Today's Ride

[PhillB]

I spent most of the weekend in the workshed, working on a 1990 Karakoram, restoring some old Shimano brifters and polishing some Sugino cranks for a future Breezer restoration... I ride a fair bit during the week, but at the weekend, when in theory I have more time, I often miss out on a ride! Weird, anyway, it was hot (for the UK) today - 30C and sunny.. so around 7pm I headed out for a ride. the park is mega busy on days like this, but it begins to empty out around 6pm on a Sunday.




I stopped for a while by one of the lakes, as usual, and this giant pigeon came to check out my Kuwa


About half way around the park two Ravens were on the trail. They are often in this place and tend to perch on top of an old dead tree. (I often stop and talk to them...but don't tell anyone as they'll think I'm nuts...) Anyway, they were on the trail and seeing me approach the seemed reluctant to move. As I approached I could see why. They were pecking the liver out of a dead rat....

anyway...

it was still warm enough so pace was easy most of the time. I've put a new stem on the Kuwa and bit shorter with some rise (The original stem is 0deg 150mm...which I felt was too much reach...but not sure this one is quite right either - will get there eventually). After every build There's always a few bits to iron out.

 

[Markybeau]

Stepping out of the front door this afternoon was like opening the oven door. A long meandering 3 hours. Since the Peaks Ride I've put wider bars on this bike, and it's made it more comfortable, possibly calmer. Now the nervous steering is more relaxed, I have, however, noticed the frame has a very flexible feel to it, almost unnervingly so. I do like riding it, but over challenging surfaces it wanders about all over the place. Then again, that might be just me.

A balmy 3 hours. Mostly offroad, wandering around the masses of open land around here that is either disused railway or disused colliery. Temperature was close to 30°c, and felt like it. Everywhere was dry and dusty. Felt good. Feel good. Is good.

 

[PhillB]

So, most of my rides are coinciding with sunset right now, an unwanted reminder that the days are getting shorter

Still today the UK was...



So it was nice to get out and create my own breeze.

Shortly after this photo I actually came off the bike on some gravel...bit of a surprise and entirely due to trying to avoid some idiot who wasn't looking where he was going. He didn't even stop to see if I was alright. What a ****! I'll admit my language momentarily reverted to full Anglo Saxon and he is in no doubt the we have a meeting Next Tuesday...

After all these years though, I still know how to fall off a bike well and I effectively shielded the bike from any damage with my leg... result!

 

[al-onestare]

Awesome, I wish you every success!!!

Pleased to report that I got my first top 10 finish, with 9th (out of 13), which secured a joint 7th series placing (out of 42. That's 42 people who's entered at least 1 race. As the organiser says, you've got to be in it to win it). Before anyone thinks they're looking at a future Pidcock, my fellow 7th finisher only did 2 rounds and the overall winner had double my points!

That said I had 3 objectives when I decided to give this a shot:

1. Finish a competitive mountain bike race. Even the 2 Mayhems I did, I never actually finished the duration i.e., cross the finishing line at the end.
2. Get a top 10 placing in race and the overall series
3. Have fun

I'm stoked that I ticked them all

Sunday's final round started in humidity and sea mist, but at lap 2, finally disappeared and scorchio scenes appeared. it was proper roasty, so it became an exercise in preservation, especially when I saw 2 nasty crashes and a few folks completely who bonked due to lack of fluids before or during the race. The course had some interesting revisions to the last round with some questionable A lines. I'm sure they were fun to do, but they didn't look like there was much time to be gained compared with B. I even braved a B line instead of taking the C, thanks to a chap who gave me some much needed encouragement.

I think that's what's been the nicest surprise. The competition, whilst fierce and mega-quick, are welcoming and down to earth. I think it helps that I get out the way early when I'm passed, leaving lots of space, and offer encouragement on the odd occasion I do the same.

