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Anyone going Carver Barracks this weekend? I personally struggle with flat twisty courses as you have to keep pushing your mind to push hard (as opposed to a hill when you just have to go hard) and keep pushing out of the corners (which I invariably take too fast or too slow to get through efficiently). Sigh.
Still, looking forward to the big drop off that I didn't ride two years ago. Fully expect to ride it this year.
Like Munrobiker I did 10 under the Ben
I was seeing everyone on full sus bikes also as I rattled round on my singlespeed rigid bike.... 1 of only 3 in solo I believe. By the end of it my arms had locked solid and coming down the cackle was painful.
Where have all the singlespeeders gone.... Are we getting back to the point where it's only serious singlespeeders left?
Finished 15th over all in solo and 10th in age group.
I'm considering suspension but not gears 🙂
Anyone going Carver Barracks this weekend?
Me, as you know. Had a call this morning to discuss an alternate strategy based on my Marathon rather than XCO training and starting from the back. We're opposite here, I like the flats.
Lets see if it works, the measure will be getting me back to or further than my usual rivals/position...
Club xc league, thought it was 3 laps.
It was four.
New pb on 1st three laps and blew up on the fourth.
Sounds like a fun plan Kryton. I love starting from the back, it’s so much more rewarding moving up through a field than down.
Is your plan to go hard from the line? In my experience it only takes a couple of minutes to get to your usual position, or are you going to hold back a bit and ride negative splits?
Anyway I applaud the fact that you’re thinking about ways to make a training race more constructive. How about also identifying a few technical twisty sections during your pre-ride then aim to ride them smoother and hence faster with each lap of the race. When you get home you can create some Strava segments to see if you’ve achieved it.
Is your plan
Im not posting that up here 😉
Great idea about the strava sections. As you know I have my “no brakes” section I practised on a lot over winter so yes, holding speed and trusting the bike is a plan. McVittees came out with me to Hadleigh a while back an commented positively on this very thing through the lower loop of berms (after the slalom) so I guess it’s worked a bit.
ive also been watching some short track vid analysis, which majors on when and when not to do the work, and sticking with the riders in front - because Carver has long open sections along the runway.
It does amaze me that even 3 years into proper racing one can feel like a relative junior in terms of experience and ability, luckily there’s a wealth of online resources, it’s good to learn.
Thanks for the encouragement @mcvittees! I'm more positive about it now- my eye seems ok and I replaced the spoke.
The extra 10 mins of light on Wednesday should help but maybe I'll take a light!
I’m at Carver tomorrow, looking forward to it as never done an eastern series race before but always like the MSG organisation.
It seems like a while since I’ve had a ‘proper race’, punctured at the National in Hadleigh and had to miss the first Midlands due to a cold so this my pipeopener before Cannock next weekend.
Say hi if you see me, I’m in orange kit on an orange Top Fuel, in GV category at 2pm ish.
43rd and last. How do you ride 100% over threshold HR for the entire race and go so slowly?
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<div>Starting sprint was poor, sustainable speed was poor, and sitting at home I don't feel like I've ridden a race at all - no tiredness, no painful legs - nothing. I felt slow, was slow, got fed up of being asked to let riders by and have come away disappointed and embarrassed by this. Preparation was perfect - great nutrition, sleep, I'm not drinking...</div>
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Perhaps the only saving grace is that my lap times are consistent within a couple of seconds.
I'm questioning paying for coaching TBH - I know I'm training for Marathon but would have expected more than this.
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When is your target race.
I had similar reaction in short course last year with a rider I informally advise.
He was training for ironman in late season and was disappointed when his early season 10tt was down on the previous year (when he had done no specific training and was doing sporadic million mile weeks followed by being seriously ill)
He did another the month before his target event having opted to follow my advice and knocked 2 minutes off his all time pb.
Finished his target race and did well.
I'd be more worried had he been targeting a 10 for his target race and and we were going backwards even in early season but to go forwards in as different event you sometimes have to knock the wall down and rebuild from the foundations.
Don't be too hard on your self at this stage.
Well, I already did an A Marathon in the same time as last year yet with a headwind and 200m extra climbing. I did feel physically and mentally better, yet I did this with no endurance block - I’m reversed periodised if you like and my endurance block started after that Marathon. My next Marathon is 26 May.
