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Past couple of seasons it's proven frustratingly impossible to find time to compete regularly (e.g. a series of weekly events) what with family and work commitments. I'm thinking in 2018 I might be better off targeting a small number of bigger one off races which would be much easier to accommodate and plan around.
So what do folks on here suggest? What have you done? Most things on a bike would be considered.
Thanks.
How about Grand Raid Cristalp (or whatever it's called now) and the 3 Peaks?
Both fun in different ways...
Both look good, flat and drop bar options too. I'll pop them on the list.
Tour Divide
RAAM
Transcontinental
Blimey jam bo, wasn't thinking that big, but maybe I should be 🙂
I was gonna do some MTB marathon events for a bit of a change this summer, but work went a bit mental.
Might still have a go at this...
http://www.gmbc.co.uk/about-gmbc-2017/
Battle on the Beach?
Think there is some endurance cx race at Matterly Basin (Battle in the Bowl?)
GMBC looks good, but more like a challenge than a race. I want to be racing.
Thanks ferrals. I'll pop them on the list. Expect you'd be up against it racing those who race cross weekly though.
Etape Du Tour 2018, ~181km from Briancon to Col d'Izoard summit in early July with ~15000 others?
Only one of the 4 below i've actually done and could recommend, but quite interested in giving the others a whirl over the next few years.
Isle of Man 24hr?
http://www.isleofmancc.com/Isle_of_Man_CC/IOMCC_24hr_Welcome.html
Manx 100, either in girly 100km national champs flavour, or full on beasting flavour:
http://manx100.com/
And for a couple of not exactly racing suggestions, but still a fair challenge
Ride24 (Newcastle-London) will be back for 2018
http://www.ride24hr.com/
Or riding across the pyrenees:
http://marmot-tours.co.uk/tours/raid-pyrenean/
n0b0dy0ftheg0at. I was thinking I might give that a go next year. More a sportive than a race though I thought?
More a sportive than a race though I thought?
Tell that to the Elites giving it full gas at the front 😛
National 12hr TT 😉
Dirty Reiver, Grinduro? My interest in one-off events has also has recently been revived and there seems to be quite a few off-road challenge and one-off enduro and 'fun-enduro' options out there at the moment.
National 12hr TT
😯
Marshalled at our clubs 12hr earlier this year, looked horrendous. Seed planted though 😉
Get in there! I'm down for it in three weeks. Only entered one Open event so far, but it's a mental not physical thing. Same with long-distance Audax.
Absolutely a mental thing. Not sure where the national 12hr is but the one I marshalled was on the H25/8 course and that's mentally tough. Really windy, largely featureless, poor surface in places. The attrition rate was high!
Not a race but Hell of the North Cotswolds? Bloody tough when I did it (very slowly) this year, some savage climbs.
What about Mountain Mayhem (revised version next year but no details as yet), or Pivot24/12 (on this weekend but very good by all accounts, on the old World Cup XC course from the 1990's)? As the name suggests, 24 or 12 hour event solo, pairs or in teams.
Quite tempted by some 12hr XC races. Bit of a change. Maybe 24hr, need to think a bit more about that.
Any of these
http://marathonmtb.com/2017/02/15/mtb-alpine-cup-arrives-2017/
or this
On the road
The Marmotte, Etape, Maratona etc
Thanks all. Probably won't be able to do the overseas ones but some of the 12hr XC stuff might be the way to go.
What about the Scott Marathons - you're well located for a fairly easy journey to those. There's only 4.
My 2018 A plan is:
Battle on the beach (warmup, training assessment)
BeMC
Scott Marathons x 4
Pivot 24/12 - 12hr (maybe)
I might so some XCO in between but they'll be B or C races focusing on training and/or race experience and I won't be targeting series. Like I do, you can keep your interest in TT by using TT's as interval sessions - TT efforts are very relevant to XCM training.
The MTBO nat champs is a single weekend of 5+3 hours.
An indoor bike park where rain won't ruin everything.
An indoor bike park where rain won't ruin everything.
Might as well just go Zwift racing! Though doing some track racing next year is quite tempting too but again that tends to be regular league events.
Kryton, that sounds like a pretty good plan, might pinch that 🙂 (Dammit, shame I've missed the wantage Scott one this year, very local.) BeMC looks good.