Gorrick Autumn Classic MTB - 11th Oct/1st Nov
Discussion
Anyone planning on doing the Gorrick Autumn Classic Races? 11th Oct & 1st Nov, at Deepcut & Crowthorne respectively.
http://www.gorrick.com/racing/autumn/
I only started doing these races last winter, and for this season will continue in the beginners category - not that i found those easy.
Good fun though! Any takers? I'll be sporting my PH jersey, so would be nice to see some more there!
(Yellowjack - will you have a new MTB in time?! Benji - you normally wipe the floor with the competition at these!)
http://www.gorrick.com/racing/autumn/
I only started doing these races last winter, and for this season will continue in the beginners category - not that i found those easy.
Good fun though! Any takers? I'll be sporting my PH jersey, so would be nice to see some more there!
(Yellowjack - will you have a new MTB in time?! Benji - you normally wipe the floor with the competition at these!)
Can't make Sunday, even if I could persuade Boy to lend me his bike ("How many times? No! You kill bikes, you do.")
I'm due to be in Swansea for a Uni open day, ironically taking the Boy in question to see what's what. You'd think the least the ungrateful whatsisname could do in return for driving him around most of the south of England this last month or so would be to lend his poor old dad his MTB for a couple of measly races over autumn/winter...
...after all, what's the worst that could happen?
I'm due to be in Swansea for a Uni open day, ironically taking the Boy in question to see what's what. You'd think the least the ungrateful whatsisname could do in return for driving him around most of the south of England this last month or so would be to lend his poor old dad his MTB for a couple of measly races over autumn/winter...
...after all, what's the worst that could happen?
Just noticed on the XC Racer website that this weekends Gorrick Autumn Classic has been cancelled:
http://www.xcracer.com/get-out-and-race-this-weeke...
http://www.xcracer.com/get-out-and-race-this-weeke...
This ain't the first event on MOD land to have to be cancelled because "the venue is unavailable at short notice".
Given that most of the decent MTB racing venues locally are on MOD land, this worries me. It's common knowledge that Commandant Aldershot Military Training Estate isn't a fan of cyclists on the training areas. If his attitude becomes a hardened MOD attitude, we'll see the death of MTBing generally on MOD land in no time at all. I'm pretty concerned by this, as I'm close to surrounded by perfect MTB venues, but they are all, save for Swinley Forest, on MOD training areas...
Given that most of the decent MTB racing venues locally are on MOD land, this worries me. It's common knowledge that Commandant Aldershot Military Training Estate isn't a fan of cyclists on the training areas. If his attitude becomes a hardened MOD attitude, we'll see the death of MTBing generally on MOD land in no time at all. I'm pretty concerned by this, as I'm close to surrounded by perfect MTB venues, but they are all, save for Swinley Forest, on MOD training areas...
Just a heads up for anyone who's fancying having a crack at MTB racing.
This Saturday is the Night of The Knobbly Tread race at Black Park in Iver, Bucks. The race is a night race at a flat circuit with plenty of testing singletrack.
I did my first race here a few years ago and it was perfect as a first race as it has a really good atmosphere. If you've not got lights then the guys from Exposure Lights will be hiring theirs out.
The prizes are usually pretty good, being supplied by Exposure, and the entry includes a burger and a coffee at the end. At last years race there was even a free beer at the end for all over 18's
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/1...
Well worth a look for anyone who fancies trying their hand at racing.
This Saturday is the Night of The Knobbly Tread race at Black Park in Iver, Bucks. The race is a night race at a flat circuit with plenty of testing singletrack.
I did my first race here a few years ago and it was perfect as a first race as it has a really good atmosphere. If you've not got lights then the guys from Exposure Lights will be hiring theirs out.
The prizes are usually pretty good, being supplied by Exposure, and the entry includes a burger and a coffee at the end. At last years race there was even a free beer at the end for all over 18's
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/1...
Well worth a look for anyone who fancies trying their hand at racing.
Bumpity Bump - tomorrows race at Swinley/Crowthorne is on, in case anyone is at a loose end. Think I will either be doing the "Fun Male - 2 laps" again, which is a 9:15 start, or the "Master Plus Male 4 laps" at 10:01.
http://www.gorrick.com/racing/autumn/
Assume its the same course as Feb this year - 6 mile lap:
https://www.endomondo.com/users/6124781/workouts/4...
http://www.gorrick.com/racing/autumn/
Assume its the same course as Feb this year - 6 mile lap:
https://www.endomondo.com/users/6124781/workouts/4...
Was a good race today. Waiting for the official website results but looks like I came 11th, from ~30+ riders, which is acceptable I suppose. In fact, I led for a while! From the start I zipped past a few riders, but only held onto it for about 30 or 40 seconds until the first climb.
Soon after that a nice young lad (c.18 years old) that I was chatting to at the start line came past me – followed by a big lump that clipped his handlebar sending him crashing down hard – I narrowly avoided going over him.
https://youtu.be/ZR45rIQJ_XM
Fair play to the lad – he got back on and overtook me towards the end of the first lap. Chatted to him and his ma at the finish line and he had quite a nasty cut/graze.
Anyway, course was different to my last race there. Not too *muddy*, but wet pine needles and roots made for a slippery surface in many areas. Couple of short but severe drops that used up all my fork travel, and a pretty steep but rollable slope that im ashamed to say I wussed out of and took the chicken-run on, costing me a few seconds each lap.
Will post up some edited highlights of my efforts later...
Soon after that a nice young lad (c.18 years old) that I was chatting to at the start line came past me – followed by a big lump that clipped his handlebar sending him crashing down hard – I narrowly avoided going over him.
https://youtu.be/ZR45rIQJ_XM
Fair play to the lad – he got back on and overtook me towards the end of the first lap. Chatted to him and his ma at the finish line and he had quite a nasty cut/graze.
Anyway, course was different to my last race there. Not too *muddy*, but wet pine needles and roots made for a slippery surface in many areas. Couple of short but severe drops that used up all my fork travel, and a pretty steep but rollable slope that im ashamed to say I wussed out of and took the chicken-run on, costing me a few seconds each lap.
Will post up some edited highlights of my efforts later...
My highlights - including my "hero-to-zero" sprint start, and later on, my slowest and most pathetic crash ever. Also, thanks YouTube, for compressing the quality to total s
te.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-aF0KfQpZI
te.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-aF0KfQpZI
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