[Closed] Brownbacks races start this weekend, sunday.

the northern oasis that is Bacup

first time I've heard it called that 😉

When they stop applying that silly rule that you have cross the line after the winner to get a place, I will start entering them again.

Not much fun if you have a mechanical that stops your race and have to wait around for ages at the finish line for the winner.

Good news is that the organiser has listened and included age related categories, which will spread the prizes to a much wider group of riders.

Eh? Are you moaning that in order to get an overall position in the race you need to actually finish the race? Funny how that works...

if a mechanical stops your race its called a DNF.
isnt that just normal?

some people keep going, one forum regular ran 4 laps after breaking a chain on the first lap. 😀

I'd be up for this but it's the same weekend as the 3rd round of the nationals...

I'll be crawling round this time after 4 days in Belgium.

Broken man riding.

if a mechanical stops your race its called a DNF.
isnt that just normal?

This.

if a mechanical stops your race its called a DNF.
isnt that just normal?

Bugger. I was going to enter a marathon and run like hell for the first 400m then catch a bus to the finish for a medal and a go on the podium.

Good luck fellas. Swimming lessons (not mine, I'm dead good at it) mean that I will miss the entire series. Again. 😐

Not doing them until September by which time I will be nowhere near fit enough.....

I think I'll be having a dabble.

If you do 5 laps out of the 6 and pull out you get a DNF and lapped riders who have done less laps get finishing positions.

However, if you hang around at the finish line and walk over the line after the winner, you get a finishing position.

Only difference is that you have stood around at the top of an windy exposed hill in your race gear getting cold, waiting for the winner to finish.

Normal practice is to give you a finishing position based on the last time you passed the finish line.

I know the organiser has the attitude "If you don't like it don't enter" and sends VERY LOUD EMAILS TO ANYONE WHO COMPLAINS

Awaiting news on wether my pass is stamped, in which case i'll proffer services as a marshall - it's well known i'll offer to do most things for a bacon butty 🙂

maybe's one day i'll pluck up courage to enter the 'have a go' section 🙄

If you do 5 laps out of the 6 and pull out you get a DNF and lapped riders who have done less laps get finishing positions.

However, if you hang around at the finish line and walk over the line after the winner, you get a finishing position.

This is nothing to do with a fixation on keeping people on the hill, it's a consequence of the timing system we use. It essentially DNF's anyone who finishes before the winner as it assumes they are still on the course and haven't finished.

As we are cheapskates and try and spend our money on better things (like the local MRT) and give all the sponsor stuff to the riders we are stuck with it for the moment. We put a lot of effort into making sure we have results on the day which are accurate. To date we have managed to do this thanks to the efforts of the all volunteer timing team who do a stressful job.

I know the organiser has the attitude "If you don't like it don't enter"

it's more a come and help if you think you can do better, or if you want fund a posh system like those STW people who have a budget rather than a shoestring.

As explained above there's not much we can do about the system and I'm not spending half a day converting DNF's into minor places when I've a day job, a young family to see, and all the normal post race admin to do. [i](I am also aware that the policy of awarding places to people who don't complete a race has led to some "unusual" results in races where licence points have been given to riders doing no more than a couple of laps.)[/i] If you want to join the team and take on the results service we'll happily have a talk, our group is always open to people who want to get involved.

VERY LOUD EMAILS TO ANYONE WHO COMPLAINS

marsdenman - Member

Awaiting news on wether my pass is stamped, in which case i'll proffer services as a marshall - it's well known i'll offer to do most things for a bacon butty

don't forget the free Buff as well 😉

let us know if you are coming at info@brownbacksracing.co.uk

Papa_Lazarou - Member

I'll be crawling round this time after 4 days in Belgium.

Broken man [s]riding[/s] running.

The events are great, I've raced a few and marshalled a couple as well. It's a very easy going event which is great for those new to racing as when I first went I was unsure what to expect. I found it a great way to make friends an meet other mtb'er and everyone is supportive. When marshalling it was always fun shouting "encouragements" to the riders. What the guys do at Brownbacks is provide an event which supports the local community and gives us riders a good days racing, so the timing system isn't the best well I'd like to point out that it's not the uci world cup! But a couple of genuine everyday people doing something good for the local community. Massive respect to them. More events like this are needed around the country.

Good news is that [b]the organiser[/b] has listened and included age related categories, which will spread the prizes to a much wider group of riders.

it's actually a bit of a collective where everyone gets a say and the opportunity to take on stuff, there are 8/9 of active at the moment and we are always open to have more people join the group as it will ensure the longevity of what we do.

we also have a network of people who help do specific things such as the posters etc

It takes just over 30 volunteers to put each event if you include the MRT, which is why we constantly chase for marshals.

