[Closed] Brass Monkeys round 3...

That was am absolute miracle given how wet it has been. The section over the moorland was considerably drier than it was on Saturday afternoon. Thank god the weather held!

It was a good race - I rode 6 1/2 laps with Ben, going at a fair old pace but raining it in on the hills for laps 5 and 6. I went for it on lap 7 and put in a gap and got across the line to do an 8th lap. Ben waited for a minute or so and stopped on lap 7, so although it looks like I won by a lap it was actually only 3 or 4 mins. It was great to have some company! I ran out of rear pads at about 1.5hrs so only had a front brake for the rest of the race. The XTR brakes needed a little more fluid in them - now topped up! Top tip for anyone with these - when bleeding don't push the pistons all the way back in or you won't be able to put in enough fluid. Tyre choice of Rons was spot on again - a couple of those climbs were a case of slow and gentle so I didn't spin out.

Thanks to all the people we overtook, it never really got too shouty as it was only ever the two of us, and we didn't want to put in a gap due to backmarkers... It's always very sporting when you're racing your friends 🙂

GB

It was a nice course and an enjoyable day, I managed to stack it on lap 1, unfortunately not heavily enough to justify stopping just pain 😥

There seemed to be a few ss's about today, might have to give mine another go on round 4

It would be nice to do some of these in summer, is there anything similar about?

There are lots of XC races in the summer and lots of other Enduro style races - check out the calendar on www.xcracer.com

GB

Might not have been a fatbike but there was a ti Jones with a truss fork that made me go 'ooh'

Yeah I thought the course was great, especially given the recent weather.

Found it harder work than in previous rounds (although this might be due to not having ridden my bike for two weeks over the Christmas break...)

Finished 4th again. Need to try to go one better in the last round...

rich

I really enjoyed the course today but it was hard work!

Hello to the chap with the matching Turner Burner who I had a nice chat with on my second lap (I think!)! Nice bike 😆

Hi missnotax that was me you were showing a clean pair of heels to, nice to meet you.

Found that hard work today as my first race in 20 years not helped by a distinct lack of riding over the holiday period, a really good course though with the possible exception of the Heath area at the top of the course.

I took the Soul with Muds which was the right choice for my skillz. Some burping meant a soft rear which pinchflatted 🙁 costing me 13m and cost me a 6th lap. Pity as I was feeling stronger. Really enjoyed the course.

Quite amazed how well the course held up, even if it did get a lot tougher with lots of wheels and rising temperatures.

Great to start under blue skies and sunshine, and to have no body or bike issues this round. First ride on my SS for a while was a bit of a shock to my legs though!

Lets hope they do the same magic with course/weather for the next round.

That was an eye opener... The difference between riding and racing is unreal and to see the rest of the guys fly past me really highlighted it.

First race and went for the 4 hour. Had a flat about 2 miles in and in the heat of the race managed to forget how to change a tube for a while. Got it changed then couldn't find my CO2 even though it was exactly where I put it.

Cramped on the first of the 2 muddy climbs on my third lap and had to stop for a few mins to let that go. Managed to keep the pedals going till the end despite a bit more cramp and back pain. Ended up 36th but since I was convinced I was dead last was really pleased to get some point.

Hopefully will enter some of the spring series and give myself time go improve.. well everything.

Any advice for training would be welcome. Did almost 5k miles last year mainly commuting and thought I was pretty fast!!

DrP - was that on the Scandal? If so glad to see it getting good use 🙂

alansd; do the spring series, with that attitude you are a born racer.

Be warned it is another level of speed compared to the Monkeys, but is so fantastic to be a part of and everyone is really freindly.

I got my arse so squarely kicked in supermasters xc after I scored 27th in my first Monkeys. But I persevered (and continued to get it kicked for the whole series). And then, joy, racing in other more local events I served up my own dish of pain to my opponents.

All in all racing is just fantastic.

Don't forget alansd there's another round of this series to go before you need to be worrying about the spring series.

Wwaswas- nowadays everything's on the scandal! Not put gears on it yet, but git some big rides planned where I'll go 1x10...

DrP

Am in Scotland the date of the next event so its the spring series hopefully leading up to the longer event in May.

Hope to see you at one of the next events.

Really impressed with how good the course was, especially the first couple of laps and how friendly everyone was.

I'll second that....great course. Interestingly the only place I had a moment...TWICE, was on a gravelly left hander after a climb/short descent. Lap 3 I minced around it.

Loved the spaghetti junction, and the big drop. Well done to the organisers.

Gutted I am away for the next round....I will have to make do with my 3 series points this year!! 🙂

Surprisingly solid course, the top firetrack/moor section got easier as it went on i felt. The podium was a surprise, strong ride from George again, and Issac flying for mountain trax now! I best get to the gym more, oh and replace my PF30 which has died after 80miles and check out my thick/thin ring, can't stay drop free much longer!

p.s. many photograph around, I saw Joolze and a few others

http://chris-noble-mtb.blogspot.co.uk/