Mud Sweat & Gears 20....13!!!

VWsurfbum

IhateDNS wrote:

I never doubted the weather shame I not taking part.
Good luck all

Since when?

cycleclinic

Man that was tough. Also my rear wheel took an big hit somewhere and the new DT Swiss XR350 rim (not cheap) is ruined. I was pleased that I did not need to use the chicken runs as that corse is far more technical than I am used too.
12th out of 16 in the Master cat, so at least I was not last. Go a puncture too which slowed me down a bit and I think the pinch flat and the rim damage are connected.

VWsurfbum

Brilliant day, brilliant track. Much fun was had by tge whole family even though neither of us finished on the podium

WindyG

It was great course and very tough in places. Pleased with myself that I did all the technical routes and no chicken runs as well. Saw some pretty nasty crashes one right in front of me in the wooded section near the stream plus a few on the BMX track and the sandpit on the later races. I seem to be attracted to trees, every race I do I hit one, tore a grip this time.

Weffywoo

Had an awesome race, a real baptism of fire but so much fun.

Learnt loads, got even more to work on for the next race
Felt it was well organised, although I have nothing to base it on but it seemed well marshalled and relaxed at the same time.

Have to say when the elite guys went past me felt I was standing still :shock:

stylish

I think Matt and co will be hard pressed to top that lap, it was brutal, challenging and loads of fun, after a good run at Tunstall i was looking forward to it, just gutted i had a dnf, after not recovering from a chest infection, like any man i figured i was ok and could ride through it..............

bigdawg

loved it, loved it, loved it....

couldnt really have asked for much more, even a dead rat on the course to compliment last year's dead fish...

my only complaint..... the coffee was awful!

Not sure what was happening with the laps and timign though friend of mine whos a vet has been listed in grand vets, but becasue he started with the vets he's effectively had a 2 minutes knocked off his time, according to the results he beat me by 2 mins but as I followed him for the entire race I know he only beat my by about 5 seconds..!

But whatever it was a fantastic day...

Good to see you again VW always a pleasure - wanted to see how your daughter did on the course but had to get ready for the pre lap, you going to be at any others??

VWsurfbum

Now the wife has come along and seen how much fun it is for the little one, I think we'll be at most of the others. BigDawg, you'll have to get the miniature racing too. It was really good to see so many friendly faces. I think my wife thinks i make you all up!

Good to see Pilch pulling out the win in Grand Vets!! LOL

Hopefully for the next round i'll have a clear chest but still have 30 people in front :roll:

Weffywoo

30 people in front!!!!

Jeez that would be a luxury :oops:
Mind you if it was meant to be easy it wouldn't be half as much fun 8)

VWsurfbum

its only because i wasnt at round one, so they grided the top 30 riders, then everyone else had to fall in, 16 last year was exceptable 30 is too much. spent too much time either trying to get past or stuck behind in the singletrack.
But who am i kidding, i was there for fun, i had fun.

Edit, and so did No1

Weffywoo

Ah I see, well I was just in the middle of the vets!!! :shock:

It was epic watching the kids racing, expecially the under 9's giving it full whack through the sand pit!

Not sure I am cut out for cross country events, they are way quicker than I imagined and the course just had no respite on it but will definitely look to do a few more before I make a final decision on what format I should stick to!

Got a 6 hour race next month so will get some good quality training in and hopefully I can enjoy it even more

pilch

Cheers VW, you changed your top - I was looking for a red top to cheer you, only realised on the last lap it you were in the black... probably my failing eyesight and being an old git didn't help...

What a great day, brilliant course - very punishing though!

bigdawg

well done Pilch that was a relentless course

WindyG

That very flat rat was funny to see. Starting with 30 already ahead was certainly a disadvantage, I tried to make up as much ground as could in the first half lap as I knew the climbs on the grass were going to slow me down but I make up ground in the single track, overtook a few just before the first bit of woods and someone moaned at me saying there were plenty of places around the the course to overtake :shock: yeah whatever bye bye.

bigdawg

I often wonder how much better placing youd get with a better start - the few times Ive started near the front I get swamped by people overtaking me and then spend the rest of the race getting my places back!

After last year's dead fish and this year's rat Ive askedfor squirrel for next year...

VWsurfbum

WindyG wrote:

someone moaned at me saying there were plenty of places around the the course to overtake :shock: yeah whatever bye bye.

