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

VWsurfbum

I think about other msg races I've done and the hold ups you get with people hesitating on minor technical sections, on those races I usually do better as im far stupider than I am fit!!!

hopper1

stylish wrote:

Thetfords Black Route has been downgraded to a mild grey, as for the skills test, i suppose you have to show you can balance a bike and bounce.....

I think I need to travel further afield!... Thetford is good for a ride, but I wouldn't be too impressed, had I travelled further for a day out!
Any other good trails not overly far from Norfolk?...

C0LL0

I hope Matt and G, can pull off the Hadleigh course as a round but suppose it all hinges on the council and if the course is still like a building site at the time. But I'm looking forward to it, Might be racing under the Hadleigh club banner as well by then but need to have my GMCC team involved as well somewhere.

After doing the 4 hour Thetford races the 2 hour MSG stuff should be childs play.

stylish

Thetford is good for thrashing round, and i enjoy it whenever i ride there, but i would love some of the stuff they have in Wales on my doorstep.
Tunstall is good, some nice stuff there, but its easier to get lost in than thetford! similar surface, and rolling trails, with some big bomb holes, and i mean big!

hopper1

stylish wrote:

Thetford is good for thrashing round, and i enjoy it whenever i ride there, but i would love some of the stuff they have in Wales on my doorstep.
Tunstall is good, some nice stuff there, but its easier to get lost in than thetford! similar surface, and rolling trails, with some big bomb holes, and i mean big!

I'll give Tunstall a look see, then

bigdawg

hopper serioulsy dont worry about being able to ride the black runs - theres a basic skill test at the start, and it really is basic, can you bunny hop, lift the front of the bike up, ride in a circle in a narrow path - at the end of the day the decision to actually tackle the obstacles is yours no one forces you to do anything.

hopper1

bigdawg wrote:

hopper serioulsy dont worry about being able to ride the black runs - theres a basic skill test at the start, and it really is basic, can you bunny hop, lift the front of the bike up, ride in a circle in a narrow path - at the end of the day the decision to actually tackle the obstacles is yours no one forces you to do anything.

Right, I'm in ... Which day will be the driest!

Feck!... Can't find the bloody email, now... Anyone got a contact for the Hadleigh rides? Google saves the day

bigdawg

http://www.essexlegacy.org/olympic-venu ... ke-course/

Tom has just posted up a quick video on singletrack in the forum too,. Theyre all making triple trouble look far too easy

hopper1

Aaaarrrrghhhhh!!! Plans scuppered... Two dates (9th & 16th) must be full and have been removed, I'm working for all the others... :x

bigdawg

keep your eyes open as there should be more dates added soon - might be worth contacting them too in case anyone drops out...

hopper1

I think I'll do that. Dec 16th would have been best...

tobh

We did the Tom Dowie coached ride at Hadleigh on Saturday. It was ace. I have done all the local riding there is and pretty much every trail centre in Wales etc etc but the Hadleigh course is probably the most full on I have ever ridden. Some of the sections are pretty terrifying. There are C lines down most of them. But still...

Tom and John were great. We had a laugh : mountain bikers are a good bunch..

Anyone in Essex should ride this course. It seems kinda silly not to.

C0LL0

I understand new dates are now on the website.... I have a great day when I went although we didn't get time to do it all, It has already improved my riding immensely I will go back and do the rest of the course.

bigdawg

I wonder if anyones booked in for this weekend?!?!?!

hopper1

C0LL0 wrote:

I understand new dates are now on the website.... I have a great day when I went although we didn't get time to do it all, It has already improved my riding immensely I will go back and do the rest of the course.

Nice one... I just booked for the 23rd... Early Christmas pressie to me

bigdawg

I was gonig to do that one too, but IM taking my son to Milton Keynes for his first skiing lesson that day...

hopper1

bigdawg wrote:

I was gonig to do that one too, but IM taking my son to Milton Keynes for his first skiing lesson that day...

If this weather keeps up, you could just bring him along, and he could ski alongside you! :shock:

bigdawg

you dont know how right you are triple trouble and oak tree drop would be great fun on a snowboard..!

hopper1

bigdawg wrote:

you dont know how right you are triple trouble and oak tree drop would be great fun on a snowboard..!

Maybe I'll pack the 'board, just in case the snow hangs around for my ride

hopper1

Got my 'self assessment' last night... Think I can manage higher than 6 throughout that lot

Watched a couple of videos on You Tube :shock: Certainly looks harder, when viewed through a GoPro on a chest strap, than BBC's version on my telly... Gulp!

hopper1

Also noted that the guys riding the Hadleigh course all seem to be using narrow bars!... My 660mm seem like Ape Hangers, in comparison :shock:

VWsurfbum

I have 680 on my HT, 700 on my 26" full suss and 711 on my 29we full suss, it's about feeling comfy when your riding non stop for a couple of hours!

evo3ben

Bars are very personal pref to be honest. I have 620 carbon flats with bar ends, perfect for racing for me personally. Have tried 680 riser and flat bars for racing and didnt feel good. 580 flats are too narrow for me.
There are some XC race courses where anything 680 or more wont get through the trees! If i remember rightly, MSG Tunstall is one of them.
Narrower bars have there ups and downs. Wider the bar, the easier to control steering, the narrower the bar the smaller gaps you can fit through. Take Thetford winter series races. Alot of people on the course, 300+ mass start and alot of overtaking needed. Narrow bars help get past people easier in tighter places.

C0LL0

Nailing it down the last red route at Bedgebury yesterday on the 29er with wide bars, I looked up to see two trees with red crosses on the them soo close together with the track in between, I closed my eyes as I shot through, I thought I felt myself graze both trees as I went through

pilch

evo3ben wrote:

Narrow bars help get past people easier in tighter places.

yep, had an off at Tunstall last year because of wide bars, clipped some old boy and we both ended up on the floor, I was in such a rush to get going I didn't realise my bars were rotated 180º so had a few comedy moments where jumped on my bike, but I just couldn't work out how to ride it....

....some may say that I still haven't worked it out

bigdawg

looking at some of the pictures I took theres a real selection of bars being used - the uk guys seem to have at least 680s

hopper1

As said, they are a very personal choice on any bike.
Mine feel great for me, yet from my perspective, they seem so wide in comparison to others.
There'll be sod all to it, I know, just 'looks' different :roll:

C0LL0

It's my last day at work so may not get the time to post on here as I'll be too busy, so to all that know me & everyone that I know, have a great Christmas and a happy new year, see you all on the other side when training begins again

evo3ben

Happy new year all!

Been very quite on the MSG front. Anyone any news on the TBC venues, race times etc? Couple of months and we will all be racing again! 8)

bigdawg

not heard anything re confirmed dates or venues, but first race is pretty much going to be tunstall again.

hoping to catch up with matt soon though..