Your race today

[mr Mag00]

the fairy visited so gutted less than an hour into the 2 hour enduro. tubeless system would not have saved it, size hole BP struggle with. so gutted first race in a decade! but got the bug really really enjoyed the build up. would have been on for 5 laps in the 2 hours me thinks. oh well roll on the next one. but i am going to invest in a tubesless system any recommendations?

I think it was a good course too.

 

[Will1985]

New course best time for me this evening - in near-perfect conditions I did 22:10 on 92" fixed. That's spinning at 99rpm! I'm buzzing but annoyed I didn't gear up to 96" as I had been planning during the day.
The only rider faster did 21:18 on 98" fixed.

Got circuit racing at Hethel (Lotus track) tomorrow evening and undecided about where to TT on Thursday - it's got to be quick!

The front hall is looking like a bike shop at the moment with all the bikes parked up - I'll get round to putting some pics up in the gallery at some point soon.

 

[Blue]

Completed my first race this evening. just over 20 miles in 54mins, finishing in the main pack. I was delighted not to get dropped and enjoyed the cut and thrust of trying to get away off the front on occasions(didn't manage it!).

Can hardly wait for the next one!

 

[stevevw]

Third ever race last night and still getting better, which is all I can reasonably hope for at my age.
I managed to stay at the front of the bunch for 3/4 of an hour going Ok and resisting any temptations to go with any breaks. That was until I got squeezed on to the grass on a sharp uphill part of the track in my panic I managed to bang the shifter in to top gear and by the time I had sorted myself out the bunch was 40-50 metres in front. Did try my hardest to get back on but realistically it was never going to happen

Things I learnt last night
Riding near the front is so much easier than trying to hang on towards the back.
When people lean on you, you have to lean back on them to hold your line.
Not to get bullied and bully your way in out of the wind.

Looking forward to race 4 in two weeks time

 

[Will1985]

Another race on the Lotus track tonight - it was handicap so the Go Race riders set off first followed by the 3rd/4th cats 2 minutes later followed by the scratch group 2 minutes after that.

I was in the 3rd/4th group which was pretty frantic from the start. The pace was pretty high and a few people tried to sort it out to get a chain going. With intermediate £10 primes after 20, 30 and 40 minutes, the racing was going to break up as people went for the line. On the first one, we came up the straight with a few of the go racers holding out - I went for it 600m out and TTd it to the line and got there with only a couple of metres to spare over the go racers. Had to sit up and wait for 20 seconds before the bunch came through and it was back up to speed touching 50km/h. I nearly took the next prime as well but sat up with 50m to go because I wasn't sure about the etiquette of locking out the prize money.

Coming up the the next prime, the racing was getting ragged and this was going to be a bunch sprint. With probably 10 riders wide across the track, there was a lot of jostling. I found myself on the edge and then was elbowed out further as a rider swung across in front of me. Fortunately there was a run off area so I took it and had to spin around - the bunch was gone but I stuck it in a big gear and time trialled it back to the bunch. Unfortunately just as I got onto the back, the pack split so I was still really 50m short of the main bunch. At 45km/h+ there wasn't much hope of bridging but I had a go and then sat up to wait for the scratch guys.

I sat on the back of their train at 48km/h for a lap and then couldn't hold on much longer and dropped off just before they joined up with the 3rd/4th group. Bit of a shame I couldn't get back on so I rode the last 3 laps as a 2-up with another rider who had been shelled out.

All in all not too bad - hopefully next time I'll be able to stay in the bunch and have the strength to go for the win. Hopefully I'll be able to stick up a photo tomorrow.

 

[Lardyboy]

Did my first TT today after being harangued over the last months by Fairweather to join him on one.

25 miles, Llandovery-Llandeilo-Llandovery. Weather described as"breezey" but fine. Borrowed clip on bars mounted on the Silk Road and off I went.

