I raced this weekend and......

245

Comments

  • asprilla
    asprilla Posts: 8,440
    cyclingsheep wrote:
    Asprilla wrote:
    ...It was my very first cyclocross race. Vets 40-49 at Kempton Park. Finished 50th out of 57 but had fun and learn a lot; mainly where I need to improve.
    FYI, that was not a typical CX course. My first race of the season and not quite what i was expecting. Glad you had fun....see you at the next race?

    When I got home no-one believed I'd raced because there was no mud.

    Will try to fit another before the end of the year but weekends are right at the moment
    Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
    Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
    Sun - Cervelo R3
    Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    Asprilla wrote:
    Will try to fit another before the end of the year but weekends are right at the moment
    The Hillingdon event will be good if you can make it. Normally quite muddy by that time of year, and a much more interesting/testing course than you might expect. Sheep and I will probably be competing to create the most challenging section...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,111
    Change of venue for this weekend's London League race - it'll be at Bethlem Hospital rather than Addington Park.
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,560
    First race of the season yesterday - Shuttleworth College. Freezing temperatures and we got the rain! No major obstacles, apparently the boards they brought were illegal. Thought I'd have a decent race. Little did I know...

    Had a slow start, tangled up and stumbled on the first uphill section falling behind, made steady progress through the field before losing my front wheel on one of the grassy, now slippy corners. Lost a bit of momentum which was well and truly ruined when I misjudged a descent and went flying into the ground. Limped home for the next few laps with a bent rear mech, various scrapes and bruises, and a mighty swollen finger.

    Hoping to make Welwyn, Hillingdon (that was a mud fest last year!) and Berko...
  • heavy_rat
    heavy_rat Posts: 264
    I raced at shuttleworth. Probably shouldn't have done after a heavy night before and the beginning of a chesty cold. Didn't take a waterproof so got quite wet and cold on the warm-up.

    Still enjoyed mind. Kudos to the quick guys, for me it was about avoiding coming last.

    H_dash, Were you in black trident kit? Saw someone matching that description take a tumble
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,560
    Nah, I was in the Pedalworks fluro kit... though had a few Trident guys around me at various points.
  • trek_dan
    trek_dan Posts: 1,366
    Was my turn to organise a round of the local league on Saturday, had a nightmare finding a venue starting way back in February when I was told that I couldn't reuse an existing venue that the local league had used previously. Setting up the course in the freezing cold and rain was erm... interesting. Keeping score in the freezing cold with numb fingers and a wet score sheet was erm.. interesting. Course was really well received thorough, the weather was terrible (so proper cross) and 2 lads from my club on the podium (1st and 3rd) made it all worthwhile.
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    ...it was a total grass crit and the bikes were cleaner after the race than before. How much longer is this DRY going to take?
  • cyclingsheep
    cyclingsheep Posts: 640
    You praying for rain VamP? :)
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    VamP wrote:
    ...it was a total grass crit and the bikes were cleaner after the race than before.
    Same here, quite literally. The grass that had stuck to my bike the previous week was all rattled off.

    Sheep may have been ahead of me at one point :oops:
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • trek_dan
    trek_dan Posts: 1,366
    Our mud started this weekend in Northeast CX leagues ;)
  • cyclingsheep
    cyclingsheep Posts: 640
    TGOTB wrote:
    VamP wrote:
    ...it was a total grass crit and the bikes were cleaner after the race than before.
    Same here, quite literally. The grass that had stuck to my bike the previous week was all rattled off.

    Sheep may have been ahead of me at one point :oops:
    That only lasted for a lap or so...I still needed a lift home
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    cyclingsheep wrote:
    You praying for rain VamP? :)


    I kind of am, actually.

    Things only cross racers say:

    ''I wish it would rain''

    ''Can't wait till I'm 50''
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    TGOTB wrote:
    VamP wrote:
    ...it was a total grass crit and the bikes were cleaner after the race than before.
    Same here, quite literally. The grass that had stuck to my bike the previous week was all rattled off.

