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

evo3ben

I try not to get too hit up about long range forecasts as 9/10 it will change. Saying that, i have come to accept that dry racing is a thing of the past and am prepared for the worst lol.

I spent a few hours at Thetford on tuesday getting some training in and it was bone dry :shock: not a puddle or mud pit in sight and the bike had dust on it! Unreal how conditions can change so quickly.

WindyG

C0LL0 wrote:

anyone riding the course on Saturday with Steve Manser and Graham BC commissionaire ??

I might do if the weather is ok and I get up early enough

stylish

No pre ride for me im meant to be gardening! like thats going to happen, i have tyres to fit.............

Like evoben, thetford has been bone dry and fast this week, went out wednesday afternoon, didnt see anyone else on a bike in 2 hours, lots of big deer though....

WindyG

Done all my tyre swapping tonight including my girls bike.

grony

Did anyone get along to the Tunstall pre-ride this morning?

WindyG

I didn't, got up at 6am, raining hard, back to bed and it still hasn't stopped raining.

bigdawg

Ive pretty much decided not to do it now tbh - forecast is now for Fri Sat & Sun, quite heavy rain, on top of the snow and ice we've got its going to be problematic driving there let alone racing...

grony

I went down Saturday afternoon thinking I would be able to follow the tyre tracks from the morning pre-ride; no chance! Any tyre tracks were completely submerged in 6 inch puddles. The place does dry out quickly but we'll need some dry weather before the weekend.

anet367

The course is unrideable in places and doesn't look like it will get a chance to dry out - big puddles, boggy sections, major ruts. Racing at Tunstall this time of year will always be a nightmare - should be scheduled as a summer race.

stylish

Sounds more like a cross race then, going to be carrying the bike more than riding it. It does seem that common sense might prevail if it's going to make a big mess of the forest.

A few years back we did a winter series race there in horrendous conditions, and it ruined a lot of the bits the locals cared for....

sdminus

if its unridable like codham park was last year i think some pressure should be applied to the event organsier to re schedule this event..

ollie51

Codham park was definitely rideable last year... Put the mud tyres on, wear a waterproof if it's raining and whack on the crud-catchers and have fun sliding around the mud.

The organisers aren't about to cancel the event due too much mud, it's not football.

bigdawg

at the end of hte two hour race it wasn't - the elite guys were carrying their bikes through the wooded area as their tyres were so caked they couldn't turn.

Saying that this weekend will be rideable, they'll prob just change the course to use the firepaths but it will be a very flat race, and if still wet it'll be a bike killer... Sayingthat, from memory I did the whole race last year in the big ring (46 tooth)

ollie51

That said, I did stop to clear my bike a couple of times and I only had to do 4 laps.

evo3ben

Dont think they should cancel it and dont think they will either. There was some pretty horrendous conditons last year which made it super tough going especially Codham and Hylands. I was in the 2hr race and at Codham, through the wooded area was in parts not ridable unless you had cyclocross tyres on so they didnt clog up. I had to carry my bike and in the end my rear mech hanger snapped leaving me just one gear. Persistance gave me the best result of the series.
Alot of organising and effort goes into making these events possible and re-arranging the date just wouldnt work, it would be cancelled completely. Who is to say the next date they arranged it for wasnt going to be as bad? and with round 2 five weeks away, where would you fit it in?
At the end of the day its mountain biking and mud is part and parcel of the sport. Alot of people train for these events, take holiday from work (i have had too for sunday) and to cancel would be a bit of a downer.
The organisers of the Thetford Winter Series done a fantastic job over the last series to ensure the races went ahead regardless of mud and snow. Events are only cancelled if it becomes a health and safely issue like fire road access for emergency vehicles or extreme weather conditions like dangerous high winds.

Mud tyres on, bring it on!

bigdawg

I still think it'll be very wet but totally rideable, theyll prob use last year's course.

The decision for me not race is purely based on I wouldnt enjoy it and I cant afford to replace the drivetrain after races this year, nothing more. If I could race elite Id probably turn up tbh as Id be able to race for decent series points but as it stands it would be nothing more than another wrecked drivetrain, anda miserable ride in the rain - matts posting on facebook yesterday put paid to any ideas of easy points... :twisted:

sdminus

Does any body know if the course is available to ride on sat ?

pilch

bigdawg wrote:

I still think it'll be very wet but totally rideable, theyll prob use last year's course.

The decision for me not race is purely based on I wouldnt enjoy it and I cant afford to replace the drivetrain after races this year, nothing more. If I could race elite Id probably turn up tbh as Id be able to race for decent series points but as it stands it would be nothing more than another wrecked drivetrain, anda miserable ride in the rain - matts posting on facebook yesterday put paid to any ideas of easy points... :twisted:

If you are good enough to race at Elite level then you would most likely win any category you entered... plenty of points then ;-)

bigdawg

unfortunately not the case with the current set up - Based on my last couple of years results (and bearing in mind the elite field sometimes consists of around 8 -10 people) I could manage 6th - 7th place regularly but in vets category Im really lucky now to get into the top 15, and Im pretty sure the people the won the vets category last year will still be in it again this year. It used to be that the anyone could ride elite but you had to have a licence and the relevent points for pro/expert.

pilch

bigdawg wrote:

unfortunately not the case with the current set up - Based on my last couple of years results (and bearing in mind the elite field sometimes consists of around 8 -10 people) I could manage 6th - 7th place regularly but in vets category Im really lucky now to get into the top 15, and Im pretty sure the people the won the vets category last year will still be in it again this year. It used to be that the anyone could ride elite but you had to have a licence and the relevent points for pro/expert.

