Mud, Sweat and Gears 2012

VWsurfbum

not finished yet, but this is what its like starting at the back



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bigdawg

vw did you do the hour - beginning to wish I had Ive only just finished cleaning my bike and had to hose down m clothes before they went inthe machine!!

bigdawg

christ you had it all but dry :shock: thats like a totalloy different course to the one we had!!

Oh and in nearly 20 years racing Ive never run over a fish before..! :?

danhowe@ntlworld.com

...

VWsurfbum

yep only the hour, I was not exactly racing
Yep first time I saw a fish on the course too lol, but kind of apt!
I'll put up the second lap ones later. Plenty muddy then!

VWsurfbum

a few for the 2 hr guys http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomoldbloke/

I was chatting to the photographer on the start finish line who took loads of photos from the 1hr race but he was'nt an official one and hadnt used Flikr.

pilch

Hey vw good to see you yesterday!

Well that was fun... I think that's one of the hardest races I've done, what was rideable was good, but a lot of it had me swearing. Mech hanger finally gave up on lap 3, luckily near the finish so I dragged the bike through for 14th... Mrs p did very well and won the vet ladies, very proud of her!

IhateDNS

VWsurfbum wrote:

I was chatting to the photographer on the start finish line who took loads of photos from the 1hr race but he was'nt an official one and hadnt used Flikr.

Did you get his name & email address?

VWsurfbum

IhateDNS wrote:

VWsurfbum wrote:

I was chatting to the photographer on the start finish line who took loads of photos from the 1hr race but he was'nt an official one and hadnt used Flikr.

Did you get his name & email address?

I wasn't after a date Spence! Lol
He did mention something about getting them to matt though I think? I think that's wheat he said anyway?

VWsurfbum

this one i feel bad about as he's a nice chap and last year we raced a few times against each other and his son is a real nice chap too.
http://youtu.be/5VFBDNtY5gE
i have the last lap jump section uploading now.

VWsurfbum

end of race slop
http://youtu.be/46u4Bf3wsxg

C0LL0

Excellent days racing boy that was tough, but a little purseverance and a lot of running uphill and I got in 4 laps and 12th place in the vets my bestest ever result in my 1st 2 hour of the msg rounds. Bike needs more tlc than I do though, roll on Ickworth and more rain.......

evo3ben

Well, that was a mega race! Didn't think anything could beat the conditions of Hylands but that definitely did! I watched the Open cat in the morning which didn't look too bad. Had a bit of a practice after lunch and course seemed to have held up ok'ish. But after the first lap or the afternoon race the course when down hill badly. I won't go into it as the guys who raced in the 2hr race know exactly what it was like. Not far off a triathlon lol
Bike suffered a bit. Broken rear mech hanger, front pads down to metal, bottom bracket bearings now need replacing and chain not doing so well but then again I haven't changed the chain since first race in Thetford winter series so it's done well really.
Managed to complete 4 laps with the broken hanger and earn 14th in Sport category which I am pleased with.
Please please weather be good or the last MSG race!!

CODHAM PARK MTB

Had a walk round today and all i can say is bloody hell
well done to all who got there head down and got on with it and got round and the riders who gave it ago
cant help the rain
gutted it rained i spent hrs prepping the course and i can 100% say you would of all loved it if it had not rained

IhateDNS

what the chances of riding track again? Like an open day not a race.
Need some rocks or earth in sand pit dugout, was good tho.

evo3ben

It was a good course dont get me wrong and in the dry would have been fantastic! I dont think there is a course in the country that could stand up to that weather and amount of bikes going over it. I was absolutely wacked after 4 laps which took 2 1/2 hours :shock: Was a great feeling to fully complete the race knowing how difficult it was and that in race repairs were needed to keep going. Character building lol

Monty13a

IhateDNS wrote:

what the chances of riding track again? Like an open day not a race.
Need some rocks or earth in sand pit dugout, was good tho.

If your talking about the “Valley Of Death” over the back near the pond, it was not dug out it was the heavy rain they had before that made it.
If Jason put rocks or earth in the sand pit it wouldn't be a sandpit.... Haha

I only rode the 1hr Open but had my best ride EVER with a 2nd place

bigdawg

I dont think there were any complaints with the course, just the weather, I cant help thinking had it carriedo n raining it would have made the course a bit more rideable, it was only the mud on the forest that was drying out that was the real problem, I think I worked out one km through the wood took nearly half an hour on my third lap...

and if Im truthfully honest I new the leaders were coming up fast and may have slowed down slightly :oops: , but I think another lap would have taken over an hour!

As for the next round the forecast is for rain all next week... again! Anoyone know what this course is like, Ive a feeling Ive raced there but could well be wrong...

johnnycash01

'CODHAM PARK MTB' many thanks to you and the organisers and especially the marshalls. If we the riders were struggling, they deserve a lot of credit for standing in the rain to make the event happen.

As others have said the course was absolutely brutal, I went for 2hrs of hard riding and thats exactly what I got! Personally I got a lot of satisfaction from finishing in a reasonable position as it became more of a test of endurance than pure fitness. Considering I'm doing the thetford dusk till dawn in October I expect I need that kind of practise!

It is a shame the course wasn't dry though as it looked really fun, with nice sections and some tech like that rock garden. Those short sharp climbs would have hurt too, if the race was high paced. No-one could have expected the weather to be quite that bad in early June.

sdminus

any pics of the day ?

bigdawg

vw posted a link back up there a bit, but tbh just pic any picture as we pretty much all looked the same after lap 1!

Monty13a

I've found this nice video from Sunday
http://vimeo.com/43423688

bigdawg

thats pretty cool, interesting to see how the course got worse over the 2 hours, it all looked so easy on lap 1!

Found out why I had no gears for the most part - my rear jockey wheel wasnt turning at all, in fact it still isnt, absolutely locked solid! JUst hope my cassette didnt suffer to badly as a result!!

pilch

bigdawg wrote:

Found out why I had no gears for the most part - my rear jockey wheel wasnt turning at all, in fact it still isnt, absolutely locked solid!

^^^This, plus I seem to have 'filed' my newish chainset into something that looks like a circular saw, oh and my mech hanger bust off... luckily I wasn't going fast enough to mince the rear mech in the back wheel.

Does anybody have any info on the final venue? how's it hold up in the rain/mud is it the peaty/boggy stuff or more clay, clodding purgatory?

The forecast looks decidedly damp for the foreseeable... depending on the conditions may have to go singlespeed.... in june WTF!

C0LL0

Although I was having trouble selecting gears towards the end due to the amount of mud collected amongst them, my biggest problem was my pedals clogged with mud and I could not clip in, which was intesreasting on the grassy climbs.

IhateDNS

pilch wrote:

Does anybody have any info on the final venue? how's it hold up in the rain/mud is it the peaty/boggy stuff or more clay, clodding purgatory?

No its a new venue to MSG. I been to the house and gardens very nice in Autumn

C0LL0

I'm looking forward to the last round I'm sure Matt and Graham will put on a tremendous course and run it as great as they have done all year, Hylands and Codham weather conditions were not ideal, but lets face it we live in England do we let a little bit of rain spoil our outdoor fun, NO I WILL NOT.

muddylegs

Is anyone taking part in the race at Langdon Hills. I am trying to find out if you need a licence to race in the open category..

evo3ben

Yes i am racing at Langdon and no you dont need a Licence to race in the open Catergory Just need to be registered on the BC website 8)

bigdawg

is there an age limit on the open category..??

I was going to write this off and didnt want to pay £50 for licences to do one race..