I expected to come off the back of 5 months of training and with a great week of prep much better than this. 1:20 at 165 with a max of 176 is a big physical effort, yet with no speed, i’d have to be in my sprint HR to go faster.
Obviously I’m just slow, and perhaps I’m flogging a dead horse. It’s a lot of effort and money to achieve sweet FA.
I'm kind of in the same boat, spent all last year training for two 24hr races, went rather well and I decided this year to try marathons and short track as a build up to CX. Training is limited due to a new job, but I basically just go out and try and smash myself to bits on the road and then ride MTB in events.
Did the Cannock winter classic, got a good result, 90 mins at threshold. Builth night went brilliantly, 2 hours at threshold, the day not quite as well, but that was to be expected after the night time effort.
At the Dyfi today I felt shit, but set PR's on nearly every climb and the descents (newly fitted dropper helped there) and got round in 3hr20 for 50k & 1800m for what I think is a reasonable placing judging by those around me - the times list will show how I really got on. That was 2 hours at threshold and an hour at tempo.
Next up is Welsh XC at Llandegla and then Llandovery the week after, but I feel I need to do more mid-week stuff, which is tricky.
It's really hard changing tact especially with limited training time.
On the coaching thing, my mate has been paying a very well respected coach and gone backwards using his training plan, he ditched him, went back to how he used to do it and promptly got much better results.
You're not slow Kryton but for the life of me I'm not getting your training stuff, I'm yet to see you enjoy an event, more often than not seemingly coming back dejected by it all. Hence me not seeing the point in the paid training.
You/he can flannel it up all you want, but what's the point even entering just to be unhappy with it?
I don't have the answer, hell I'm not even bothering with the racing now despite being 100% up for it earlier, but I decided that enjoying the riding means more than racing.
Well I don’t bitch and moan about the good times Weeksy 😀 Builth was good as was the Sportive the week after.
i did some analysis this morning - bearing in mind I had the same coach last year - and it’s only since this February my performance has dropped - I was actually closer last year to people I can measure against - but then again my training is Marathon specific and I’ve only done 2 Xc races this year. Also, all of the MSG regulars were way down the results, I suspect because being a regional champs round it attracted more hitters. Coming last hurts though.
Im really only just starting my season so let’s see it out to October and see what happens. Worst case scenario is I can drop the coaching but will have learned a lot for 2020.
Kryton - Nice to meet you yesterday and sorry to hear you had a bad day. I also had a tough day out, couldn't get moving at the start and when I eventually did start to get a bit of pace decided to have a lie down after losing the front end on a tight turn, it did give me a chance to watch all my fellow competitors ride by from the comfort of the loam however!
I'm not sure why you were off the pace yesterday but when I was focusing on marathon as well last year and it really compromised me in some XC races as I turned up with loads of fatigue even though Training Peaks said I should be flying, it taught me quite a lot about volume training that has helped me this year. I'm also sceptical of some coaches, especially when coaching older riders with families/jobs/other-commitments our recovery is nowhere near good enough with everything else going on. My coach is great as we talk every week and she balances my training load to my work life balance and forthcoming events, she has also been there and done it herself. She is worth a chat with if you want a change ( http://www.jennycopnall.com/), let her know you spoke with me, she has guided my team mate to 4 National vets titles and me to a National Marathon title which really is 'boxing above my weight!
Feel free to email me, my address is in my profile if you think I can help in any way, or even a chat sometime.
Iain
As I said to Kryton after the race, that wasn't his usual performance by a long shot so I'm not surprised he felt disappointed with the result. I'll be curious to hear how his coach explains it. I can only think to say its your target events that you're training toward that should educate how well you believe your training is going and based on Kryton's last marathon it's going well.
On the other hand, for me, it was another race that proves the Joe Friel lesson of 90% what you've done up to the day and 10% how you feel on the day. I was feeling a bit jelly legged but my NP ended being the same (+/-2%) as it has been for last four flat races I've ridden! I feel like I have a glass ceiling that I never seem to get through. Having said that, I enjoyed the race so who cares.