    Sheep may have been ahead of me at one point :oops:

    Most of our field were ahead of me at one point, as I had quite literally the worst start in a few years. Quite hard to close gaps in a crit, I found. Again.
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    VamP wrote:
    ''Can't wait till I'm 50''
    From what I can see (and from what I hear from those who've reached the milestone) there's no longer any benefit. Race starts an hour later (depending on your league) but otherwise it's situation normal...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    Shhh..
  • mikpem
    mikpem Posts: 139
    wished it would rain too!
    The Eastern league race this week was pretty flat but far from smooth so with no rain to soften the ground up it was another week of battling through the vibrations.
    I actualy arrived early enough for a couple of practice laps which came in really handy, I noticed a pinch point which involved a flight of stairs which were rideable but it was inevitable that someone in front of me would get it wrong or the sheer numbers would cause a blockage. So as I approached, off I hopped before anyone was forced to and managed to pass about 15 riders in one move running through the bushes. A few of them caught me back up and regained their rightful place but I was pretty happy with that move.
    Other than that it wasn't my favourite race, I like a few hills for some variation but I'm considering entering the national trophy in Ipswich which is goint to be very flat so a bit of practice is useful.
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,560
    mikpem wrote:
    I actualy arrived early enough for a couple of practice laps which came in really handy, I noticed a pinch point which involved a flight of stairs which were rideable but it was inevitable that someone in front of me would get it wrong or the sheer numbers would cause a blockage. So as I approached, off I hopped before anyone was forced to and managed to pass about 15 riders in one move running through the bushes. A few of them caught me back up and regained their rightful place but I was pretty happy with that move.

    Nice one... wish I'd done that last weekend... a trick to learn.
  • devhads
    devhads Posts: 236
    mikpem wrote:
    wished it would rain too!
    The Eastern league race this week was pretty flat but far from smooth so with no rain to soften the ground up it was another week of battling through the vibrations.
    I actualy arrived early enough for a couple of practice laps which came in really handy, I noticed a pinch point which involved a flight of stairs which were rideable but it was inevitable that someone in front of me would get it wrong or the sheer numbers would cause a blockage. So as I approached, off I hopped before anyone was forced to and managed to pass about 15 riders in one move running through the bushes. A few of them caught me back up and regained their rightful place but I was pretty happy with that move.
    Other than that it wasn't my favourite race, I like a few hills for some variation but I'm considering entering the national trophy in Ipswich which is goint to be very flat so a bit of practice is useful.

    It's interesting to hear different perspectives on courses but I guess the old adage horses for courses rings true. I raced twice this weekend, firstly at Bury St Edmunds (Eastern) and then at Shuttleworth (Central). Ok, Bury was flat but it had two sets of hurdles with forced dismounts, one log which you had to decide to jump or run and steps that you had to decide to run or ride. There was also some singletrack and a lot of corners which were a bit slippy for my race as it had rained just before. You definitely needed at least intermediates and I ran muds. Shuttleworth had hills, some corners and that's about it, bone dry and I ran file treads. No singletrack, no variation in surfaces and no dismounts. I know which one I preferred, partly because I don't like hills and partly because at Bury you were battling other riders rather than battling the course.
  • joey54321
    joey54321 Posts: 1,297
    mikpem wrote:
    wished it would rain too!
    The Eastern league race this week was pretty flat but far from smooth so with no rain to soften the ground up it was another week of battling through the vibrations.
    I actualy arrived early enough for a couple of practice laps which came in really handy, I noticed a pinch point which involved a flight of stairs which were rideable but it was inevitable that someone in front of me would get it wrong or the sheer numbers would cause a blockage. So as I approached, off I hopped before anyone was forced to and managed to pass about 15 riders in one move running through the bushes. A few of them caught me back up and regained their rightful place but I was pretty happy with that move.
    Other than that it wasn't my favourite race, I like a few hills for some variation but I'm considering entering the national trophy in Ipswich which is goint to be very flat so a bit of practice is useful.

