Brass Monkeys anyone..?!!

Gorrick Team

No it's definitely not cancelled!

hopper1

Sorry guys... My bad!
The cancellation is for Saddle Skidaddle (series 1), but they it falls in, in line with the other two Brass Monkeys, it looked like a Brass Monkey cancellation!
I shouldn't have glanced over it so fast!
My apologies. :oops:

njee20

So it is, do we know why they've cancelled it?

agg25

Hope it's not as muddy as the last race (although I'm not too hopeful), I had to replace my inner chainring, jockey wheels and brake pads afterwards, I'll need to be sponsored by Red Bull to finish the series the way I'm going!

njee20

Last one didn't look that bad!?

A few of them in years gone by have been truly dismal! The Ash Ranges one in December 2010 was absolutely awful.

agg25

Bad enough for the gritty combination of sand and mud to get in and grind away for 4 hours. I'll be happy if I can use my granny ring tmrw, now back to tweaking...and the bike...

JasonRwmb

I did a lap of the course this afternoon and it was riding really well given the recent wet weather. I had a Racing Ralph on the front and it was a little slippy on the front in a few places, a Rocket Ron or Nobby Nic would have been a better option. Quite a few splashy puddles around the course, most of which can be ridden around, but currently no deep mud. Normally the ground there will dry up as race goes, so I would expect the conditions to improve rather than get worse. There are a couple of short sections that are slightly cut up, these might get worse or might not?

For any one who has raced her before you will recognise some sections, but several trails have been re-routed to avoid any water-logged sections. For a race in December it is a great course, dryer than most of this year's 'summer' races.

I am not racing tomorrow, but will be there looking after the kids while the wife races.


Rnd 1 of the Spring Series was cancelled because of the current trail work going on at Swinley.

njee20

Happy days, will stick with the Rons then - saw from Strava you'd been over there Jason, thanks for the update!

miss notax

Bugger :roll:

Had a silly slide / off on some off camber roots on lap 1 and managed to rip apart my rear brake lever Had to complete the lap with no rear brake at all which was interesting and then pulled off after one lap.

Really enjoyed the course, nice and fiddly which is my kind of riding - just gutted I only to do it once!

I dread to think what my result was

(If anyone knows anything about Formula brakes please see my imminent post in workshop....!)

njee20

Just as I started to get into it I ripped my chain guide off, and whatever people say you can't run 1x10 with no guide! Dropped the chain about 6 times so packed after 2 laps. Shame, was good fun! Still, good course, nice day!

andi1363

I had a good ride and got 15th in the 40+ 2 hour event. I must say I am getting fed up with abuse from faster overtaking riders. In round 1 I was pushed into a tree. Don't think I shall bother any more.

miss notax

I though people seemed a lot more narky on this round - shame as it does spoil it :? I know the race leaders and the fast boys don't want to get held up but everyone is trying to ride as best they can (not easy when there are lots of people walking lots of mud etc) so randomly shouting and barging past isn't always terribly helpful.

My particular favourite is always the cry of 'just bl**dy ride it!!' when held up in a jam - if I could flipping well get on my bike and ride it don't you think I would be? :evil:

agg25

Well, not quite as good as rd1 finishing 38th in the 4 hour. Had a bastard of a chain jam on lap 1 which cost me a few minutes and reoccurring chain jams/chain suck later on which meant I didn't have the granny ring again or the large cog on the cassette, really killed my climbing ability. I though a new inner chainring would sort it out, might try a new chain for next time.
Had a few falls as well with some trees jumping out at me and I did manage a crowd pleasing slide stack just before the finish line on my last lap, missing out on doing another lap by 3 seconds in the process finishing at 4:00:03. Was funny though. I think it was my body's way of saying enough!
Whoever says/thinks the course wasn't muddy...I'd like to see what their definition of muddy was! I put it at about 30% mud, 70% non-mud. Either way, can't wait for proper dry trails again, mud can swallow me. (literally and figuratively)

frogstomp

I've hardly been out on my bike in the past month and didn't I know it! Cue much wheezing and struggling on the climbs.. and to top it off I lost my drinks bottle half-way round the first lap (only to be reunited with it too late on the second lap).

Early New Year's resolution is to get the miles in before the next round!

agg25 wrote:

Whoever says/thinks the course wasn't muddy...I'd like to see what their definition of muddy was! I put it at about 30% mud, 70% non-mud. Either way, can't wait for proper dry trails again, mud can swallow me. (literally and figuratively)

I didn't think it was that muddy, other than in two or three places.. but then I think my standards bar for what qualifies as muddy got well and truly raised by the horror that was Mountain Mayhem earlier in the year!

miss notax

frogstomp wrote:

I didn't think it was that muddy, other than in two or three places.. but then I think my standards bar for what qualifies as muddy got well and truly raised by the horror that was Mountain Mayhem earlier in the year!

Ha ha - I did the MM this year too and it's certainly changed my perspective on 'muddy'

njee20

It really wasn't that bad, it was all ridable, ok a few bits were a bit tacky, but I was prepared for much worse!

agg25

Nah, it was muddy.

njee20

Sunday's Race

Wet Gorrick

Definitely in the 'dry' category!

agg25

No, just muddy and muddier

njee20

Why do you ride a mountain bike? You can't really hope for better conditions than that and you're moaning! :roll:

agg25

I don't ride one specifically to get muddy. I'll still ride in it though. But if you're trying to say it wasn't muddy, then sorry but I have eyes, and will tell you it was.
I know some people think it makes them tougher or something to boast about riding in muddy conditions, but give me fast, dry trails any day. That, and I don't particularly enjoy cleaning bikes or replacing worn parts.
Anyway, leave it at that, it's boring.

njee20

Couldn't agree more, Sunday was the first MTB ride I've done in 3 months because I don't really like riding in the wet, but I'd still say that comparatively that wasn't a muddy race. Perhaps comparatively is the operative word. I'm not remotely interested in boasting about the conditions I ride in, as that would be utterly pathetic, basing it having done hundreds of events.

I guess for a June race I'd say it was muddy, but I have an expectation of conditions for December, and that exceeded that expectation! Anyway, fairly irrelevant frankly!

frogstomp

Final round next Sunday.. weather's looking mainly dry for the week so far, getting chillier towards the end - sounds perfect! Fingers crossed!

miss notax

Yup, I'll be there :-) ! Hopefully I'll get more than 1 lap in this time....

Currently 4th on series points so you never know - if I do ok this round (or more likely if someone faster can't make this one!) might scrape a decent result :-)

njee20

Nope, off skiing for the weekend. Shame to miss it.

frogstomp

miss notax wrote:

Currently 4th on series points so you never know - if I do ok this round (or more likely if someone faster can't make this one!) might scrape a decent result :-)

I'll be happy just to break into the top 40 and score some points!

miss notax

Ah, the joy of being a girlie with only about 10 in your class

frogstomp

miss notax wrote:

Ah, the joy of being a girlie with only about 10 in your class

I would have struggled to make the points even at those odds in the last round! :roll:

miss notax

Errr, has anyone else seen the weather for the weekend? It's looking a bit *chilly* to say the least :shock:

andi1363

miss notax wrote:

Errr, has anyone else seen the weather for the weekend? It's looking a bit *chilly* to say the least :shock:

Frozen mud is nice and fast plus the bike might stay clean

See you there Sunday!