Mud Sweat & Gears MTB Eastern Region XC Series

Rd 4 Ickworth House 4th

                                                             Rd 5 "Secret Nuclear Bunker" 2nd


MS&G have an eight round series based in East Anglia and Essex. Similar format to the Southern XC series and carry BCF ranking points. They are well organised events with good courses. So much for Essex beig flat! Most venues are about a 2 hour drive from Sussex, so not too bad. Some of the Beyond MTB guys ride them, but I'm the only one from SDB so far. They have another 3 rounds to run, including the final round on the Olympic course at Hadleigh Farm.

The Big Wight

Olive organised this adventure to the Isle of Wight for 55 miles off-road fun and a lot of climbing. There were 6 riders who ventured across the murky waters of the Solent, John R, John D, Andy J, Kevin M, David Newland and last but not least young Olive. We all met up at the start in Yarmouth right next to the ferry port, some stayed over  Friday night in Ryde whilst some came over as foot passengers on the morning which meant quite an early start but proved it was a feasible . Next year perhaps!!!

We were  blessed with the weather, a fine day with no wind and not too hot, thanks Olive. As usual we were over dressed from the start and after the first climb stripped off  100 yds from the 2nd tee to a few shouts of fore, but as there was 6 of we ignored them, not good etiquette I know. 10 miles in some of the directions had been moved which caused an bit of confusion and we were split up for a good half hour but managed to regroup after a tough climb.

We rode some great terrain with a little bit of road to connect to bridleways. At halfway and 3000ft of climbing Olive and Kevin were finding it tough but with a little bit of encouragement, Olive overtaking loads of men on a particularly brutal hill and a little gel or two they made a quick recovery.

The last 25 miles were no easier and we all stuck to the task and climbed every hill to the finish in Yarmouth, a great achievement with some  6000' of climbing in 55 miles and some wicked descents. Thanks to everyone for the company another great trip to the Isle.

BC MTB XC Rd4

Hi all,

Heading up to Margam Park on the 7th for Rd4. Let me know if you want a ride up there. I can take a passenger & bike.

Regards

James

National XC - Hopton Castle

Will, Ian and myself arrived early and bleary eyed at our chaffeurs house for the long drive to Hopton in Shropshire. Many thanks to Steve for driving nearly four hours each way either side of his race.

As we approached the fluttering flags and rows of camper vans, a huge menacing wooded hill loomed against the blue sky. From the line the course headed straight up this savagely steep climb, that had all the riders scrabbling for their lowest gears! It was a leg burning effort of about 10 -12 minutes with a couple of false flats that didn't really provide much respite. After the climb was a great section that resembled a welsh trail centre, as it undulated along the contours of the hillside. Then came the reward for all that climbing, a sometimes scarily steep, sweeping descent with stutter bumps in the precipitous braking zones leading into the bermed corners. It was a memorable course in every way - not all of them pleasant!

Will was first off, unfortunately due to delays with the previous races he wasn't able to complete an entire warm-up lap and when his chain snapped before the top of the climb his cycling was done for the day. Standing nervously by the start waiting for him the three of us started to fear the worst as we saw rider after rider coming through coated in dirt and blood after taking a fall on the descent to the finish.

Myself, Steve and Ian were all gridded for the final races of the day. Even on the first lap the climb was agonising and it felt as though I rode most of the race in my bottom gear! My single 32 tooth chainring only just allowing me to crawl upwards. I drank and gulped gels to prevent cramping which would have surely ended my race.

From his lowly grid spot Steve put in a stella effort to finish 6th. Ian was 23rd in the Grand Vets while I was 29th in Masters.

On the way home we raided the services M&S shop, sharing out Scones, Pain au Chocolate and Hot Cross Buns the rest of the way home. Sorry about the crumbs Steve!

Southern XC Championships

Having enjoyed the experience of dry dusty trails over the past few weeks, it was probably inevitable that while much of the UK basked in sunshine, it was drizzling down in the New Forest for the Southern XC Championships. The moisture added a glossy surface to the trails, leaving riders with little confidence in the corners and sapping their strength on the climbs. Despite the weather it would have been a terrific flowing course, had it not been for a couple of  what might politely be called ‘stream crossings’. In reality these were muddy ditches; the fastest method of navigating them was to jump off the bike and leap straight in!

 

Things started badly on my warm-up lap, I found Doddy lying in one of the ditches clutching his knee. He had slipped off a wooden bridge the taken out one of the posts on the way. The marshals were already with him so I was able to move on, which was lucky because I had a puncture. I presume from riding over one of the nails sticking out of the broken bridge.