I heard the same thing, Trouble is, I was far faster through there and cought a lot of people up, but i cant catch them on the open sections.
seemed like we was in the wooded sections for hours

The other part i liked was that the technical sections were faster than the chicken runs by enough to make it worth while. Too many chicken runs make it a no brainer to use.

bigdawg wrote:

After last year's dead fish and this year's rat Ive askedfor squirrel for next year...

I'll bring the BBQ

WindyG

I take you were in the "Open" cat too then? Like at Tunstall some seem happy to play follow the leader and stay in line, too slow for me.
I thought they got it spot on with chicken runs they did look very costly diversions, I stuck to all the technical routes and it helped me keep position, can't fault anybody taking them though, better to finish than crash out if unsure.

bigdawg

that first drop by the lake I actually thopught the chicken run was just down thehill and over the plank, so I told everyone pre race that the chicken run was quicker than the actual drop and to take that - it wasnt till lap one that I realised you had to go round the lake!!

Apologies if anyone went down there :oops:

Weffywoo

I used the technical routes for my first three laps then once I started feeling tired so decided to chicken out :oops:
Well like you say rather finish than crash!

bigdawg

i did almost crash on htefirst drop by the lake - Id lined up a few people to overtake on the last lap, but got to the decent, slipped down it, rode into the traffic cone at the bottom, then rode into the tape and missed the plank over the ditch - needless to say I lost the people i was trying to line up...

grony

WindyG wrote:

Starting with 30 already ahead was certainly a disadvantage, I tried to make up as much ground as could in the first half lap as I knew the climbs on the grass were going to slow me down but I make up ground in the single track, overtook a few just before the first bit of woods and someone moaned at me saying there were plenty of places around the the course to overtake :shock: yeah whatever bye bye.

Interesting that, I saw something similar, as the field log jammed at the first bottleneck, some wally decided to overtake a several riders who were practically stationary as they had nowhere to go, he went through a bush pushing his way past, everyone looked around at eachother and thought "what a prat", somebody did shout something about there being better places to pass, big guy he was (dressed in black) I assumed he must be really fast and was trying to get to get to the front however it turns out he was pretty bloody slow as everyone soon passed him as the field opened out again, he finished about 10 minutes behind me in the end.

VWsurfbum

Just for the record I was in black but this wasnt me

WindyG

I was in black and red but it wasn't me, I was overtaking before the bottle neck on the grass section and everybody was still going at a good pace just slower than I wanted to, I'm not big either :-) I wouldn't do something like go though a bush would not risk myself and I don't take risks that might make others crash etc

VWsurfbum

I have entered No1 and I for Thetford but i'm in the 1hr again so we can watch her race again. Kinda looking forward to it. (i dont enjoy Thetford normally)
I changed the mud tyres off of the race wheels last night and put on some faster rolling race tyres. those mud tyres have been on those wheels for about a year! glad i didnt need them sunday in the end.

stylish

As the old man was elsewhere on sunday, i stood behind the lens for the 1 hour race, and he should be uploading the pictures over the next couple of days, i quite enjoyed it if im honest, but i cant wait to be back on the bike at Thetford, smooth fast dry trails are what we need there..

WindyG

stylish wrote:

As the old man was elsewhere on sunday, i stood behind the lens for the 1 hour race, and he should be uploading the pictures over the next couple of days, i quite enjoyed it if im honest, but i cant wait to be back on the bike at Thetford, smooth fast dry trails are what we need there..

I stood with Jack for a bit and he was getting some good pics.
Yep really looking forward to Thetford as long as it stays dry.

randomoldbloke

I have put the pictures on Flickr, nos 1 - 160 are by Darren the rest are Jacks ( my 12 year old grandson) quite good really. need to hide the camera from him.

cycleclinic

I looking for to Thetford no matter the conditionsna dthen to rond 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 although round 8 scares me.

VWsurfbum

randomoldbloke wrote:

I have put the pictures on Flickr, nos 1 - 160 are by Darren the rest are Jacks ( my 12 year old grandson) quite good really. need to hide the camera from him.

Thanks for the effort you put in, but i need to send you my mugshot so you can take pictures of me being supergnarly

I never get any pictures of me

bigdawg

im surprised that there are hardly any pictures of riders round the berms of the bmx track - there should have been some great pictures of horizontal riders round the top of them...