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

VWsurfbum

i'm coming to play with you guys, but only in the Hour cat as the timings just dont work for me starting at 14:00 in the afternoon :roll:
so I'll see you at

1 x Entry to MSG Rd2 @ Codham
1 x Entry to MSG Rd8 @ the Olympic track.

I may do others in between like langdon, but will depend on other race commitments.

Weffywoo

My decision on doing the vet race was the fact I can have a lie in and not have to be up too early :oops:

cycleclinic

Is the mud a codham deep as I have a set of narrow geax mud tyres. Good in slop but useless if there are alot of wet root and wet rock/hard surfaces. I did not do Codham last year so I am not sure what the course is actually like.

VWsurfbum

If its wet, its very wet. No roots that I can think of, but the only hard surface is the fire road up the middle which is pea shingle so doesn't matter what your on.

bigdawg

the real problem with the codham mud is that its heavy clay - literally sticks to your tyres and bike like glue - last year, running a pair of 1.5 contis my rear tyre was carrying about 6 inches of mud - no one rode through the wooded area at the end ofthe 2 hour even the pros were getting off and running

pilch

bigdawg wrote:

the real problem with the codham mud is that its heavy clay - literally sticks to your tyres and bike like glue - last year, running a pair of 1.5 contis my rear tyre was carrying about 6 inches of mud - no one rode through the wooded area at the end ofthe 2 hour even the pros were getting off and running

And added to this there was a lot of debris laying about, leaves twigs etc. which got picked up & jammed everything up.

You basically had to carry your bike through some sections as just wheeling it through them picked up soooo much mud & shit that you struggled to pedal it when you got on to any bit that was ridable.... not to mention the added weight penalty!

Weffywoo

Is it just me or is their website down at the moment?

WindyG

It's been down for a few days now

cycleclinic

down and replaced by a shop with the same web address. I can't find the dates now oh I have but I had to visit the bristish cycling website. The problem I have now is location details.

WindyG

The location details are all on the BC page, next round Codham Park Beazley End, Braintree, CM7 5JQ

evo3ben

Was training at Thetford saturday and it was 100% bone dry! Hopefully Codham is in the same state. We are due some rain over the next couple of weeks but touch wood wont be the mess it was last year.
Two sets of wheels with Rons, Ralphs and Dirty Dan mix should cover most conditions.

So, its confirmed, Hadleigh Olympic course for the last round 8) Going to be a sell out with out a doubt!

Weffywoo

thecycleclinic wrote:

down and replaced by a shop with the same web address. I can't find the dates now oh I have but I had to visit the bristish cycling website. The problem I have now is location details.

Think that's a slightly different website it's got an "n" in it

WindyG

evo3ben wrote:

Was training at Thetford saturday and it was 100% bone dry! Hopefully Codham is in the same state. We are due some rain over the next couple of weeks but touch wood wont be the mess it was last year.
Two sets of wheels with Rons, Ralphs and Dirty Dan mix should cover most conditions.

So, its confirmed, Hadleigh Olympic course for the last round 8) Going to be a sell out with out a doubt!

Did a couple of hours around Thetford today , very dry but very knackered after all the bad weather.
I'm sticking with Ron's no matter what weather, they did me fine last round even through the mud :-)

bigdawg

im going to wait till sunday before I enter - Ive seen a forcast with an awful lot of rain heading our way..!

VWsurfbum

Yeah I think I may give it a miss if it's really wet, dont mind riding in mud but racing is no fun in mud

evo3ben

Fair weather racers, nothing wrong with that. Me personally, i will race regardless. Dispite last years conditions, Codham was my best result last year due to DNF's and people not wanting to race lol 8)

VWsurfbum

Well looking at the pictures on fb last night it looks pretty good and dry.

bigdawg

you know what long term forcast is looking very good, and those picsa last night made the course look great, but i did notice there were no pictures ofthe wooded areas!

Im gonig to hold out till sunday, becauser as good as that course looked if it rains it'll be as bad as last year...

God I cant wait to get gonig this year!!!!

pilch

Already entered, mud, snow.... whatever, bring it on

bigdawg

i have to say in all the years Ive raced (nearly 20) Ive never come across a course as bad as last years codham and Ive seen some horrendous courses, thatwas the first time I deliberately slowed down to let the leader past so I could get off the bike!!

