Cannock Chase - FTD & Monkey: How fast are you?

pilsburypie

I've been going up the chase for a couple of years now, always with mates and never going for a "time". Just potter up on the hills, stop for a breather and a chat then hammer the downs as fast as I can!

Today we decided to go round non stop. 1 hour 39 minutes 30 seconds with about 1 minute of stops to wait for a mate to sort his chain out.

Could probably shave a few minutes off if we really push hard but pretty pleased with this first time effort. Enjoyed it too - a new challenge on a familiar course. Will be doing the time trial thing again for sure.

What you lot doing it in?

.blitz

about 3 1/2 hours

1:39 is a good time but of course you will have missed out S11

pilsburypie

Ha! I have done it in 3 hours before - but we rode a couple of bits twice and had a chin wag along the way! As long as you're having a laugh that's all that matters

Tom BB

1 hour 19 mins is my personal best......reckon I could possibly get down to around 1 hour 15 mins on a perfect run.....

Not sure what the 'record' is?.....I reckon the likes of Kileen etc could do it in under an hour with ease.......

pilsburypie

Tom BB wrote:

1 hour 19 mins is my personal best......reckon I could possibly get down to around 1 hour 15 mins on a perfect run.....

Bloody Nora! You must be a racing whippet.... God knows if I'll ever get to that time. I go about light jogging speed up the climbs and go hell for leather on the downs..... can't see how I could shave off 20 mins though....

Tom BB

I do abit of racing.......I'm about mid pack in sport at regional level....and towards the back at national level :oops:

As for pace on climbs.......I'll try and hold about 8mph up the first fireroad climd, and the same up kitbag hill........

I dont take my riding too seriously, but I do ride pretty hard everytime I go out, and I'll generally do at least one hard turbo session per week too-enjoying it is the main thing though really isn't it!.....I'd really like to be able to be fit enough to get promoted to the expert category in xc racing.....but if I'm honest with myself I think I'd stop enjoying riding long before I reached the required fitness level!

What bike did you ride it on?

BennyB

I do the whole thing in about 3.5 hours.

Im not very fit and its an hour and a half drive up there so I like to take my time and make the most of it to be honest. Well apart from the down bits lol.

BorisSpencer

I go in a group of between 2 and 6 and normally look to do it in about 5 hours.
We park at Brindley Heath, do FTD then have a fry-up in the cafe, followed by MT and another cup of tea and a piece of cake before calling it a day.

Clark3y

2-2.5hr
has improved a lot since I started doing it solo. Stopping to wait and natter all the time really adds up.

leaflite

I usually go with a group so tend to have a chat, wait for others etc every so often. Takes me about 2hrs 15 just doing ftd, and about 5 hrs to do ftd and the monkey.

leaflite

Double Post :oops:

.blitz

good to see other people taking it easy

1:19? my god I spend 1:19 riding round and round Lower Cliff

Penylope

1:05 just to do the monkey last sunday (obv without section 11 as well).

but ut does take me 3parts of on hour to get there, so i dont want to rush too much.
gonna drag my riding buddy up there sometime soon, as he hasent been round the monkey yet, should knock it out in abut 3 hours though.

on-oneplus26

About 1h50ish for the pair but thats at night (with a couple of quick stops for the dogs to catch up and for my mate to stretch out his back!)

darren555

The only time I have done a decent run by myself was 1hr 33mins. I didn't really pay attention to the time until I got to Kitbag Hill and started really going for it so I reckon I could make up the 3mins on the Monkey to just sneak in under the 1hr 30mins mark.
I prefer a 2+ hr social group ride though and would trade some speed to have the confidence to hoon around the new black section.

IIRC the fastest time is under an hour :shock:

Mrs Toast

Takes me about 45 minutes to just over an hour to do Follow the Dog - depends on time of year, weather conditions, and whether I'm waiting a lot for groups of people to pass. :P

I've only done the full Dog/Monkey loop a few times, normally takes me between 3 and 4 hours, depending on how badly I've fallen off...

angry_bird

.blitz wrote:

I spend 1:19 riding round and round Lower Cliff

This.

Although last time I did a full loop it was just under 2 hours, that said it was a fairly busy time, reckon I could shave a fair few minutes off but then I don't really like to race around it too much, prefer to mess around over and over again on sections.

Alex

These times only count if you do three laps and time the second you know. Them's racing rules.

Mrs Toast

Alex wrote:

These times only count if you do three laps and time the second you know. Them's racing rules.

Are you supposed to stop the clock when you take photos or stop to look at a particularly cute dog?

Alex

No, that's counted in to your time. Slower, less experienced riders in front of you who hold you up are also counted against you, so you should run up the back of them until they either get out of your way or fall off.

Make sure you plan your laps carefully also as it's not acceptable to wait for a train to go past. Either run out in front of it, or check the train timetables to ensure you're not kept waiting, wasting precious seconds.

In the event you do come across someone who's enjoying themselves, make sure you shout and swear at them and remind them that they're ruining YOUR hot lap.

pilsburypie

Tom BB wrote:

I do abit of racing.......I'm about mid pack in sport at regional level....and towards the back at national level :oops:

What bike did you ride it on?

Aaaahh, that may well explain your time. I do it on a Zesty so not a racing whippet bike but nice for the downs....