Back at the car I met Steve who had pulled out, but when he described his recent schedule I am not surprised. The poor man needed some sleep! 

Luckily some of us did make it to the finish line, although I think we'd all agree it was tough going.

Will      2nd Junior

Marc    2nd Open

Ian      6th Grand Vet

Emma 7th Elite

Ollie    7th Junior

Ben   21st Masters      

Gorrick 100

Change of venue this year as some trail work was being carried out at Swinley, so off to Porridgepot Hill we ventured. The weather had been great all week and we were looking forward to fast dusty trails. The course at Porridgepot is usually around 7 miles for the popular Are You Tough Enough event so cutting in another 2.5 miles of racetrack must have been a worry for the Gorrick team but as usual they dished up a very good course.

Quite a few of us had a late night at Matt and Anna's wedding celebrations, so the 4 lap race which was a 10.30am start was inviting and gave us a little bit of a lie in!
We had a great turnout of 10 people in the 4 lap race and 3 in the 3 lap from both the shop team and club members.

Team riders Emma,Marc and Will had great rides coming 2nd,5th and 7th in their races.
This was most of the club riders first bash at the event and  by the end we all had plenty of respect for a tough course, some a little disappointed that it wasn't much fun but a great Jim Barrow statement that racing is fun when it stops, otherwise you're not trying hard enough! 

So on that ethos we must have all been really riding on the rivet as they say. Well done to everyone.

Gorrick 100 photo's

Emma 2nd Ladies 4 Lap

Olive 7th Ladies 4 Lap

Mark 5th Male 4 Lap

Will 7th Male 4 Lap

John D 29th Male 4 Lap

Andy G 45th Male 4 Lap

John R 49th Male 4 Lap

Andy J 55th Male 4 Lap

Kevin 60th Male 4 Lap

Peter 71st Male 4 Lap

James 7th Male 3 Lap

Ollie 13th Male 3 Lap

Southern XC Round 1

 

Matterly Basin is better known as the home of the British MotoX GP. Sunday it played host to a slightly quieter form of two wheeled racing - the first round of the Southern XC series. Set on the slopes of the South Downs close to Winchester, the course clambered over the local hills, twisting in and out of the woodland and across open grassland. It was a blustery day on the exposed hillside but the sun did its best to shine, as the clouds scooted across the sky.

Despite the recent heavy rain the forest sections weren’t too greasy and a racing line formed in the drying mud. The warmer temperatures meant it was also my first outing this year in shorts! Although this does mean I had to expose my hairy legs to the smoothly shaved racer boys.

 

 

The club seemed destined just to miss the podium with Ian, Will and Steve all coming home in 4th place! The duck was broken by James Darcy who won the Grand Vets.

Elsewhere Alex was 16th in Open, I was 20th in the Masters and Ollie 10th in the Juniors.

The podium boy!

 

Southern XC Team Result from 2012

Gorrick Spring Series Rnd 2 - Crowthorne

I think we should create a new rule: Team mates shouldn’t line up next to each other on the grid.

 

Alex and I were side by side ready for the start of the Super Masters race. The hooter sounded, muscles tensed, power was applied to pedals, chains took the strain. Shoulder to shoulder, elbows entwined we were off. To my right there was the unmistakable sound of a chain snapping, followed by a rider wobbling into the pack. Suddenly we were all squeezed, I was pushed and fell towards Alex. Obviously I never want to crash, but my worst fear would be taking out a team mate at the same time and ruining two races. Using all my Jedi powers of levitation I somehow managed to stay upright, Alex actually supporting me as I wrestled myself back into the saddle. We were sliding back through the field but we were both still in the race.
 

A technicoloured ribbon of riders streamed through the long flat singletrack section and into the infamous corkscrew. Having dealt with the challenging swoops and dips I emerged onto the fireroad. The front wheel skidded on the loose gravel and slipped out from under me. The “Force” was no longer with me and I hit the ground hard. I was quickly back up, but the bars were at about 30 degrees, so I was off again for a realignment. Pushing to catch up I repeated the same trick only 200 yards down the path at the next turn – I was panicking!

 

Despite my adventures Alex and I had a fun race long tussle finishing 17^th and 18^th in Super Masters. Mr D and Mr P had a similar ding dong battle in the Grand Vets to come home 4^th and 6^th. Like a fortnight ago, Will came powering past me like a train on his new Stumpjumper HT. Unfortunately he was just pipped to the win right on the line. Hard luck Will - next time! Oli was 27th behind Will in the Sport and James was 7th up against some quick riders in the Youth race.