Hopefully will be entering this, what sort of miles will it be?

Also for how long? Sorry if it is on the site.

I'm in, one question though.

How long is a lap & do you have a route/lap up on the web?

I presume the quarry will be closed to non-racers, then?
I was thinking of going up this sunday.

the quarry won't be closed, no, but we'd expect you to avoid the marked course(s). we'll be all done by noon or shortly after though.

with regard to the course etc, it won't be revealed until we mark it out at 7am sunday morning! the race is as many laps as you can do in 90 minutes (ish), maximum race length tends to be 2 hours. laps are around 4-5km in length, each round will have slight variations in the course but all are mostly based around the red loop trail (with some off piste linkups chucked in here and there). average lap times for the racer category are in the region of 15 minutes (based on previous series we've done).

and we still need more marshals! email us info@brownbacksracing.co.uk if you (or any friends/family etc) can spare a few hours on what's set to be a glorious sunday morning to assist with the smooth running of the race; we'll feed you, give you a free Buff and you might even win £50 cash in the marshals draw after the racing's done...

bumping this to emphasise that we're still pretty short on marshal numbers; if you (or anyone you know) can possibly help out this Sunday, please let us know via info@brownbacksracing.co.uk

thanks.

WiretownMan - Member

If you do 5 laps out of the 6 and pull out you get a DNF and lapped riders who have done less laps get finishing positions.

However, if you hang around at the finish line and walk over the line after the winner, you get a finishing position.

Only difference is that you have stood around at the top of an windy exposed hill in your race gear getting cold, waiting for the winner to finish.

Normal practice is to give you a finishing position based on the last time you passed the finish line.

I know the organiser has the attitude "If you don't like it don't enter" and sends VERY LOUD EMAILS TO ANYONE WHO COMPLAINS

the mind boggles ....... has he ever raced ??

Me, I've dabbled a little

Road including the odd Crit
Tandem Racing (Road Crit's and TT piloting a paralympian gold medalist)
TT's
Track
Grass Track (absolutely bonkers and brilliant)
MTB

organising races is an order of magnitude harder than any of these

on that point, anyone fancy helping out marshalling?

I'll see if my mate whos coming with me for moral support will

steve_b77 - Member

I'll see if my mate whos coming with me for moral support will

I take it we can pay on the day? I hope so as I missed the deadline to pay due to work commitments.

Any chance a tre reccomendation be made? Maxxis Ignitor 2.35 be ok?

we're still pretty short on marshal numbers

wearing his free Buff, eating his bar, slurping his drink and [b]looking forward to the bacon bap[/b] and marshals draw

already got you on "the list" chris!

Sorry lads.. childcare commitments and a new woman have put paid to my marshalling. Really sorry as you guys do a fantastic job running these races. Superb events with a really friendly atmosphere.

no worries dave.
we realise people have changing priorities in their lives (it's the same for us lot too!), but we're seriously very grateful for the help anyone's ever given us at any point. we can't do these races without it (remember we all do this on a voluntary basis too)...

I like the look of these races... Might have a crack at the next one. And hopefully bring along a buddy to marshal!

i can't even race this year because of the little one coming, sunday is the only day of rest the missues gets so i look after the little in the mornings.

What time do marshals have to be there? I might be able to persuade my lad to help.

about 8.45am would be ideal!

I take it we can pay on the day? I hope so as I missed the deadline to pay due to work commitments.

Any chance a tre reccomendation be made? Maxxis Ignitor 2.35 be ok?

should be good, really lightweight tires such as Schwalbe really suffer in the quarry

<if I work out how to be in two places at once do I get two?>
Chris. Olympic Standard bacon Butty Botherer

. Really sorry as you guys do a fantastic job running these races.

Another stupid question - could I pay to enter the series on the day?

MrSparkle - Member

Another stupid question - could I pay to enter the series on the day?

Very good. Thanks for that. Fingers crossed I'll see you there.

Can we paytoday to confirm a place?

mrphil - Member

Can we paytoday to confirm a place?

We have to close the entry as we print-off the pre-entry stuff early, be at registration for 08:30 and you won't have a problem

so, just over 24 hours to go til race o'clock.
the weather's set to be amazing; the trails are dry, dusty and very fast rolling so it's all nicely setting up to be a quality morning's racing.

we're still one or two bods short of optimum marshal numbers so if you could possibly help out, please email info@brownbacksracing.co.uk to let us know you're in.

and bring strong sunscreen!