    Wish I had done that, I am still on a steep learning curve with cross and starts are something I need to get used to. I had to come to a complete stand-still in the woods before the steps on the first lap, just waiting for the congestion to clear. I thought the course was quite interesting but yeah, very bumpy!
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    devhads wrote:
    ...No singletrack...
    I hate singletrack in cross courses; in my view it just shuts the racing down. Unless something really untoward happens, the field just emerges from the singletrack section in the same order it entered it, so what's the point? Particularly annoying if there are long sections and you get stuck behind a rider you're lapping (annoying for both the lapper and the lappee)...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • Chris James
    Chris James Posts: 1,040
    TGOTB wrote:
    VamP wrote:
    ''Can't wait till I'm 50''
    From what I can see (and from what I hear from those who've reached the milestone) there's no longer any benefit. Race starts an hour later (depending on your league) but otherwise it's situation normal...

    In Yorkshire the Vet45s have been put in with the older vets and ladies, but in several races the older vets have gone on for over an hour - longer than the senior and under23s. The vet 50s just get to race on an even more churned up course.
  • devhads
    devhads Posts: 236
    so what's the point?

    Have a breather and hold up riders behind you of course!

    You may leave in the same order but if you're good at it especially if it contains turns then you can pull away from the rider who's been on your back wheel for a while.
  • bendertherobot
    bendertherobot Posts: 11,684
    Wales has been mud free as well, indeed the two muddiest courses have been almost total grass fests. But that's going to change now and I think the last 4 rounds will be muddy.
    My blog: http://www.roubaixcycling.cc (kit reviews and other musings)
    https://twitter.com/roubaixcc
    Facebook? No. Just say no.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,111
    TGOTB wrote:
    VamP wrote:
    ''Can't wait till I'm 50''
    From what I can see (and from what I hear from those who've reached the milestone) there's no longer any benefit. Race starts an hour later (depending on your league) but otherwise it's situation normal...

    Aren't you going to be racing many of the same people you've been racing the last ten years? A friend of mine went up last year, and he was enjoying it immensely again as he was contending for the podium, after a few years of contending for the top ten at best.

    The strength in depth at V40 level now is astounding, I had an off day on Sunday so did worse than expected, but even if I'd been on a good day, I'd have just about made the top 20.
  • mikpem
    mikpem Posts: 139
    devhads wrote:
    so what's the point?

    Have a breather and hold up riders behind you of course!

    You may leave in the same order but if you're good at it especially if it contains turns then you can pull away from the rider who's been on your back wheel for a while.

    You can definitely use singletrack to your advantage if you're clever about it, it's sometimes worth putting in a big effort to pass someone just before you go in and even taking it easy once you get there (possibly holding them up) but it's frustrating if you get held up. It's what cross is about though, riders with different skill levels make for another set of obsticles.
  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    andyp wrote:
    TGOTB wrote:
    VamP wrote:
    ''Can't wait till I'm 50''
    From what I can see (and from what I hear from those who've reached the milestone) there's no longer any benefit. Race starts an hour later (depending on your league) but otherwise it's situation normal...

    Aren't you going to be racing many of the same people you've been racing the last ten years? A friend of mine went up last year, and he was enjoying it immensely again as he was contending for the podium, after a few years of contending for the top ten at best.

    The strength in depth at V40 level now is astounding, I had an off day on Sunday so did worse than expected, but even if I'd been on a good day, I'd have just about made the top 20.

    Exactly. We have V40s in our league who were winning senior races a couple of years ago. The standard has really moved on. Mind you V50 will be the new V40 by they time we get there :D
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    VamP wrote:
    Mind you V50 will be the new V40 by they time we get there :D
    From what I hear from people who've just moved up, this may already have happened.

    For an extreme example, I've just had a look at the results for the Central League race at Kempton Park a couple of weeks ago (where conditions were fairly constant and the course didn't deteriorate). The winning V40 completed 6 laps in the same time as the 4th-placed V50. They're not all quite that extreme, but the top V50s seem to be consistently within a few seconds per lap of the top V40s.
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • cyclingsheep
    cyclingsheep Posts: 640
    Damn, there goes my plan of hitting V50 the fittest I've ever been and romping to a win. Only 5 years to come up with plan B
  • bendertherobot
    bendertherobot Posts: 11,684
    They stagger the V50's in our league. They go 2 minutes after V40.

    And, that way, I can try not to be lapped by some of them...........
    My blog: http://www.roubaixcycling.cc (kit reviews and other musings)
    https://twitter.com/roubaixcc
    Facebook? No. Just say no.

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