess I have to wait a few more weeks for the annual bike pushing ritual then.

Even the met office site is predicting sunshine and it tends to be a lot more pessimistic than the rose tinted model metcheck uses.

I shall be there solo. It seemed a good idea in the post christmas haze.

I take it when you say muddy you mean in a trail centre muddy sort of way rather than a Mayhem/SITS/Somme sort of way?

He has crashed so that we may be without injury?

Bit of a short list:

1986(ish) Emmelle something or other. Barely counts but it got me started.
1988(ish) Specialized hardrock. Too big.
1990 Specialized Rockhopper which is still in the shed. Incredibly narrow bars and insanely twitchy handling. What were we all thinking?
1999 Second hand Specialized M2 bought from some dodgy bloke in West London. Very much a racing bike. Now the ugliest bodged from the spares bin singlespeed.
2005 Second hand Cotic Soul which I still have and is fantastic.

The one thing I’d say about it is you should have a clear and specific idea of what you want out of the course. If you have that then I think you will get more out of it as most of these things seem to have a small enough instructor to pupil ratio that an element of tailoring the course to the attendees is possible. When your out riding between now and the course try and take note of the stuff your doing that makes you think ‘mmm, I’m sure I could be riding that better’ or the type of stuff your mates seem to find easier. If you can come up with a list of a few key things you’d like to do better that you can mention at the start of the course then I think you’ll feel happier about it.

I did one with dirt school recently and it was good. Definitely came out of it with more confidence. What I did notice was that the people on it who were a bit less capable than me perhaps got a bit more out of it terms of overall improvement but that’s fair enough.

That seems a bit extreme. There’s some steep rocky bits on the black but you can always not ride them if you’re worried. Most, if not all of it’s perfectly rideable on hardtail as long as you take it sensibly.

As to conditions, it was bone dry last weekend so I imagine it’ll be much the same this weekend unless it rains in the meantime.