Monty13a

Come on bigdawg that's a bit harsh!... I did the 1 hr race last year and it was a great course. Also anybody who came along to the midweek ride would tell you the same.
No matter how hard they try the land owners can’t control the weather or the type of land they live on. I personally think that Jason works far harder preparing his course than any other round I rode last year. I have not rode MTB’s for 20 years like yourself but did ride motor bike trials for 33 years, and spent many hours on a Saturday making the best of what we could only to have somebody come up to me at the end and say that they thought it was terrible. It makes you wonder why you bother.
I haven't been over this year but I only live 4 miles away and the ground around here is great (No mud) and the other 2 years Codham have not been muddy.

Sorry for the rant.

epicdaza

bigdawg wrote:

Im gonig to hold out till sunday, becauser as good as that course looked if it rains it'll be as bad as last year...

Short term memory!?
I think you will find last year the weather gods gave us biblical rain for day after day for several weeks on the build up to that race . With it being dry now I very much doubt it will be anything like that, anyway we all race the same ground and we are lucky to have the support of the landowner to race on his private land, especially when areas are so hard to find. So lets show support for this arena and our growing series and get it on

Daza
Team CCN / Torq / Chain Reaction / Streetlife

pilch

yes, weather is looking good for next week so it should be a lot better than previous...

The course wasn't to blame last year, it was the weather, having said that it was a completely different animal in the afternoon - 2 hrs of purgatory by the time we raced... so I can sort of understand the reluctance of people who raced then to commit this time round

bigdawg

I think youve misconstrued what Ive meant by what I said previously, I didnt at all mean the course as a whole was bad, I love codham as a course, when its good its brilliant but last year in the forest was, as many have said, diabolical, but the problem was it stopped raining. when youve got running or constant water mud udually remains rideable, but as soon as it stops and it starts to 'dry' up then youve got problems - as many have attested part of the wooded area during the 2 hour race were unrideable - which is really annoying as loads of people I saw really enjoyed the one hour race.

Ive raced in attrocious conditions, hills that couldnt be climbed becasue of torrents of water running down them, hail so heavy some people had bruises and onerace in summer torrential rain, sleet, snow (really!) and then almost a heatwave (whipstakes around 96!) - but in a lot of races if part of a course becomes unrideable (or dangerous - not the case here) the course gets altered.

Ive absolutely nothing against codham, as Ive said I love the course, one of the most testing weve got onthe series, and Im always grateful to the landowners for letting us use it, Im just wishing one day we can have a sunbathed race again...

VWsurfbum

bigdawg wrote:

Im just wishing one day we can have a sunbathed race again...

Ahmen

Weffywoo

This year could be good according to the weather forecast!!!

Monty13a

bigdawg wrote:

I think youve misconstrued what Ive meant by what I said previously, I didnt at all mean the course as a whole was bad, I love codham as a course, when its good its brilliant but last year in the forest was, as many have said, diabolical, but the problem was it stopped raining. when youve got running or constant water mud udually remains rideable, but as soon as it stops and it starts to 'dry' up then youve got problems - as many have attested part of the wooded area during the 2 hour race were unrideable - which is really annoying as loads of people I saw really enjoyed the one hour race.

Ive raced in attrocious conditions, hills that couldnt be climbed becasue of torrents of water running down them, hail so heavy some people had bruises and onerace in summer torrential rain, sleet, snow (really!) and then almost a heatwave (whipstakes around 96!) - but in a lot of races if part of a course becomes unrideable (or dangerous - not the case here) the course gets altered.

Ive absolutely nothing against codham, as Ive said I love the course, one of the most testing weve got onthe series, and Im always grateful to the landowners for letting us use it, Im just wishing one day we can have a sunbathed race again...

Did you have a word with the organisers on the day and suggest that they alter it if you thought it was going to be unrideable?

bigdawg

no at the beginning ofhte race it was muddy but rideable - then it stopped raining..!!

What happened happened noting to do to change anything now, and I think I may even have got a decent result out of it, but my decision his year is not to ride (any course) if it looks like a mudbath - primarily becasue this year if I break something Im not going to be able to replace as readily and could mean not competing in other races, but thats just my decision.

bigdawg

last day for pre entry and the long term forcas is looking good - obviously dont know what damage the rain this weekend did, and thats unlikely to dry out (if the downs are anything to go by..!) but the majority of the course could be very dry, with the woods being 'damp' - as soon as I find my credit card im in..

Weffywoo

Can't decide which tyres to use, go fast with the race king supersonics or the safe option of the rocket rons??? :?: