How longs a piece of string? (How fast is a XC race?)

scarbs85

As the title says, I appreciate this is a relatively dumb question dependent on a number of factors such as course, class and conditions.

However, what sort of average speeds and lap times are required to consider competing in XC events. I'm 26 so would be in the Sport class, or the open class. I'm working towards entering a XC series and whatever races I can find, but never having been or competed I don't really have a benchmark to aim for, or know where I need to get to before I'm "ready".

I'm keen to go over and have a watch of the final Midlands XC round at Hanchurch to see what it's all about and get an idea of what performance levels are needed. Annoyingly I can't get to round 3 next weekend. If anyone has any info about the series, and what I could expect from joining in then please feel free to share as much or as little as you like!

u05harrisb

race pace will depend alot from course to course and of course what class your in too. the best way to gauge it is you flat out for 45mins to just over an hour normally, somtimes upto 2 hours on occasions again depends upon race type. most of the time for XC stuff its effectivly you against yourself most passes are done on the straights because your faster as apposed to good tactics and cornering etc. somtimes that changes on a technical course. id say just get otu there and have a race, your probably not gonna get 1st on your 1st race but hey its a learning curve! just get out on your bike and go for a whole hour flat out! thats good training then go race and youll know whats needed from then

Ben

Rankles

Generally the winners are coming in at 1.5 hours in each category.

If it's your first time I'd strongly recommend sticking to open, you'll get a nasty shock going in for sport!

Also as suggested, try and do your local loop at full pace for three laps. If you want to die after one lap, consider dropping to the fun category (as depressing as the title is, two laps is tough if you've never really raced at 'race pace')

I did open cat at my first race and there were sponsored riders all over it. After two laps I'd developed a couple of niggles and despite finishing I should probably have stuck to the two lap category.

But then I don't know your levels of fitness - but I think it's fair to say if you haven't raced before you really need to push yourself to do a time trial at a good pace and try and keep to a decent time.

For reference, I came 103rd out of 130 on an 8km loop 3 laps, all clocking in at 40 minutes. The front of the pack were 25-30 minutes.

Technically they won't be the toughest trails you've ever been on. Tight forest singletrack will be puncutated with the odd technical section and climb but you probably won't get any awkward, long technical climbs as they like to keep things flowing.

Afterwards though I was envying the sports cat. 4 laps would have been killer for me.

MagnePange

I think that elitlevel (Sweden, national elite) ride at an speed of 25-28 km/h on an average (depending on the course and the conditions). The tracks they ride are around 70-80 km long.

C0LL0

Don't concern your self with how fast every one else is, enter the race and see where you finish, then look at more training to improve with every race you enter. its that simple

miss notax

Unless you're at either extreme, there will always be people a lot faster than you and always people a lot slower than you!

I found my first race a bit of a shock (not so much the speed, just the craziness of it) so I agree with the comment about choosing the open or fun category first to see what it's like

Rankles

miss notax wrote:

Unless you're at either extreme, there will always be people a lot faster than you and always people a lot slower than you!

I found my first race a bit of a shock (not so much the speed, just the craziness of it) so I agree with the comment about choosing the open or fun category first to see what it's like

Ha that's how I felt, being in that starting grid and then all falling over each other like D Day.

njee20

Just enter one and see. Going and watching wont show you much. Turn up, chat to other racers and get involved! Open is a good shout.

Races have got slightly shorter lately, the UCI now say an Elite race should be 1:45-2:00 for the winner. Expert tends to be 1:30-1:45 and sport 1:15-1:30, but again that's for the winner, last place can be 30 minutes behind.

Riding around your local trails fast won't really teach you much IMO!

flange.

It also depends where you do your first race, regardless of category. Sport in a regional race, or something like the Gorricks will be a fair bit slower than at the Nationals, although the fast boys will always be fast. I've not done any of the Midlands but I know a couple of lads who race in them and its meant to be of a pretty high standard.

The only real way you'll get an idea of pace is to turn up and actually do an event. Consider putting in for Open/Fun, there's no shame in it and better to be in the top half of the open than the bottom 10 in sport and have a proper race with people of a similar ability. There's nothing more miserable than riding round on your own for two hours blowing out your @rse.

Make sure your kit is up to scratch before you go and that you've not put any new bits on untested prior to racing (I'm the biggest culprit for this and believe me, it does come back to bite you on the arse). If you use a Camelbac try to swap to bottles as you'll soon notice the weight on your back after 40 mins of smashing yourself to bits. Shaving legs and skinsuit are optional in the Open cat ;-) (but go lycra if you have some - its way more comfortable for racing in). Oh, and if you don't already, use SPDS. I can see no fun at all in racing on flats - miserable!

Get there nice and early after a decent nights kip, warm up properly and try to pre-ride the course if you can. Bury yourself at the start and don't be afraid to push past folks (politely!) if you're feeling spicy. Keep drinking (on the fireroads, not singletrack) if you can and have fun!

BTW, this is just what I've learnt from a few seasons racing. There are a lot faster racers on here than me (see Njee et al), but the above stuff has been learnt the hard way.

Seriously, just get entered for one and give it a pop. Racing is ace!

njee20

Sport in a regional race, or something like the Gorricks will be a fair bit slower than at the Nationals, although the fast boys will always be fast

Actually at the Gorricks it's very fast, in part because there's no junior cat, so a lot of the juniors race sport, and because it's a combined elite/expert cat some folk who would race expert stick in sport. I got on the podium in 4 sport NPS races, but never finished higher than 4th in a Gorrick in the same year!

But yes I take your point, and it's valid.

flange.

I got on the podium in 4 sport NPS races

See, I'd be happy with top 10....

Fair point actually. Quite a few masters raced in Sport in the eastern series a couple of weekends ago - the pace was frantic. I'm still reeling from Sherwood however, this weekend is going to be horrific!

njee20

First year I raced Sport in 2006 my best NPS result was 16th (at Sherwood), then got progressively worse. Trained well over winter, had one 7th place and a dozen or so podium finishes in 2007! Never been able to repeat that since moving to Expert though!

Dalby is a totally different kettle of fish to Sherwood; there's hills, so the time gaps are bigger and it's less about getting the right wheels. Any gaps in your fitness will show up! You need to be able to ride as well, and it's gonna be wet this weekend, which could be interesting! Glad I'm not driving 5 hours to get my ass handed to me again!

flange.

I'm proper nervous about it to be honest. Having only ever raced the Eastern Series and a few Gorricks, Dalby is a proper worry. Its the climbing that bothers me most, being a bit bigger than most plus lack of fitness is going to hurt. And its wet. And I'm riding on new forks. And a whole other bunch of excuses

There's quite a few not going this weekend. My team mate has dropped out (his Mrs won the Expert at Sherwood) and a few other lads I know aren't going. Fingers crossed loads don't show up and I can get a few more points!

njee20

Sherwood always has the biggest fields, particularly as Dalby isn't a world cup venue this year, it'll be smaller.

The climbing's not that bad, it all comes together, the climb between Worry Gill and Medusa's, and then out of Medusas. I did it on a single 36t ring last year, 5 laps, and it wasn't that bad. Margam has more climbing.

flange.

I know its a taboo question, but I'm thinking its going to be quite hard packed, even with the rain. Currently on small block 8's (that are a bit frazzled), would I be better on something a bit...well..less sh1t?

njee20

Never used them, so can't really comment. As you say, it doesn't get muddy there. It was pretty damp in 2009, the first time we went, I used a Nic/Ralph combo, which was fine. Remember David Fletcher had a Furious Fred on the back, despite the less than perfect conditions, and it didn't slow him down. I'd probably go with Ralphs or something of that ilk, 2.25" or something if you've got them.

flange.

Much appreciated, will get a set ordered now