The Racing Thread..
Discussion
gazza285 said:
Battle on the Beach today. Brutal. Saw Yellowjack briefly at the end, but didn't have time to say hello...
Cor blimey guv'nor! How did I miss this post?
Loved that race. Sadly I 'failed' at getting around as quickly as possible again. Stuck at the back, way back from the beach at the start. Shredded it up the beach, overtook plenty of riders, but still got stuck in the logjam that was the first single-track section. A woman was walking her bike past the queuing riders, and getting a bit of a hard time, having to explain constantly that she wasn't 'jumping the queue' but walking her bike back to the start.
The silly girl had only gone and got a puncture, and didn't have any kit to sort it out. As we weren't going anywhere anyway at that point I offered to patch her tube for her. Simple to find the 'sharp' as it was a thorn and still in the tyre, a simple job to patch it, and then we were mobile once again. I spent the next two laps trying to make up the time I'd lost, and was fairly successful at it, being overtaken by the faster guys who were lapping most of the field if we're honest about it, but overtaking plenty of 'ordinary amateurs' like myself.
Sadly, I checked out the result of the girl I'd helped, and it didn't make for good reading. The ungrateful (or perhaps she was simply unlucky and suffered another mechanical issue?) moo had only completed the one lap! If I'd known she wasn't going to bother with finishing, then I'd not have bothered to try to save her race.
Still, right at the end I passed the fastest of the "Team Sumo" riders as we turned onto the finish straight. So at least I wasn't beaten by anyone riding a fatbike in fancy dress!!!
That was my second year at Pembrey, and I sincerely hope it won't be my last. I'll be sober at midnight on New Year's Eve again this year, making sure I'm among the first to commit when the entries go live.
I made a long weekend of it too, seeing family in the area. Sadly, my brother didn't make the start line, as his doctor advised him not to race. Apparently a severe chest infection and a course of antibiotics are not great race preparation...
First round of the Yorkshire Summer Cyclocross on Wednesday, a tricky and short course, and a field of 156 riders led to lots of overtaking, lots of people being lapped, and a greasy surface under the grass lead to a lot of fallers. After my customary poor start I worked slowly through the field to finish 11th in the V40, best result in a few years.
Ready for Round Three of the Nutcracker Series on Sunday...
Ready for Round Three of the Nutcracker Series on Sunday...
Edited by gazza285 on Sunday 30th April 20:32
Steve vRS said:
Could there be a couple of reason why single speeds are limited in appeal in cx racing ? Like hills and flats.
This was mountain bike racing, but the same applies. I only use the single speed CX bike at one venue, mainly because the other times I've used geared bikes I've ripped the mechs off them all/
Season is well underway for me, 3 races so far .... a lumpy 55 mile 2/3/4 finished approx 15th, a hilly 3/4 which was 30 odd miles in atrocious conditions where I got a 9th (sprint was uphill, just left a little late as was still pressing on over the line) and a hard E/1/2/3/4 scratch race last night.
Smashed it from the gun, 5 us us went away which whittled down to 4 ... caught by two with 1/4 of a lap to go, then a larger bunch driven by Wheelbase caught us with about 100m to go. They had a decent mob of riders including the likes of Tom Barras so it was always going to be hard.
Anyhow, hopefully just inside top 10, but will wait to see the official results! I rode well beyond what i'm used to, 339w np for 1 hr 20 mins in a 4 up chaingang was bloody tough going, so the tank was drained in the sprint .... maybe with a 6/7 man group we'd have stayed away and I wouldnt have been so depleted.
2 day stage race at the weekend, then an E/1/2/3/4 on Tuesday and another 3/4 on Thursday. Form should be coming on then.
Smashed it from the gun, 5 us us went away which whittled down to 4 ... caught by two with 1/4 of a lap to go, then a larger bunch driven by Wheelbase caught us with about 100m to go. They had a decent mob of riders including the likes of Tom Barras so it was always going to be hard.
Anyhow, hopefully just inside top 10, but will wait to see the official results! I rode well beyond what i'm used to, 339w np for 1 hr 20 mins in a 4 up chaingang was bloody tough going, so the tank was drained in the sprint .... maybe with a 6/7 man group we'd have stayed away and I wouldnt have been so depleted.
2 day stage race at the weekend, then an E/1/2/3/4 on Tuesday and another 3/4 on Thursday. Form should be coming on then.
JEA1K said:
gazza285 said:
Racing on tarmac just doesn't appeal to me, hurts too much when you fall/get knocked off. I'll be at Cannock Chase this Saturday for Round 3 of the Midlands XC Series...
Then you just have to stay up the road and away from the bunch;)ALawson said:
Wish my wheel builder had, returned a wheel to him last week and he crashed in a crit Tuesday night breaking collar bone and thumb on the other hand! Off to Tenerife in 3 weeks, now need to find some cheap off the peg wide tubeless wheels!
