Mallory Park midweek race meetings (bikes, not cars)

[Birdthom]

Anyone on here done these in the past?

Mallory is local to me and I'm *considering* entering as a newbie cat 4 next spring/summer. What sort of standard do I need to be at to avoid total grovelling humiliation?

Thanks

[groomi]

Brings back memories from nearly 15 years ago when I used to have a crack at them. I remember initially be surprised at how high the pace was from the off, but relatively easy to keep up. Unusual riding round such a small but open circuit, where if there is strong wind you need to keep swapping which side of the pack you are on to stay protected from it.

I recall the sprints were a bit hairy, but I never really had the nerve or legs to get in the thick of it by then.

Have a go - nothing to lose.

[okgo]

Never a sure fire benchmark of knowing you'll be fine in a 4th cat race. Well, if we knew what your power threshold was we could know probably, but you'll just have to give it a go.

If you can ride on your own flat out for an hour and average over 20 mph (over a flat course) you will be ok, if you have a decent sprint, you will be better off as you'll be able to get out of the crashfest that 4th cat races can sometimes be. Tricky though, everyone thinks they have a good sprint, truly few people do, it will become obvious if you do (as it was for me) as people will start going backwards even though they're going full gas same as you and you'll be wondering what they're doing wrong ;-)

[Birdthom]

Thanks, useful stuff. I can maintain that kind of pace pretty easily so I guess I should be ok. I am part of the majority who don't have a sprint though :-)

[anonymous-user]

in the same boat as you but doing the castle combe series in 2013, we'll compare notes in 12 months time!!! good luck. slightly concerned about racing on the RS if Cat 4 is as bad as everyone says it is but as okgo says, its about getting out of there as quickly as possible!!!

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 10th November 20:10

[okgo]

A mate of mine is going to be using the Hillingdon winter series to get out of cat 4, he's a solid rider, I've told him to attack and just keep attacking, you'll get away eventually and if you're strong you will be able to ride solo or with a couple of others and get a result in a safe way.

[lynus2004]

I started racing this year and chose Mallory because it was local and I used to race motorbikes there. I found that the race average was around 24-25 mph, the pace starting high in the first half and then losing speed as people tired.

As mentioned above if you can hold a steady 21-22mph on the flat for a period you will be fine. Though be prepared for hard effort up to the hairpin each lap followed by freewheeling for long periods back down the hill.

For a cat 4 race I would say that the riding was pretty safe, wide track and no tight corners help.

I would recommend getting entered into one of the early races, this season the Thursday cat 4 only races didn't start until the fifth week and I waited for those to start but I would have been better getting some experience in the earlier Cat 3/4 races

[agentnomad]

Have a look on Garmin and Strava for uploads of riders race data and have a look at the numbers etc.

I have uploaded Lincs league races so you can search for those if it helps.

Paul.

[Pupp]

I did a couple of seasons there in the 90s... really good fun

[Birdthom]

pablo said:

in the same boat as you but doing the castle combe series in 2013, we'll compare notes in 12 months time!!! good luck. slightly concerned about racing on the RS if Cat 4 is as bad as everyone says it is but as okgo says, its about getting out of there as quickly as possible!!!

Edited by pablo on Saturday 10th November 20:10

Did the first round at Mallory last night, 4th Cat. Great fun. 64 starters plus ten in the women's race who were on track at the same time. Everybody seemed very well behaved to me, it certainly wasn't the carnage I was expecting. My aim was to keep with the lead bunch and I did that fine, came in with them but outside the top 10 (guessing about 15th) but felt really good and could have pushed much earlier at the finish if I'd had more experience and a bit more confidence in my legs. Can't wait for the next one.

ETA: for info, average speed was about 25mph, my final lap was 28.5mph. I wouldn't have believed I could do that if you told me before the race, but it was completely fine as long as I kept with the main group.

Edited by Birdthom on Friday 19th April 10:14

[lynus2004]

Good work Birdthom - I like Mallory there is plenty of track to use, was it just the bottom oval last night or was the hairpin included?

I was there on Tuesday for the cat 2/3 race - The step up in pace came as a surprise and a first lap crash split the back of the bunch meaning there were a few riders (me included) trying to chase back on which didn't happen.

Tried staying out as long as possible but was eventually lapped and sat on the back of the bunch without any issues until pulling out 1 lap from the finish so that I didn't interfere at all.

Clubmate raced last night, top 10 finish for him, pace was 23.5mph average which seems about right.

[Birdthom]

It was the lower circuit (anti-clockwise) with chicane last night.

Sounds like my GPS might be rather optimistic if it's showing a higher average than your clubmate who came in ahead of me!