Likewise Iain and thanks - good to hear that old age Marathon training has affected someone else similarly - I don’t mean that I unkindly btw but for my own understanding. Sorry to hear you had a lie down - I hope recovery goes well. I did do a 1:20 z2 on Saturday as this is a 3 day block with 4 x 5 min z5’s targeted today perhaps that z2 took more out of me than expected.
Mcvittees yes you are right I should focus on the actual target events 😀
The only other thing I can think of is caffeine. Having receive a bunch of free shots and gels I tried caffeine loading yesterday, which in a race last year I felt had a negative effect on me. It could have been the same yesterday, but apparently this is very rare. I’d be interested to know if anyone else has had a negative issue with caffeine shots. The delayed fatigue definitely worked as I didn’t feel as though I’d raced until this morning!
However, there’s so many variables to a race...
Kryton, to give you an example last year, I went into the Glentress round of the National series and finished 18th feeling atrocious with no energy, TP numbers were good though. Went into the next round and finished 6th with nearly the same TP numbers, I’m still working that one out. However, in the run up to Glentress I was maxing volume.
Yesterday the course did not suit me at all, I was 40 watts down on NP when compared to the race at Hadleigh a few weeks ago where I even had to cruise for half a lap with a puncture (301watts to 260). Although yesterday’s event was never going to be one I had form for, I used it as a training ride after missing the Midlands race the week before due to a cold. Even feeling great there is no way I could put proper power down on that course.
I think my message is that sometimes it just does not come together, especially if it’s a ‘B’ race rather than a main target. I just need to see how I will go at Cannock next weekend....
Beastway Rd 3 today.
Like an idiot I threw my toys out the prsm after the bike got clogged on the practise lap. Decided to start and glad i did - need to knock the negatives on the head.
Failed to clip in on the start, and had the same flat performance as at the weekend which remains a mystery. Still, had a few battles at the bottom of the pack and passed 4 riders so moving slowly on the right general direction.
Was a struggle having to clear the bike every so often but an 1:10 effort with some added skills test as a bonus.
Good to meet twowheels in the queue for the jetwash!
Kryton, great to meet you too and put a face to the name 🙂 (Same for @mcvittees). Glad you're feeling more positive. One (perhaps naive) thought when I read your earlier post is about heart rates- for marathons I would also aim to sit at a constant BPM but for Beastway I think going into the red more regularly is OK.
My main aim was to have fun tonight after last week. I used a light and clear glasses. Was slippy and claggy for sure- it turns out SPD-SL's and Racing Ralphs aren't ideal 🙂 Due to lack of competition in SOM I got 1st. So, quite bizarrely, simply by turning up and riding consistently (but not quickly) I am top for the series in SOM so far!
Where are you going this weekend, NPS 3, Battle in the Bowl (not strictly MTB but still off road goodness), what else?
If you're going to Battle in the Bowl, come and say Hi, I'll be at the finishline as I'm working with the guys doing the timing - it's great to put faces to names.
Due to lack of competition in SOM I got 1st. So, quite bizarrely, simply by turning up and riding consistently (but not quickly) I am top for the series in SOM so far!
Haha! Brilliant! Well worth coming back for more after your previous trials! Still can't believe you rode on speed SLs!
Well I've gone and signed up for the most popular class at the 1st round of the Welsh National XC series, Vets.
No doubt I'll get my arse handed to me, but if the entries stay low (12 at the moment) I'll get a nice set of Regional A points, could well be the same at each round 🙂
Grrrr.....still not allowed on my bike! Tendinitis sucks donkey cock in hell!
A break from organising the Scottish XC series to go race at the British this weekend, at Cannock.
I may have blotted it from my memory, but I don't think I've been there before. What's it like?
My total lack of fitness was very clearly shown up at Sherwood for round 1, not really expecting much to have changed since then but we'll see how it goes.
I may have blotted it from my memory, but I don’t think I’ve been there before. What’s it like?
If its dry, then fast bit with polished pebbles of death strewn about the place. If its wet, kiss your brake pads goodbye, oh yeah that and wet polished pebbles of certain death
The little bits of video I've seen from Cannock on social media suggest that the conditions are a little fruity! Them pebbles can be like ice.
I walked the last third of the course last night where it was properly muddy at lunchtime practice, it was getting better, not ideal but better!