Ouch, yeah, doing crits is less safe than road racing. 60 man bunch sprint doesn't work with 5m width of tarmac. Great course at Cannock Chase today, fast and fun, with a few puke inducing climbs thrown in. Managed first single speed rider again, in a category with one rider, and also finished in a slightly less mediocre position than usual in the Vets. Our Youth also finished 15th out of 23 in his class, which after missing 18 months of racing not that long ago due to health troubles, is a massive improvement from his usual tail end performance. A good day all round. The only fly in the ointment was a little bout of car sickness, leading to a massive vomiting session, from the club's leading U16 female, who was traveling with us today, and my mate's daughter being verbally abused and then physically forced off the track by one of the male V40 riders after he caught her on one of the single track sections. Sure sucks the fun out of it for a U16 girl.
Much as I love racing my single speed, some of the hillier courses have had me struggling, so I have a new XC bike...
A Cube Reaction GTC. Hardly used, already converted to 1x11, I'm swapping the bendy Manitou forks for some Rebas, sticking my lightweight wheels on, slamming the Stem and going to give gears and suspension a try...
A Cube Reaction GTC. Hardly used, already converted to 1x11, I'm swapping the bendy Manitou forks for some Rebas, sticking my lightweight wheels on, slamming the Stem and going to give gears and suspension a try...
gazza285 said:
my mate's daughter being verbally abused and then physically forced off the track by one of the male V40 riders after he caught her on one of the single track sections. Sure sucks the fun out of it for a U16 girl.
That is bang out of order! I hope you can find out who he was and report him to the league. And then hammer sausages into his lawn, of course.
After a very interrupted year last year with surgery, then a poor first ever race and then being hit by a car, i'm finally getting back into the swing of it.
I've had my first 2 races at Castle Combe which seems to be a much more forgiving circuit for newcomers. I'm up about 50w on my FTP over last year when I tried and I can sit in the bunch pretty comfortably.
First race was a big learning experience again which saw me run out of energy when it came to the sprint, I finished somewhere in 15-20th of the field which I believe is 90 riders. I was pretty happy.
Yesterdays race felt much lower effort due to the wind being less aggressive, and probably because I've learnt where I need to be. I was feeling really good as we were getting close to the end and fancied a good sprint but with 2 to go there was a crash in front of me which frankly made me feel physically sick, they guy bumped into another rider who leant back into him to stay up resulting in the first losing control and faceplanting the tarmac at around 30mph.
I dropped back a bit after that and on the final lap with the leaders in sight I saw them make a false sprint, then when they went the second time I thought they were going to sprinted from mid-field, got cut off with no-where to go and rolled in about 20th again.
A little disappointed I couldn't carry my speed all the way as it was a heck of a charge but happy to be finishing in the front 3rd anyway.
Anyone have any good tips or resources on race craft? I've been re-watching the GCN videos as i'm keep to avoid being wiped out.
I've had my first 2 races at Castle Combe which seems to be a much more forgiving circuit for newcomers. I'm up about 50w on my FTP over last year when I tried and I can sit in the bunch pretty comfortably.
First race was a big learning experience again which saw me run out of energy when it came to the sprint, I finished somewhere in 15-20th of the field which I believe is 90 riders. I was pretty happy.
Yesterdays race felt much lower effort due to the wind being less aggressive, and probably because I've learnt where I need to be. I was feeling really good as we were getting close to the end and fancied a good sprint but with 2 to go there was a crash in front of me which frankly made me feel physically sick, they guy bumped into another rider who leant back into him to stay up resulting in the first losing control and faceplanting the tarmac at around 30mph.
I dropped back a bit after that and on the final lap with the leaders in sight I saw them make a false sprint, then when they went the second time I thought they were going to sprinted from mid-field, got cut off with no-where to go and rolled in about 20th again.
A little disappointed I couldn't carry my speed all the way as it was a heck of a charge but happy to be finishing in the front 3rd anyway.
Anyone have any good tips or resources on race craft? I've been re-watching the GCN videos as i'm keep to avoid being wiped out.
Eddh said:
I'm planning to have a go at the CC series this year, I was going to be there yesterday but couldn't find my BC membership card so I have had to order a new one, fingers crossed it arrives in time for next week!
I'll drop you a PM if you're down there and I'll come over and say hi
Give BC a call, they will email you a temp one. I should be there for most of them, dependant on my work schedule.I'll drop you a PM if you're down there and I'll come over and say hi
3rd (first behind a two man break) my first ever race at lee valley 4ths.
was 20th ish on the bell till third last corner, it was bunching up so i went for it round the outside and stayed away till the end. pretty scary in a pack that big. and was a crash
39.2km
41.7kph average
185HR
228W (281NP)
was 20th ish on the bell till third last corner, it was bunching up so i went for it round the outside and stayed away till the end. pretty scary in a pack that big. and was a crash
39.2km
41.7kph average
185HR
228W (281NP)
Edited by z4RRSchris on Sunday 14th May 08:26
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