Biggest kudos goes to a chap who raced a 1995 Raleigh Dyna-tech, ti version, with Royce BB and Middleburn cranks. He came 7th in my category on the day, a good 10 minutes up the road. And with faulty forks with dodgy compression. In small world scenes, it turns out he's marshalling at the Malverns Classic in a few weeks time, so hopefully we'll catch up again.

Anyway, here's some sweaty action pics. Note the Canadian champs version of the 96/97 jersey. I was channelling my best Dave Weins impression

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Quickest way to "the zone" is onespeed

 

[KayOs]

Pleased to report that I got my first top 10 finish, with 9th (out of 13), which secured a joint 7th series placing (out of 42. That's 42 people who's entered at least 1 race. As the organiser says, you've got to be in it to win it). Before anyone thinks they're looking at a future Pidcock, my fellow 7th finisher only did 2 rounds and the overall winner had double my points!

That said I had 3 objectives when I decided to give this a shot:

1. Finish a competitive mountain bike race. Even the 2 Mayhems I did, I never actually finished the duration i.e., cross the finishing line at the end.
2. Get a top 10 placing in race and the overall series
3. Have fun

I'm stoked that I ticked them all

Sunday's final round started in humidity and sea mist, but at lap 2, finally disappeared and scorchio scenes appeared. it was proper roasty, so it became an exercise in preservation, especially when I saw 2 nasty crashes and a few folks completely who bonked due to lack of fluids before or during the race. The course had some interesting revisions to the last round with some questionable A lines. I'm sure they were fun to do, but they didn't look like there was much time to be gained compared with B. I even braved a B line instead of taking the C, thanks to a chap who gave me some much needed encouragement.

I think that's what's been the nicest surprise. The competition, whilst fierce and mega-quick, are welcoming and down to earth. I think it helps that I get out the way early when I'm passed, leaving lots of space, and offer encouragement on the odd occasion I do the same.

Biggest kudos goes to a chap who raced a 1995 Raleigh Dyna-tech, ti version, with Royce BB and Middleburn cranks. He came 7th in my category on the day, a good 10 minutes up the road. And with faulty forks with dodgy compression. In small world scenes, it turns out he's marshalling at the Malverns Classic in a few weeks time, so hopefully we'll catch up again.

Anyway, here's some sweaty action pics. Note the Canadian champs version of the 96/97 jersey. I was channelling my best Dave Weins impression

Gongratulations brother! That's something that is still on my list.
The little hillclimb race I once did doesn't really count I guess although I managed to finish 46th out of 62 on my MiFa folding bike from 1975 against the more serious guys on their Carbon MTBs and Roadbikes

 

[Frankenorange]

Pleased to report that I got my first top 10 finish, with 9th (out of 13), which secured a joint 7th series placing (out of 42. That's 42 people who's entered at least 1 race. As the organiser says, you've got to be in it to win it). Before anyone thinks they're looking at a future Pidcock, my fellow 7th finisher only did 2 rounds and the overall winner had double my points!

That said I had 3 objectives when I decided to give this a shot:

1. Finish a competitive mountain bike race. Even the 2 Mayhems I did, I never actually finished the duration i.e., cross the finishing line at the end.
2. Get a top 10 placing in race and the overall series
3. Have fun

I'm stoked that I ticked them all

Sunday's final round started in humidity and sea mist, but at lap 2, finally disappeared and scorchio scenes appeared. it was proper roasty, so it became an exercise in preservation, especially when I saw 2 nasty crashes and a few folks completely who bonked due to lack of fluids before or during the race. The course had some interesting revisions to the last round with some questionable A lines. I'm sure they were fun to do, but they didn't look like there was much time to be gained compared with B. I even braved a B line instead of taking the C, thanks to a chap who gave me some much needed encouragement.

I think that's what's been the nicest surprise. The competition, whilst fierce and mega-quick, are welcoming and down to earth. I think it helps that I get out the way early when I'm passed, leaving lots of space, and offer encouragement on the odd occasion I do the same.