Hopefully the 9am races will dry it a bit more before we are on.
I'm writing this from a field somwhere near Warwick, where I am lying down and trying not to throw up. The perils of pre race eating.
First XCO race in a while at Cannock and went surprisingly well, even held my own off the start. Finished 16th elite, and dug deeper than I'd been in a few months holding off some late surgers. Pleased to still have some speed in the legs after a lot of marathon races.
How did everyone get on?
Not too bad thanks. That's the last time I waste a bagel on you
Home, after 2 long days at Cannock on BC duty, walked 19 miles, had 2 bacon rolls, didn't drink enough, thought the milkshake I had was warmer than my coffee, and generally pleased with how the event ran from a Comms side.
On arrival Saturday, did the usual course walk, from this I can usually get feel for if people will enjoy it, half way round I wasn't getting a good feeling, crossing track left by the harvester was pretty bad, then you'd come across a bit that would make it fun again, then there was the mud and slop, and I didn't really get a positive vibe, today with a combination of wheels over it, warm air and sun it seemed to have improved by a huge amount, riders seemed happy enough, and the gridding was smooth and nobody was left standing around, time for a BEER or 2 now.
Nice one stylish, much appreciated!
I had a good weekend getting to race for a change, didn't think much of the course when I rode a practice on Saturday but I thought it raced well yesterday and I ended up really enjoying the race. Maybe a bit narrow for too long in places making it hard to move up without a wait, but that's part of it I guess. Fairly SS-friendly course, I was pleased to be cleaning the climb up to the rock garden and the longer, draggier climbs through the woods were OK. Firmly mid-pack in v40 but steady lap times and legs felt half-decent for the first time in ages.
Successful weekend for the young Scottish contingent again, everyone seemed to enjoy the course and there were some great individual performances.
Not XC as Adam said, but I raced Battle in the bowl this weekend. Course-wise I wasn't super fussed when I did a few pre-laps on the Saturday, however the boring bits came alive when actually racing and it was a lot of fun. Never raced before when sitting in a group actually made a difference, but the flat gravel bit into a headwind meant getting into pace lines really helped.
I was expecting to get an absolute shooing and was half expecting to give up before the end after the last couple of months of intermittent riding; but was pleasantly surpised with a solid mid-pack senior finish. Went off at cx intensity for the first lap or two and then looked at my heart rate and toned it down to just around threshold to make sure i lasted the two hours, even so was jsut trying to hang on the last couple of laps.
Given me a bit of an appetite to race more as haven't done any xc this year, probably do the NPS in Aberywstwth as my first.
I'm off to the Manchester Mid-Week tomorrow at Leverhulme Park in Bolton, it's one of my favourite places to race CX and I've raced Xc there before, so it should be fun.
Then it's the first round of the Welsh National Series on Sunday at Lladegla, hopefully the course is more than a winch up that sodding fireroad, followed by a twisty / boggy thrash through where there used to be trees, but we shall see.
I'll be on my HT for both as I haven't got round to changing the frame bearings on my FS as the Dyfi killed them off.
From what i saw on facebook they've completely changed the course and it use mostly other bits of the forest, same hill start as last year but then left rather thna right at the top. Can't make it this year which is a shame as I like racing there.. but then I also liked the long fireroad climb as it suited my total lack of ability 🙂
Have you raced that Llandegla one before Steve? Might give it a go but if it's a big up and down I'd be less keen.
Have an entry for a hefty sportive up in the dales this weekend, but have barely ridden longer than 2 hrs all year so worried my legs might fall off. Should be OK on something short and intense though.
ETA - Thks Ferrals I see they have the course up on fbook - can't really picture the trails tbh but it's not a big up and down at least.
Even before it wasnt really jsut 1 up, one down; more 1 long (gradual) up, then a series of short ups and downs. I think they put on a pretty good course to be fair with a mixture of trail centre, walking paths and 'off-piste' - last year there was some fresh stuff that was a lot of fun. Pre-entries closed with low numbers at the moment so if you care about BC ranking points 😉
Have you raced that Llandegla one before Steve? Might give it a go but if it’s a big up and down I’d be less keen.
