Thefford Winter Series 2012/13

James_R

Had a great race yesteday (4hour race 9th), really well organised. My first Thetford race, been doing the merida series, so the course was less challenging in technicality, but the wind and long drags made up for that, brutal is the word that springs to mind. about lap 4/5 the course got really sticky/mess but then cleared out for the last few and pace picked up again.

Nice to meet a load of guys from the Pheonix london club, a few of us venturing up from the city

Bring on round 4!!

As for tyres, defo going for something faster on the rear for next time, see if I can bump my placing up a little.

hopper1

Could have sworn I left a link to this earlier!... http://www.flickr.com/photos/30578969@N02/sets/72157632631525626/
Some photo's I took yesterday at TWS 3.

evo3ben

Nice pics 8) And thanks to them i can name and shame! I get to the start around 30 min before start to get a good place. What i hate is people waiting till 10 min before and pushing in near to the front. So on that note, Dennis Dix 490 with a Chelmer Cycles top on, your a to$$a and give the shop a sh1te name!!

hopper1

evo3ben wrote:

Nice pics 8) And thanks to them i can name and shame! I get to the start around 30 min before start to get a good place. What i hate is people waiting till 10 min before and pushing in near to the front. So on that note, Dennis Dix 490 with a Chelmer Cycles top on, your a to$$a and give the shop a sh1te name!!

As I walked back to my car, I passed three riders who thought it had been great fun, barging their way in at the last minute.
They were'nt wearing any kit by then, so no name and shame, unfortunately...

paulbingham

Round 3 was my first ever MTB race, I entered the Fun cat, and i can tell ya, it was far from fun! A hard slog for 2 laps, through thick mud and long winding up hills. Know i know why i never go "that side of the forest!".
This sundays round 4 by comparison was faster and much more enjoyable. Bomb pits proved no issue for me as done them so many times on my rides on the red routes. Only reason i hit 52mins on 22nd lap was a puncture on the flint pit that put me far behind.
Deff a series i'll enter again next season!

stylish

Was really up for yesterday, crap start due to not being gridded, but was well inside the top 20 in vets after the first lap, felt really good and started to enjoy it, when the front tyre kept going down, ran out of gas by the end of lap 3 so had no choice but to stop. After lots of facing around it looks like a buggered valve and not the tyre....

Enjoyed the 2 rounds I did, and now looking forward to the MSG series, if you're racing, see you on the start line.

evo3ben

Well thats the end of another great Thetford winter series! Round 4, for me personally was the worst course of all purely for the reason that i felt like i was on a bucking bronco on most of the single track and yes i was on a hardtail.
Others liked it but for me, worst out of the 4 races. Would rather slog through mud than do that course again.

So, looking forward, roll on MSG 8)

stylish

I was on my anthem and felt like i was getting thrown around too, think i had the fork a bit too hard! going to ride it again on friday on a 29er and see how that feels, as i just happened to splash out on one today.........

paulbingham

Really? I didn't think it was that bad. I have a HT too and just rode the bumps best i could. It didn't feel as if i was being thrown around too much, and coming out of some of the drops (flint pit etc) i was flying up the other sides! I only had real issues on the long straights, for some reason i never have enough umph to get any speed on these!

As for Rnd 3, i just slid in the mud so much, no grip on rear wheel, that this really did exhaust me. I almost collapsed off the bike after 2 laps and it took me days to recover.

evo3ben

The bigger roller coaster type ones are ok as can pump them but its the smaller ones that are hard to keep momentum and speed over and just kept flicking the back of the bike up. Still, got the points needed to hopefully keep my position in the overall series table.
Have you noticed how many of the 2hr Vets made 5 laps compared to the 2hr seniors :shock: Just shows how good the senior field of racers were in R4.

C0LL0

The senior classes are the toughest, licked the first 4 laps on Sunday, got cold on my fifth and could get warmed again so quit at 3 hours after a 50 minute lap, still hoping to keep my top twenty placing hopefully.

stylish

2 hour Vets is scary fast, but i have really enjoyed the races ive done, and cant wait for MSG now, the only bugger being age if youre 40 before 31st december 2013, youre a veteran, and that means there are alot of speedy riders moving up before the big 40......

James_R

While I don't arrive at the start till about 5-10mins before the start (because I'm warming up) I don't barge to the front, just slot in a gap. Over a 2 hour ditance and more ove for 4hours grid position (apart for the top 6-7 riders) makes almost no difference you'll make your way through the field pretty quick.

4th Round was good fun, some sections of the course were so fast! and others so painful, I preferred it to Rnd3 mainly becuase that inclined slog in to the wind on Rnd3 was Sole destroying. Another 9th Place finish in 4hour senior. Looking forward to 2013-14 I'll do the full series this time round.

C0LL0

I miss understood the points scoring system a little, it states that to be counted in the final standing you have had to have entered and raced at least 3 rounds, I took it that all four rounds counted to your total points but 3 rounds minimum had to be done.

In the final standings only the best 3 rounds have been posted, maybe I've understood it wrong, but the wording needs to be changed for next year I think.