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Maxxis Pace! Been running them front and rear since the start of the season, haven't found anything (apart from deep mud obviously) that they can't do well yet. Grippier than they should be, light enough, very fast, haven't torn yet.
Did have Ron in front and Ralph on rear, now gone to Ardent Race front and Ikon rear. 13 and 16psi. Probably roll a touch slower but with some of the man made sections on the national XC rounds, found the grip, confidence and durability to be better. All 29 2.25
Anyone down at southern xc?
You guys all still doing Wantage?
Not me obvs, but good luck to those who are, looks like a nice day for it.
Conditions are perfect, we were out on there around Wantage on Friday.
Any got suggestions for off bike exercises? Bearing in mind i have to nurse a Quad - and actually i am enjoying having all this spare time to sit around watchimg sports and drinking beer (oops), But I feel like after the weekend i should start to do something. Walking is already on the agenda. I have Kettlebells.
?
Swimming? That's always my go to for injury rehab.
...except swimming, i cant swim... đ
Awesome little woods sections today down near Bournemouth for Southern XC racing. We've been out practicing gear selection as its tight, twisty and uphill in sections, seems fun though.
Gutted I'm not racing as the open race is out now.
Not the greatest start but got away in the bunch, 8th over the line on lap 1, up to 5th on lap 2, joint 3rd after 3 laps in a battle
3rd place with 2 laps left. I'm sweating for him
I think it was 4th actually. Did really well though
5th place, I'd missed one kid in the battles
its tight, twisty and uphill in sections, seems fun though
Yeah really fun course. Proper tight and rooty in places, quite flat overall but really carried speed well and each section linked nicely into the next. đ
He missed out on 4th by 0.5s!
Ooooh, close!!
Well done to your lad. Course was punchy and gave some great close racing. The adult course was great too - also lots of punchy climbs and loose loamy descents. Bit greasy in the depths, but another good one by Southern XC. Barzo was the right choice up front.
Did Wantage and really 'enjoyed' it. Great course and some very fast riding. Most of the trails avoided walkers and not a single horse.
Burped my front tyre, lost my group, caught back up (ouch)and had to get off and walk for a couple of minutes with killer cramp. 3hrs 1O minutes - more work to do as I think the fast group came in at 2hrs 45minutes?
'Fish was brilliant.
Just entered the next round for my boy with Southern XC series
http://my3.raceresult.com/66812/registration?lang=en
SouthernXC Round 4 - Matterley Basin, nr Winchester on 25th June.
Got to wait and see if Mrs Weeksy is free to see if I can enter, although it does make it more complex as my boy does like pretty race practice together etc, so I may not enter myself.
Still waiting to see championship positions but hopefully he'll be gridded now either on from row or at the worst row 2. See if we can find our way back to the elusive podium spot, although he does need to still find 4s per lap for that. May depend on the course layout etc.
It was good to see you and your lad Weeksy. Awesome racing by him, he seems to really enjoy it - bloody great big smile!
It was good to see you and your lad Weeksy. Awesome racing by him, he seems to really enjoy it - bloody great big smile!
I see you're keeping up the forum tradition of batting WAY out of your league, we were chatting to your good lady for a fair while đ
My boy really does enjoy it, up to now we've both been really impressed with your courses, you really do make the most of things and the layouts are fantastic, not too hard for the youngsters, but not too easy for the older in the class too ! Really well done.
Had some good time chatting with parents at the weekend, which was nice... We're all 'rivals' but all there just to see our small ones enjoying themselves, so was nice chatting and discussing bikes, ages, racing etc.
I see you're keeping up the forum tradition of batting WAY out of your league, we were chatting to your good lady for a fair while
Haha, cheeky sod!!
See you in a few weeks.
Race report should you want it for blog type stuff Adam đ
28th June, Crow Hill. Southern XC Round 3.
We turned up early enough to get some practice in as we've not been to the New Forest racing before.
Awesome little woods sections today with plenty for the lads to think about with Southern XC racing. We've been out practicing gear selection as its tight, twisty and uphill in sections, lots of 90-180 degree hairpins, uphill which really makes them concentrate on looking ahead/round the corner to get it right. The Woods section is full of pine needles, so once offline, it can be quite slippery and means getting drive out of the corners hard as you lose traction. We spent the first 15 mins of practice time in here, trying 1st gear, then 3rd and finally settling on 2nd for the uphill twisty section.
The boys and girls we gridded/seeded for the race and James was on row 2, behind a couple of his main rivals in the series, Joe Carpenter and Leon Atkins Off the start it was a bit of a semi-disaster, just didn't quite get it right but ended up in about 9th going down into the woods.
8th over the line on lap 1, and a bit of ground to make up. But that improved to 6th on lap 2 coming over the line. Up to the line was a tough little climb for them, field based but that really suits James's strengths as he can get a bit of power down and passed a few people.
Over the line the next time it was starting to get quite confusing, with the small fields you end up with riders sometimes 2-3 laps behind and you're never quite sure who's racing who.... James was working VERY hard, you could see in his face the efforts he was putting in lap times comparable with the leaders, but they had pulled away earlier as he was passing a few people. There was a battle going on with a rider from Wyndy Miller as they were swapping fast/slow laps.
Into the final lap, it was a bit chaotic, I was trying to shout encouragement but I wasn't sure who he was now battling. I thought he was in 4th position but it seems now from the results he was just fractionally in 5th at the time... An epic last lap battle with both James and the Wyndy Miller rider putting in 2 very quick laps that would have seen them battling for the podium if they'd done them earlier... James powered up the hill again but lost our on 4th place by 0.5s ! Ouch....
He was happy, but dead on his feet.... Well... Like all kids, he'd recovered within about 2 minutes and was wanting to race again !
Checking results and he finished 2m 25 behind winner at checkendon in round 2, today was 1m 07 behind the winner and he beat 2 lads who beat him by minute that day, so a lot of improvement and finishing closer to the leaders.
We've entered the next round which is at Matterley Basin on the 25th June... From what I can see, James is in 7th place in the championship, slightly hindered by the fact we missed round 1, but with a few people who are unlikely to ride that event as they seem to focus on 1 or 2 races, I think he'll end up on either row1 or 2 for the start assuming they're gridded again. It's not a course we've been to before, so we'll be putting in some early morning practice pre-race to work out where it goes.
Like all parents of young budding racers, it's really hard to not get carried away with it all, but we're hoping to make the step back up to the podium this time. Last year We gained a few podiums against the same guys, so we're hopeful we can get it all back on form đ
We'll keep you posted !
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Nice write-up weeksy!
Brilliant write up Weeksy. I'll get it up on the Facebook page with the photo
Awesome! Good lad James- doing great đ
Back from a long weekend in Oxford, wife and I enjoyed a fast and hot Scott Marathon in Wantage. Finished in 3:08 after stopping briefly to help a crashed rider so lost touch, but enjoyed playing catch up and had a strong finish but I too suffered from cramp.
May have seen you on course adsh, plenty of mechanicals happening. Wife took 3:54 so very strong ride from her, not bad at 47 đ I am more than happy to be only 20 minutes back from the likes of Paul Oldham and Nick Craig...
Struggling with ideas and plans today... Really want to keep the push in training/fitness and do some XC Racing, but my lad also wants to race XC... That means that at a meeting with Southern XC with his race being in the middle of the rides i'm struggling to find a plan.
I can race in the morning before his race, but then we've got to get to the circuit silly early and have to take Mrs Weeksy as she's not happy with him being left alone while i race...
It also brings problem 2 where my boy likes to pre-ride the courses with me, we talk through the gear choices, lines, issues, problems and set up his bike/saddle accordingly. If i do the race, the time for pre-race practice for him will be minimal as i'll be finishing my race quite late, certainly compared to the leaders lol.
If i were to race in the afternoon, the problem is then i'm out with the Super Vets, Vets and Elites ! As well as it being quite late and i expect not only insanely fast, but longer race distances.
If i don't race at his meetings, i'm less likely to find and appropriate race date for mine as we do other stuff other weekends.. Hmmm. Dilemas dilemas.
I'd be tempted to get there early to do the pre-ride with your boy and then race the open cat after that before his race in the morning. better than hanging out all day to race in the arvo.
Weeksy, i'd say race with the Vets especially as you are not position precious.
Based in your other thread the pace and extra lap would help in your goals.