Yeah I've done a few races there over the years, the Emergency Services ones were always the best courses. I've seen the course somewhere, but I can't find it. It starts at the back of the visitors centre so the only way is up from there, there's a loop round the reservoir too, so that'll be stupidly fast.
@mcvittees - yes! [Edit: I just saw you got 3rd today against decent competition- good ride]
Great weather and the single track round the back was quick enough to comfortably bunny hop the double-root, which was fun. I nearly DNS today due to sore legs but figured I'd come and just drop out after a couple of laps if necessary- really glad I did as I think it was the most fun round so far and my legs weren't that bad. SOM was more competitive though and I only got 5th. Luckily (because of who showed up) it was enough to extend my lead in the series. Also I seem to be getting quicker in those tight corners and carrying more momentum through (rather than slamming on the brakes at the last moment and then having to accelerate hard).
Had a right laugh at the first round of the Manchester Mid-Week madness up at Levehulme Park in Bolton last night, when I say a right laugh I mean breathing out of my rear end for 70mins at Threshold with a peak HR of 185bpm!!
Actually went pretty well and ha a couple of good battles with contemporaries from the North West CX scene, the course was an excellent mixture of open tracks, rooty single track, short steep climbs, good drops and tight turns and bone dry too, which is a bonus. @mick_r was there too on a reasonably sensible bike too, plus other's from here.
It'll be interesting to see where I came when the results crop up, but as it was my first XCO race of the year and it's a whole new thing for me it doesn't really matter.
Yeah Midweek is a great little series, and perfect weather started it with a bang.
Not sure if I was particularly sensible riding a just finished (brazed the last bit on Saturday) singlespeed. 32:19 was way too low for all the flat but at least I could still clean the climbs at the end. But the bike handles and fits perfectly so it will be a quick ride at weekend (if dry) and then strip and powder coat before Haigh. Possibly first singlespeed and probably a few places down on usual suspects due to silly gear choice.
Most impressed that the local youth pronounced the new bike was cool - raw steel must be hip in Bolton (better tell Sick).
Tom was 5th and 1st junior (yes he lapped me). Jake 4th and Alison 3rd.
We are starting to enter things more selectively as costs for 4 people are just getting silly. MWM definitely has the right balance.
At national rounds is it still saturday practise starts at 1230?
Tom was 5th and 1st junior (yes he lapped me). Jake 4th and Alison 3rd.
Have you seen the results or was that just counting on the day? Good results all round for the family then.
Can't you just clear coat the bike, the frame looked pretty good raw.
I know what you mean about costs, thankfully my 2 re still little so it's max £8 each at the moment.
Haven't seen any results. Was just what we knew from counting / podium / just off podium etc. Hence no idea where I was apart from behind the kids and just ahead of Mrs 🙂
The last BC entry was 3 people for Cannock, 4 at MWM and 2 at Crank-it which came to over £200! And we're lucky where a bit comes back in prize money.....
Had a lot of people saying just to clearcoat it but not very durable. I've also got 1kg of Unimog orange powder to use up. It also hides some of my brazing from the critics.....
@twowheels: Yes that’s the nice thing about doing a weekly race, you start to really dial in your riding through the twisty stuff and your fitness just grows. I was happy with my result - good start and a bit of luck at the end when a rider who passed me punctured right before the line. Proves it’s always worth pushing right to the end so you can take advantage of opportunities like that.
Little update on the last two races, Manchester Mid-Week Madness at Leverhulme Park was a total 70 minute thrash 'fest with dusty dry trails and much fun all round, in Men's Racer cat (think Elite, Expert, Sport & Vet all thrown in together) I managed 21st - top 3 were Elite, so pretty happy with that.
Moving on to the first round Welsh national XC Series at Llandegla last Sunday, the course was bloody brutal, nigh on 200m of climbing per 4.8km lap with most of it in one go up a path that averaged over 12% and had peaks of 29% in it!! Throw in bits of the Red, Blue, Green and some seriously loose & loamy off-piste to an A-Line that I wouldn't ever attempt - but a few did, it made for an excellent race. It got quite strung out early on, but I managed to come home with a very respectable (in my book anyway) 13th position in Vets smack bang in mid-pack, and I know I couldn't have gone any harder on that course.
Keep the reports coming, more pics needed 🙂
.