Biggest kudos goes to a chap who raced a 1995 Raleigh Dyna-tech, ti version, with Royce BB and Middleburn cranks. He came 7th in my category on the day, a good 10 minutes up the road. And with faulty forks with dodgy compression. In small world scenes, it turns out he's marshalling at the Malverns Classic in a few weeks time, so hopefully we'll catch up again.

Anyway, here's some sweaty action pics. Note the Canadian champs version of the 96/97 jersey. I was channelling my best Dave Weins impression

Can you describe the typical courses in more detail, please. Basically; what obstacles are there and, i dunno, scale them from 1 to 10 with regards to severity. Not thinking of having a go myself. Just interested, that's all.

 

[al-onestare]

Can you describe the typical courses in more detail, please. Basically; what obstacles are there and, i dunno, scale them from 1 to 10 with regards to severity. Not thinking of having a go myself. Just interested, that's all.

3 types of course for this series:

1. Old skool XC, in the woods, single-track with some fire-road. A couple of short A and B lines, usually descents with differing skill lines.
2. Man-made XC, open landscape, 4-5 A, B, and some C lines. More technical with steeper climbs, descents, off-camber, rocks, etc. Hard-packed ground.
3. In a bike park. Imagine the worst uplift day where every-time you go down a blue or red run, you have to cycle back to the top, twice per lap

Rating the obstacles is a bit pointless because what I think is hard others did in their sleep with their eyes closed. If you're comfortable with bunny hops, know how to get air and are agile, then there's no bother. A line drops would have scoops removed at the bottom so you have to pump and lift to avoid going OTB. At the bike park, imagine blue and red runs and the sorts of jumps or gaps you'd need navigate.

As per UCI/British cycling rules, a lap can't be longer than 6k and usually takes a figure of 8 or clover-leaf formation. The whippets did 15-16min laps. I was doing 22min

 

[Gtpulse]

No ride for me this week, though they did leave three BSOs to the left of the shot at the villa we’ve been staying in. The hire car struggled to get up the mountains around the place so the BSOs have stayed on the patio!

 

[PhillB]

Pleased to report that I got my first top 10 finish, with 9th (out of 13), which secured a joint 7th series placing (out of 42. That's 42 people who's entered at least 1 race. As the organiser says, you've got to be in it to win it). Before anyone thinks they're looking at a future Pidcock, my fellow 7th finisher only did 2 rounds and the overall winner had double my points!

That said I had 3 objectives when I decided to give this a shot:

1. Finish a competitive mountain bike race. Even the 2 Mayhems I did, I never actually finished the duration i.e., cross the finishing line at the end.
2. Get a top 10 placing in race and the overall series
3. Have fun

I'm stoked that I ticked them all

Sunday's final round started in humidity and sea mist, but at lap 2, finally disappeared and scorchio scenes appeared. it was proper roasty, so it became an exercise in preservation, especially when I saw 2 nasty crashes and a few folks completely who bonked due to lack of fluids before or during the race. The course had some interesting revisions to the last round with some questionable A lines. I'm sure they were fun to do, but they didn't look like there was much time to be gained compared with B. I even braved a B line instead of taking the C, thanks to a chap who gave me some much needed encouragement.

I think that's what's been the nicest surprise. The competition, whilst fierce and mega-quick, are welcoming and down to earth. I think it helps that I get out the way early when I'm passed, leaving lots of space, and offer encouragement on the odd occasion I do the same.

Biggest kudos goes to a chap who raced a 1995 Raleigh Dyna-tech, ti version, with Royce BB and Middleburn cranks. He came 7th in my category on the day, a good 10 minutes up the road. And with faulty forks with dodgy compression. In small world scenes, it turns out he's marshalling at the Malverns Classic in a few weeks time, so hopefully we'll catch up again.

Anyway, here's some sweaty action pics. Note the Canadian champs version of the 96/97 jersey. I was channelling my best Dave Weins impression

Congratulations!!, My last race was... some years ago... but following your exploits has got me thinking about doing another!