Although i appreciate the issue, which is why im sitting in a waiting room whilst a tow bar & Thule 927 is fitted to the family SUV for either Mrs K to go independantly to races with our two, or for a complete family outing.
I'd be tempted to get there early to do the pre-ride with your boy and then race the open cat after that before his race in the morning.
Issue with that is he's then hanging about from 9.00am until 11.30am for his race... Which is a little unfair
Issue with that is he's then hanging about from 9.00am until 11.30am for his race... Which is a little unfair
Maybe he might enjoy watching for Daddy coming past pulling pain faces?
he would do if i wasn't so sodding slow and taking longer than everyone else đ
weeksy, do the other dads of the kids he's racing against race? if so when? At the races I do the kids are before all the adult races and then the kids seem to spend the time while the adults race haring round the carpark, messing around doing wheelies etc. Probably as much fun as racing. if the other dads are racing later he might enjoy hanging around the race site getting to know his competitors better, plus its inadvertant skills practise!
Yak does yes. He also posts on here, he manages to get his race done in time, but i'm slower than him and i'm not sure his youngsters are as needy as mine pre-race, needy isn't probably the best word, he just likes to ride the course with me in advance etc.
Tough race for me at Black Park today. I may be ballpark fitness but I'm not quite Sport Cat technically! Every corner would lose me another foot until eventually the lead group was gone. Battled another guy right until the last lap where he did me over and left me for dead.
I don't think I was quite last though đ
Also lost my Oakleys đ
I enjoyed WDMBC's Crit series but the organisation today felt poor. Everyone got lost doing early sighting laps as the tape had been trashed and not checked and in the race, I twice had riders coming at me head on where they had misinterpreted the route!!
I had an occasional Zen-like moment when the flow came together and life was good but it certainly didn't reignite my XC passion sadly.
I entered this but couldn't make it due to illness. Just hope this time it doesn't take a month to get over it like last year.
weeksy, if there's a few of us there, I'm sure we could cover kids practise in a big group whilst you race. My 2 would be happy to pre-ride and work things out in a group. Let me know beforehand and we'll plan something.
Got 10th so slightly better than I thought!
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Extreme radcore to the max đ
weeksy, if there's a few of us there, I'm sure we could cover kids practise in a big group whilst you race. My 2 would be happy to pre-ride and work things out in a group. Let me know beforehand and we'll plan something.
Hey mate, that's massively appreciated.
I'll see, but thanks tonnes.
Conversely, for a smaller, local event I thought the organisation today was excellent. I rode a sighting lap half an hour before the race and had no problems finding the course. I got the impression they need to leave pathways open to other users of the park, so can't go too crazy on the taping.
Given the complete lack of elevation (my Garmin made it 39m over 32.4km!) I found the course fun, but then again I did grow up ragging around Thetford, which isn't much different.
I did get paranoid about it being just me MrsButcher but when there were five of us stood in a clearing without the foggiest idea where to go, I knew it wasn't a mistake. It was better on my sighting lap immediately before the race- they had restored the tape and put out loads of new logs but the two guys coming flat out head on towards us on lap 1 was crazy!
Looking on the Strava Flyby, a few guys went way of course on lap one too and had to backtrack to rejoin.
As I say, the Crits they put on at Hillingdon ran very smoothly but for the huge amount of team members they had present, I think they could have been a bit more proactive with the morning checks.
Kudos to them for prompt results though- always a big thumbs up for that đ
Anyone entered Dalby this coming weekend? Round 4 of the Nationals. Looking forward to it. Raced there earlier this year as part of the nutcracker series and bagged my best ever sport cat finish of 2nd. Course seems to suit me quite well.
Yup, I'm in - went up on Friday to refresh my memory of it, rumour has it that Medusa is in but Worry Gill out.
See you there I hope.
It's the only National I'm doing this year - will be racing Expert.
I'm in, testing the new bike on a proper course!
Hoping it doesn't rain...
what bike did you get in the end?
Bit of a late update from last weekends race due to a long weekend celebrating Sweden's national day yesterday.
It was the 3rd round of the X-cup at VallÄsen last Saturday, a course based at the DH venue which was pretty much half a lap up (150m evlivation) and half a lap down. For the hours race time I managed 4 laps.