If i wasn't logged on via works VPN which blocks Instagram i may be able to tell you 🙂
Gave up as I can't embed the link / share the post for some reason
Well, I think I now know whats wrong with me.
But, nevertheless a weekend spent with Norovirus has lead to much thinking time, which in turn has led to... less thinking time 😀
I've decided to knock expectation and results on the head and apply little measurable yet unimportant goals to my races and just enjoy the fact that I'm able to attend. Its nearly mid year and I need to actually enjoy some MTBing.
So during tomorrows Beastway, I have an identified nemesis to keep up with but won't be disappointed if he drops me, and in Llandovery I'm not going to give a toss about time or position but I'm riding the climbs to HR or feel in replacement of watts (I don't have an MTB PM) and enjoying every piece of flat/down single track in a speedy manner.
I might even have a beer at the campsite Saturday night - whoop! (Just one, of course).
That sounds like the best post you've made in about 3 years. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but i do sit and shake my head at times reading your posts and thinking to myself "This bloke just needs to have some fun riding ..." It does seem at times like you do it out of a sense of something other than enjoyment. Which honestly saddens me.. So if you can do that, then i'm all for it 🙂 Nice one.
“This bloke just needs to have some fun riding …”
I do, a lot (albeit not in the last month). Like I said before, I'm like watching the News, I rarely writeup anything good. 🙂 This extends beyond Cycling 😀
sense of something other than enjoyment.
Racing & competition? But I get your point. A recent image of the most miserable looking bloke in a race kind of brought this home a bit.
Anyway, I'm moving on!
It sounds like there's been some great racing - anyone attend the SWXC race, from what I've heard the course was cool?
We had a wicked time down in the New Forest with the SouthernXC and Dirty Hot Lap Time Trial. The weather gods were on our side (until the last couple of laps for the day). Everyone was super positive about the course and very kind in their feedback - thank you!
If your looking for photos there is a great album by Kevin Sheldrake linked below
https://www.kevinsheldrakephotography.com/Cycle-Races/Southern-XC-2019-R3/
Anyone Glentress 7'ing this weekend? I'm signed up in Mixed Pairs but will be going for a bit of a jolly (it's probably my last race of the season, unless I can haul a quad together for Relentless). My teammate's boyfriend signed up solo and she was going to support - I suggested we both support but also race our bikes. Expecting nothing from it, I've already satisfactorily proved to myself I can race bikes this year.
Munrobiker.
Relentless - as discussed at 10utb
Keep me on the back burner for relentless
We will see how jnr and mum are after the dust settles.
I might even be able to rustle up some gears And suspenders suspension
trail_rat - I have you in mind 😉
@Kryton57 @mcvittees - hope you both have fun tomorrow. Weather looks cracking. Frustratingly I sprained my ankle badly playing football, so I'm out just as I was getting quicker :/ Pedalling smoothly on road is OK so I might come for cake and to cheer you on! I hope to be back next week somehow. My plan then will be to continue riding consistently with gradual improvement. Btw good to hear you more upbeat Kryton.
@weeksy re. Photos - we had celebrity photographer Geoff Waugh at Beastway last week. Album: https://waughphotos.photoshelter.com/gallery/190508Beastway/G0000jC2oydYgPaY/C00007sqssWERCuk
He got a few of me (and @mcvittees)
[url= https://i.ibb.co/XySNGD1/image.pn g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/XySNGD1/image.pn g"/> [/img][/url]
(n.b. I bought this one, which includes social media rights so I think it's OK to post)
Partly for my future reference:
https://waughphotos.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/190508Beastway/G0000jC2oydYgPaY/I0000LGRmFiSxtlM/C00007sqssWERCuk
https://waughphotos.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/190508Beastway/G0000jC2oydYgPaY/I0000u.wPvcnZCxs/C00007sqssWERCuk
I finally built up my 30mm carbon/Pro 4 rear wheel. With ZTTO SLR2 cassette and Ai2 rotor I've shed 0.5kg from the wheel. I took it for a gentle ride and am pleased with both the stiffness/feel of the wider carbon rim, weight loss and slick shifting of new chain/cassette.
@mick_r - ok I can't resist, show us photos of your frame already [in a separate thread to avoid derailing this one], edit: please!