Wasn't doing to bad, when, I was passed by an experienced club mate at about 6 miles who encouraged me as he went passed. I made the mistake of upping the pace and maintain a sensible gap to him. This worked up to the the point I cramped up badly about 400 yards further along. So had to dismount stretch out the offending limb and then decide do I go back to the start or carry on and finish the course.

I forgot in my eagerness how little power you can put down once you have had a bad cramp, and that it's always threatening to return at even the slightest provocation.

But through gritted teeth at times and no little shouts of encouragement from the guys who passed me I eventually got round in 75 mins.

So at least I've got something to aim at now!

 

[mr Mag00]

I am trying to find the lap distance of the Crow Hill Hampshire XC race, does any one know?

 

[mr Mag00]

XC MTB Southern Series Crow Hill race entered for Sunday 13th

 

[sarahpink]

did totnes and back (15 miles) quite hilly, then to paignton mostly straight along a cycle path which is about 7 miles

 

[iLB]

all was going well with 10/11 laps of the race to go at darley moor this afternoon, unfortunately a touch of wheels brought me down going round the hair pin and i have lots of road rash to show for it. still having fixed up the bike a bit and received some first aid my love or doing silly things on a bike kicked in and my friend and I rode back home to sheffield (45-50ish miles), tired now- need more food.

 

[iLB]

evening 10 tonight and very happy to pull a pb out of the bag, cut from 24.32 to 23.05 on the same bexley course

picture taken by a now very proud dad/mechanic (see shadow), last minute saddle and clip on adjustment proved vital

 

[Origamist]

evening 10 tonight and very happy to pull a pb out of the bag, cut from 24.32 to 23.05 on the same bexley course

picture taken by a now very proud dad/mechanic (see shadow), last minute saddle and clip on adjustment proved vital

Excellent time, Andy. Really pleased for you - short 22s won't be too far off...

What were the quick guys doing?!

 

[iLB]

fastest on the night was a long 21 I think, i'll get there...

 

[Brahan]

Well done mate. Enjoying the season so far? Which course is it?

 

[Will1985]

My race yesterday actually....I rode the 4th cat race at Brands Hatch during BikeRadar Live weekend. The race was 45 minutes + 5 laps of the 1.9km Indy circuit. There were probably about 40 riders for a race under incredibly hot conditions.

The race started off slow averaging about 33km/h for the first lap as everybody stuck together. At the back of the coure was the main climb of about 30m ascent which slowed the group down, although I didn't think it would be too hard to sprint up it. On the other hand, the main straight had a strong wind gusting down it which was difficult to ride into. I tried to sit about 6th wheel back and let others do the work for the first 20 minutes. By this time it was possible to see who might be decent enough to make a move.

After 14 laps I made a move with one other guy, attacking on the hill and quickly distancing ourselves from the bunch. A couple of others managed to catch up and we thought it might stick. It took a bit of persuading to make them come through on the main straight with a lot of elbow flicking and when they finally came through they couldn't hold the pace. Frustratingly while the two of us felt decent, the others made the pace drop and the bunch managed to catch up - they got a bit of criticism from the motorbike outrider afterwards

With everyone back together and it becoming fairly cagey, it seemed like it would be best to wait until half a lap to go and repeat the move. With a lap to go, a rider managed to brake in the paceline (presumably nearly hit the wheel in front), and we were forced to slow as the guys came past on the right. Now stuck on the inside of the track it was difficult to move out and have some freedom on the climb - going into the corner ~20 back and on the wrong side, I had to dodge some slower climbers until I found some clear track and moved to the outside at the top around the hairpin. From there, I sat on the outside and made sure I carried my speed up the next ascent onto the main straight and started a sprint - it was obvious I wouldn't make top 5 by now, but gave it everything to see if I could grab a point. The sprint was good, making up a couple more places, but just missed out on 10th

This was the first 4th cat race I've entered - all the others have been E/1/2/3/4 where it's just a battle to hold on. Now I think I'll find a few more simple 4th cat only or 3/4 races to give myself a bit more of a chance. Photos should appear on mybibnumber soon.