Due to the high amount of climbing I didn't expect to do so well but it went better than planned and I actually won! Important to point out this was start 2 race, start 1 being the fastest for Elite riders etc. So I won start 2 for men with 108 racers, and placed 41st overall from 304 racers.
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Even my son enjoyed himself:
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So to be honest I felt rather proud of myself given this was my best result for some time and the hard training had made a difference. Then I took a look at my heart rate during the race and it's scared me a bit, I turn 45 next week, is this kind of heart profile normal for a short course racer? Is this similar to any other racers on here?
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what bike did you get in the end?
Orbea Oiz!
Full suss 29er, it's more than a little bit different to my Ritchey...
Nice! will make that bloody rocky gulley a bit more enjoyable! hated that bit of Dalby. Enjoy the climb đ
Then I took a look at my heart rate during the race and it's scared me a bit, I turn 45 next week, is this kind of heart profile normal for a short course racer? Is this similar to any other racers on here?
It's a bit toward the rapid end but I doubt it's an issue if you're in good health and have a structured training programme.
I'm 53 and would generally be about 172bpm average and 185bpm max in a 90minute race. My max hr is about 192bpm.
Well done Bream! What a great result.
I'm 53 and would generally be about 172bpm average and 185bpm max in a 90minute race. My max hr is about 192bpm.
I'm 36 and about the same, goes to show those simply age based formulas are pretty naff. Never actually tested max HR but the max I've seen in a race is 189
Nice! will make that bloody rocky gulley a bit more enjoyable! hated that bit of Dalby. Enjoy the climb
The gearing's lower (praise be to 11 speed!), the weights about the same and it's got lockouts! Hopefully it should be about the same speed if not a little bit quicker, especially since climbing is my strong point.
Snorkel packed for Dalby tomorrow.
We'll be at Dalby, but luckily Alison and the kids are all racing in (hopefully) better weather on Sunday. I'm just on pit bitch duty. (and a swift lap of the other forest trails inbetween youth and ladies races).
Only just finished cleaning the mud from 4 sets of bikes, clothes, shoes and helmets after last night's midweek madness race.
Don't worry about the hr Bream - I remember Alison getting a very early downloadable hr monitor back in elite days 20 odd yrs ago (software came on a floppy disc!) We were similarly concerned race hr vs training zone hr. She still seems to be alive and still pulling similar numbers in a race.
What happened to you today jimbob? I saw you make a great start - 2nd into the singletrack was nice nice and then heard the commentator (while I was bike cleaning!) say that you must have had a problem as you were running lower than normal. Hope you're okay?
Blooming wet at Dalby today, hoping it will dry out a bit for tomorrow.
Urgh what a day at Dalby! Worst conditions I think I've ever ridden in, let alone raced in!
Had a spill on 3rd lap and went into survival mode after that! Wasn't feeling 100%. Think pre race nutrition was all wrong today. Good job I was parked near the portaloos!
Brake pads were eaten by lap 2. Think I finished 8th. Some pics taken by wifey...
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I'm back home now. Washed half the forest out of my ass crack. Hope it's a tad less aquarium like for those of you racing tomorrow. Good luck!
Oh dear, I'm really hoping it will dry up tonight! Well done for getting round.
Great pics and riding!
Crikey, those conditions look challenging to say the least đŻ At least you got round and finished well placed.
Good effort and unlucky with the spill.
Not sure why you are complaining about the conditions though - we can still see some colour on your face đ
Hate it when it gets too muddy to waer glasses, my eyes end up stinging for days
r8jimbob88 I recognise that kit, I was the Commisaire doing grinding over the weekend, although it was slightly cleaner when the race was started. The rain on Saturday was awful, I can only compare it to Sherwood 2 years ago for similar levels of grimness....
Sadly, the rain wasn't the only water I saw that weekend, a broken cold water valve in the b&b meant I had a flood at 4:30am on Sunday, making it a long old day with the best part of 300 miles too drive home...
Fair play too James and the Nutcracker Team, they put in another great event.
I had a pretty grim time at Dalby too.
Was feeling good, 16th elite coming into the last lap, when my chain snapped in two places at the bottom of the big climb. I threw the chain in the hedge in frustration and ran the 2 odd km back to the arena. Ended up 26th, not far from last đ„
Got a push around the arena to the finish though, I owe David Creber a drink!
Really appreciate how much work the Dalby organisers and Commisaires etc put in - thanks folks!