Unfortunately no race pics of bike from last week, so I'll stick it in the making things thread once collected from paint tomorrow.
Back to race updates - boy 1 was 1st junior at a quiet Grizedale Crank-it / 3rd behind the two elites. Still finding his feet in juniors, and we had a good talk about how to ride it intelligently and not get beaten up - which seemed to work. Boy 2 was 3rd and happy. Parents each got 2 hours of rocky sunny bridleways and not racing 🙂
He's doing rather well in Junior's isn't he, should make for an interesting CX league this year.
Guess I'll get my arse kicked again next Wednesday at Haigh Hall
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
What a difference racing with a smile on your face makes. Beastway Rd5 tonight and I got an awesome uphill start come from the back to enter the first downhill single track section in about 6th behind McVittees. However, despite a practise lap I forgot the down hill had a chicane in the middle and crashed into the tape unable to stop.
Oh well. Carried on, did what you do and finished. Where did I come, who knows but it was a lot of fun tonight. Still feel I'm riding "flat" but hey ho!
After missing a round Jnr re-established his authority by sprinting to second place and maintaining it to the end of the race consistently growing a gap to 3rd. He was very focused, I forgot to take a photo but blimey what a race face!
Now enjoying a cold Bulmers :p
Heading for Gt7 this weekend in an old blokes pair. Should be fun.
Got my first ever XC race (spent a few years racing DH in my 20s) on Wednesday, midweek madness at Haigh Hall.
Entered the enthusiast category, any advice for a newbie of average fitness.
I'll be on a blue/orange cube reaction if anyone's wants to say hello or point and laugh!
Well that was emotional.
Spent most of the day either in the rain or in the clouds at the Scott Marathon at Llandovery. Finished 16th place which is my highest finish. So although my XCO pace has gone and TBH my legs weren't the best with no taper and a race this week, I felt I rode to plan and pretty consistently well too. TBH I wasn't sure if I was riding strongly or not, I just watched my HR and rode.
Did a lot of the event back and forth with Steve_B77, good to see him again, and agree with his sentiment that having climbed a 3km fire road average 10% in the wet for 45 minutes, going down on fire road was scant reward.
So I'm really pleased, really tired and glad that I haven't gone entirely to pieces but I've just changed how my output works.
That sounds bloody good Kryton - well done!
Well I'll be honest, I didn't enjoy the Llandovery Marathon one little bit. The weather was shite so you were wet before you even started and given that the area has some amazing single track and green lane style riding the mixture of monotonous fire road climbs, followed by fire road descents, the odd bit of freshly cut single'ish track and a bloody logging road with lengthy stretches of tarmac in the middle and end just didn't do it for me.
Just to add to the joyous slog, my bottle cage bolts backed themselves out 3 times so I lost a good 10 minutes faffing screwing the bloody things back in again!!
But in the end I can't really complain at coming home on 17th for the full marathon though, just over a minute behind Kryton.
Wife and I did the monster 100k, I was hoping she had decided to cut short on to the 75k as the top part was brutal with some crazy rocky descents, but she carried on. I managed a 5:36 and Jane a 7:55. Saw a lot of crashes and punctures in the front of the field but managed to avoid any issues as didn't go mad on descents. Would have been a very different course in the dry but fair play to the organisers for linking bits together that can cope with the volume and differing abilities of riders. Sitting at 40mph on a wet muddy downhill fireroad has it's own stupid appeal..
I thought you were going to catch me actually Steve. On the final road section you might remember on the little green lane there was a little steep bit (Bolt said 17%) i climbed that with painful legs and immediately cramped in both quads and my right hamstring at the top. I got off and walked, hobbled then jogged alongside the bike for a few minutes to work it off before i could get back on before it joined the road into Llandovery.
I'm feeling the effort today, about to commence the clean up and rear brake pad replacement 😀
I really enjoyed the course at Llandovery. Most of the fun tech was out on the monster loop though. As to the weather, it’s Wales, occasionally it rains I believe.
So yeah a good day for me and a mate. We rode it rather than raced and got to eat lots of the homemade banana cake at the feed stops. Top marks to the baker, it was lovely.