Maybe, but surely that defeats the object? everybody can't win, that's not what its about, you race your peers and measure yourself against them. If you train hard and apply yourself, analyse your performance and learn from every race you do, if you have the will & focus and do the right training you will improve, it doesn't come overnight.

Hunting 'easy points' in categories with low entrants is just cheating yourself IMHO.... elite riders are 'elite' for a reason, they are the cream, so they need to be judged against their peers - as do we.

bigdawg

thats a good point, but imo if you win a category (ie vets masters etc..) then surely you should then progress to the next level - my point was that there are better than elite riders racing in lower categories, when the winners of the masters vets or whatever are on par or beating the elite riders times then surely its them that are in the wrong category.

I used to race elite regularly in the 90s and want to do so again but as I dont have a licence, and it would take me a good few years to gain the points as I can only do the local races, but i'd rather race a full field of 50 elite riders and come last than continually bashing away to race against exactly the same riders year in year out.

evo3ben

Would you then need a new category? Vet Expert/Elite, to make it even? Then there will def be a next step up from Sport and Vet categories, maybe 3 up in sport/vet and bottom 3 senior/vet expert/elite down ?

Same issues in sport and open though. The guy who won the last open cat race would have come 2nd in the sport cat and 5th in expert/elite (going on lap times) Totally wrong in my opinion. Open cat is meant to be for new to the sport or in first couple of years to get use to it only to find some of the fastest racers in the country racing against you :evil:

So its not just the Vets but Sport and Open also. I think there should def be some kind of ruling making automatic up for top 3 and auto down for bottom 3 for sport and vets or something time that lol. But that still wouldnt stop Oli Beckingsale racing a quick 1hr Open cat race as a training session if he fancied it lol

VWsurfbum

But its also down to race start times, I know startubg a race at 2 in the afternoon just causes grief to me

ollie51

bigdawg wrote:

I used to race elite regularly in the 90s and want to do so again but as I dont have a licence, and it would take me a good few years to gain the points as I can only do the local races, but i'd rather race a full field of 50 elite riders and come last than continually bashing away to race against exactly the same riders year in year out.

Get some reasonable results this year and ask BC to promote you to Expert, they probably will. Only your best 8 races count towards your rankings, and those 8 MSG races will offer a relative high number of points per race.

bigdawg

we seeing you competing at all VW..??

You know Im not sure why they moved the start time, but annoying still but what does it matter to the BCF what time a race starts.

bigdawg

ollie51 wrote:

bigdawg wrote:

I used to race elite regularly in the 90s and want to do so again but as I dont have a licence, and it would take me a good few years to gain the points as I can only do the local races, but i'd rather race a full field of 50 elite riders and come last than continually bashing away to race against exactly the same riders year in year out.

Get some reasonable results this year and ask BC to promote you to Expert, they probably will. Only your best 8 races count towards your rankings, and those 8 MSG races will offer a relative high number of points per race.

I kind of had something in mind, seeing what combining the whipstakes (if theyre counting towards points this year) & MS&G

VWsurfbum

bigdawg wrote:

we seeing you competing at all VW..??

You know Im not sure why they moved the start time, but annoying still but what does it matter to the BCF what time a race starts.

Maybe if they dont clash with my enduro races, also depends how the time affects me

ollie51

Does anyone know what the course is actually looking like mud wise?

I'm contemplating putting some mud tyres on, think my race bike currently has Specialized renegades on...

hopper1

evo3ben wrote:

Would you then need a new category? Vet Expert/Elite, to make it even? Then there will def be a next step up from Sport and Vet categories, maybe 3 up in sport/vet and bottom 3 senior/vet expert/elite down ?

Same issues in sport and open though. The guy who won the last open cat race would have come 2nd in the sport cat and 5th in expert/elite (going on lap times) Totally wrong in my opinion. Open cat is meant to be for new to the sport or in first couple of years to get use to it only to find some of the fastest racers in the country racing against you :evil:

So its not just the Vets but Sport and Open also. I think there should def be some kind of ruling making automatic up for top 3 and auto down for bottom 3 for sport and vets or something time that lol. But that still wouldnt stop Oli Beckingsale racing a quick 1hr Open cat race as a training session if he fancied it lol

I first raced in the late 90's, and this was going on then!
Open class was called 'Novice' then, but still regularly won by guys who should have been in Sport, or Elite/Master races. The same happens in 4th Cat RR's and also Sportives, where guys turn up to win a Sportive, because they don't have the balls to enter a race 'proper'!
Ironically, the guys doing this, are the same guys that will push in at the start, too :twisted:

hopper1

I'll be giving Tunstall a miss, too, after stacking my bike at the bottom of Oak Tree Drop, on Wednesday! FFS :twisted: Bike is fine, but me less so... Strained ligaments at the Sternum/ Clavicle joint, plus a few torn muscles :oops:
Fortunately, the GoPro was in the car! That on a chest strap could have punctured my lung! :shock:
Great day that was, though. A real eye opener for anyone thinking the course was easy... The Pro's just made it look easy, and all due respect to them