Kids did OK (still finding their feet at Nationals level). Alison had another storming vets race with Maddie and really enjoying this year.
Glad we didn't have to ride on Saturday (just camped in the damp), but I've seen a race in far worse conditions at Dalby. Early season NPS in 1995 when it dumped hail & sleet during the Elite / Expert race. Conditions were OK at the start so nobody was really dressed for the change in the weather.... I think this was Alison's second ever Elite race BITD:-
I'm trying to work where the old course went. Pretty sure the finish straight is running along the edge of the field where the main camping was. Think the bit just before the finish was along the embankment between the car park and road.
I'm off to [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/mountain-mayhem-24hr-roll-call ]Mountain Mayhem[/url] this weekend for 24 hours of solo based self abuse, weather looks ace so hopefully it stays that way.
chain snapped in two places at the bottom of the big climb....ran the 2 odd km back to the arena.
Is that the climb off the bottom of medusa's drop? Hell of a way to run in disco slippers, fair play!
Welsh champs at Builth showground for me this w/e. Somewhat ambivalent about this one, its a great course for tight racing on and I've had good battles every time I've raced there.. but I can't help wishing it was at the more picturesque venue of Fforest fields. I'm also apprehensive about one of the a-lines (pic off facebook below) as its just the sort of thing that I'm good at hurting myself on.
Bizarrely, if the start lists from the article on British Cycling is too be believed, only 4 of us are contesting the Masters cat. I'm hoping that's a mistake because at the moment we're all in sports cat so definitely not the fastest masters in Wales!! Although if it is the case and I end up on the podium I won't complain đ
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^^ That's the sort of feature that you don't really give much thought to on a slack FS with a nice big front tyre, but somehow morphs into something to be afraid of when approaching it on an XC HT.
yeah, plus while the drop looks like it is only a couple of foot, its the sort of thing you find yourself 6ft up in the air if you hit it at more than walking pace!
Disaster for me at Dalby at the weekend! Moved back to being gridded 17th as I'd missed the previous round which was okay(ish!). Saturday was minging weather as mentioned before and me and my lad did only one lap to see where the grip was or was not and then spent the rest of the day bike cleaning, not sure why!
We had travelled up the week before to ride the A lines a few times as I hate doing this on the Saturday practice, thankfully Medusa was not in as it would have been trecherous in the wet - for me anyway,
My son raced well in Youth, moving from 33rd grid to 25th so he was pretty happy - some of these kids are bloody fast!
My race started well, getting into the singletrack section somewhere in the top ten, then got to the first climb, 3 minutes into the race and snap goes my chain! This then meant me doing a Freddy Flinstone type pedalling effort and walk back to the tech zone where we got it sorted about 15 minutes later.
At least when Paul Oldham lapped me up a little later with his thru-axle falling out I was able to stop and chat and offer him mine, sadly he did not take it so I had to carry on!
I ambled round for 4 laps and ended up 25th having caught a few people but not the best race effort!
I thought the weekend was run really well though and the commissaires helpful in times of my trouble.
We stayed on to watch my team mate race in the women's elite and also cheer on her partner who finished a strong second in the men's after a good battle with Grant Ferguson - a really good race to watch.
All in all it was a good weekend despite my mechanical woes.
Padkinson, nice to hear Dave was able to help you, he bought last years bike off me, nice guy.
Kudos for finishing.
I more or less take the view that a mechanical on XC is endex. Then again I don't travel for them nor do I tend to do a series.
Thanks, having missed the last round I reckoned I needed to at least finish and get some points, my sense of humour was compromised a few times though!
I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike after 2weeks illness. First day I've felt OK. At least I managed to stick to project eat well June. No booze, no snacks, small portions etc. Down to 72kg with another 2kg to go. 6 foot and 11 stone....
ADSH - that's a good weight for 6', I'm 6'1 and on 76 kg - don't think there is much more to come off me!
Finally managed to win my first race on Friday in the FNSS series, pleased with that after two years of trying!
First race tomorrow after a month off, although ive a week and a half of riding in me. Ive picked a warm one đŻ
Ive put on weight, just under six foot and 11st 13. I was 11.11 risen from 11st 8 race weight until instarted myfp again a week ago so i think my body is short term compensating!