Well done all! I rolled in after 7.30. Could’ve taken a good half hour off that had we not stopped and chatted to the feed station guys as well as a few photos once the sun came out. I think I enjoyed it retrospectively- but there were times in the opening few hours I thought of turning left at the split. The weather was downright miserable.
Did the ride on my Cotic Solaris. The plus tyres were all over the place on the muddy woodland descent but overall felt like a good choice of bike for the rest.
Just one additional mention... the Hopetech Acadamy for the little ones was brilliant. My boy hasn’t taken his Hope tee shirt off since!
Aaannnnddd breath!
Phew. Beastway Rd 6 last night with many absences due to half term. This allowed me to get a sixth place within which I felt stronger than before. I forgot my computer so have no other metrics to measure, but it was a fun evening leading Vets on lap 1 then inevitably falling back a few places. Jnr came 1st in the U10 with a great ride.
Just spent my lunch hour doing my a short set of VO2max intervals set of intervals before a day off tomorrow, its been a heavy 7 days with a Marathon, and XCO and 4 sets of intervals over 7 days. I'm going to sleep well tonight but actually don't feel as tired as I felt I would, and I've a feeling I'm coming into some kind of form. Lets see.
Good stuff - soudns like a couple of good results in the bag and pleased to hear you're finding form after your coahcing misgivings.
Think I@ve talked myself into entering my first xc race of the year for the national at Aberystwth. Looks like its the same course as the welsh champs last year which was a cracking course and I feel like I have unfinished business with the course as I had an wawful race last year (one of my worst ever) despite in theory the climbing suiting me.
Anyone racing the Southern XC series Rd 4 at Folly Farm tomorrow? Missed Rd 3, but back in it for this round. Day after my birthday, so expect meticulous preparation...
@Kryton57 - good stuff indeed! I forgot it was half term and wondered why the field was so small. Was it only 45 mins? Only 2 riders in SOM. Would have been easy points if I wasn't injured (photo of my ankle on Tuesday below!) There's a chance I'll be back next week but I can't make the final champs round and decided to ask the organisers if I can defer the rest of my series entries till next year.
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Anyone else antered the Aberystwyth NPS for next weekend? Despite misgivings over the entry fee (and to a certain extent my lack of structured training) I've entered sports cat. First XCO race of the year for me; looking forward to it now. Looks like it will be a bit showery weather wise which is a blessing with the size of the climbs 🙂
Quick update on last weeks Manchester Mid-Week race, it was bloody wet, muddy and almsot dark int eh trees by the end of it making for very tricky conditions - it was more akin to a 'cross race than an XC race eventually. To make matters worse I forgot my HRM, so over cooked it on lap 1 and paid for it for the rest of the race eventually coming in 22nd in the mixed "Racer" category, s not too bad i the end, considering the quality of the field.
Next one is at Chorlton Water Park on 12th June with just a Wedding to attend in between!!
I rode the MSG race at Thickthorn on Sunday. I don't know what anyone else thinks but putting on a national race at a course like this seems a bit inappropriate. Surely better courses must be available to test the best? Don't get me wrong, regional / local race fine; simple flat course with the odd technical feature make entry into the sport easier, but for a national race I'm not so sure. People may travel hundreds of miles to attend and deserve more than 1.5hrs flat out round and round a field. Don't want to have a pop at the guys organising MSG races because they work damn hard and put on good events but this just seems wrong.
@twowheels: That looks painful. Did you do it in the race?
Had a good race at Haigh with steve_b77 - caught him up after he went boom 🙂
Usual places for rest of family with Tom running in with a half flat front tyre.
Was a very late night as a friend ended up in hospital after preride, so we drove his son and van home. Could happen to any of us and one day might need the favour returning.....
We won't be making the 5 hour trip to Norwich so that is us eighty odd quid in entries plus fuel better off. Also not super impressed with the last minute email about limited camping at Aberystwyth. Off-site tent camping logistics don't work if you are supporting 3 races including the first on the line at 9am (so packing up a wet tent at 7am).
Grass roots xc seems strong, but National races feel like too big a demand on volunteer organisers. Not sure what the answer is.
I've just entered the Gorrick Kawasaki 100 as a training ride at the end of the 3 week, 600 TSS a week training block. Yikes.
Steve this is one for you surely....