# Your XC race



## HarryTheDog (19 Apr 2021)

I cant believe there has not been a thread on XC racing yet so I thought I would start one.
I have been a on and off XC racer for several years, lately more off having not raced for 2 years or even ridden my MTB for the last year. Well one of my MTB club mates messaged me asking me to make up the numbers for a multi club championships. So I entered and last weekend dragged my bike out of the shed and went for a blast and found out my rear brake was virtually usless so put it into the local LBS who diagnosed contaminated pads and my rear rotor was very thin, so I got the bike back this saturday and off to racing this Sunday.

It was a local race with 4 waves, each wave consisting of a club or 2 or the first wave which was riders with no club at all. 11 members of my club and another 24 from others , so a small field.
The course was fairly non technical, short start straight then into the woods, lots of twisties around the trees which some sapping uphill sections and a few dips and a large fallen tree to get over and a very steep bridge. At the end a long 400 metre straight into a headwind with a jink into the trees through a couple of S bends then a tight right to the short finishing straight.

Well in my wave of 11 I was probably the oldest at 59 whith most being a lot younger. From the start I got into the trees in 7th and for most of the race thats where I stayed. In the first lap I felt I was in a one man race again with the fast guys out of sight and the slower ones also. Then towards the end of the first lap I became aware of someone hunting me down. It was a hour + 1 lap I figured it would be a 6 lap race.

Well the race between me and the club mate behind became a case of me dropping him through the twisties then him reeling me back in on the hills and long straight. On the 3rd lap a faster rider from a wave behind caught me, he was at least 20 yrs younger and built like a racing snake but his 26 inch wheels let him down. He was catching me in the twisties, holding me on the hills but I left him standing on the long 400m straight. However I was using him to good effect to speed me up and hold off my club mate.
On the 4th lap I dropped him like a stone on the long straight and was very surprised to get the final lap bell as only 55 minutes had gone so I knew max effort now!. I was surprised the guy on the 26 inch caught me half way around the lap and Killed himself up a hill to overtake, So I sat on him just waiting for the long straight. Then I saw one of our really fast guys trying to sort his bike out by the side of the track, I thought oh dear. My club mate behind was now far behind. Then suddenly another club mate hove into view, could I catch him and gain another place!. Well Mr 26 was doing his best to dislodge me before the straight which got us ever closer to the guy in front. Then the speedy guy who had the mechanical started catching us fast. I knew I could not hold him off till the finish but maybe I could use him on the long finishing straight.
So I ensured he would have a difficult time getting past me in the twisties before the straight. As soon as we hit the straight I got out of his way and as he zoomed past jumped on his tail and stayed with him for the first 200m, the club mate and Mr 26 were history!

Final result was I was 6 out of 11 in my club and since we were time chipped I was given 17th out of 35 in the overall mens, not too shabby I thought for a 59yr old who had gone into the race expecting to be much further down the order.
Now I have a dilemma as I have entered the next race which is a normal all in,( not aged based just ability based) in the 3rd and bottom league but from this result should be in the 2nd one. I will probably try to get bumped up into the 2nd one as I would rather chase than lead.
Sorry no pictures as my partner thinks I am a daft old fool for racing XC again so did not come with me . Someone did take photos but I am in none of them.


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## HarryTheDog (19 Apr 2021)

A picture not of me but a 51yr old team mate going over the only significant feature of the race . ( Xc races are dumbed down in covid times to stop trips to the hospital)


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## Drago (19 Apr 2021)

Never done any proper racing, but took part in a 24hrs endurance XC event for charidee a few years ago with a team made up of fellow MIAS trainers. 4 x 2 hour stints left me about done in, but our team (of which I was one of the younger riders, being then in my late 40's) didn't come last.


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## I like Skol (19 Apr 2021)

Looks like loads of fun and right up my street. Done a bit of CX racing with @dan_bo in the past and managed reasonable places. Like you I would be aiming to finish in the top half and hopefully give some of the young guns a surprise. However, at only 47yo I may be considered as one of the young guns by some


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## HarryTheDog (19 Apr 2021)

@Drago and @I like Skol in both XC and CX racing the largest and most competitive fields are the over 40's and then over 50's . Here the regional and Local MTB organisers have now dropped BC as BC charges them too much per entry and too many rules and have gone for ability based league racing. When i raced Xc before where we started after the youngsters we were often told not to be too nasty too them when we caught and overtook half their field.
2 years ago there were no places in a over 50's CX race so I and some others had to race in the seniors ( under 40) I got the same relative positional result in that that as the over 50's.


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## Drago (19 Apr 2021)

Alas, I'm not built for racing. My unfortunate deformities make me rather uncompetitive.


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## Ming the Merciless (19 Apr 2021)

Drago said:


> Alas, I'm not built for racing. My unfortunate deformities make me rather uncompetitive.



What about Barbie Bike classification?


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## johnblack (19 Apr 2021)

Hopefully the Friday Night Summer Series will be up and running again this year. Racing throughout the East Midlands, variety of course, really well organised and open to all https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/FNSSMTB/


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## MasterDabber (19 Apr 2021)

I've thought about entering one of the Gorrick races but two things put me off. 
The age categories mean that the oldest group is the Grand Vets but that is everyone over 60. At 73 a potential 13 year difference is pretty significant in terms of physical performance. I'm certainly a very much lower rider now than when I was 60 (or even in my 60's). Not that I'd have any expectations of placing well but I'd rather not look too crap.
That leads me to the second concern which is that at the moment Gorrick are using their Area 51 venue (their own land) which is a fairly small area but into which the routes zigzag unrelentingly but each lap is pretty short. Therefore the potentia lto keep being lapped and generally getting in the way of others is pretty high.
Haven't decides yet but might just try it sometime (but maybe not).


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## Hacienda71 (19 Apr 2021)

Done the Mountain Mayhem 24hr twice was going to do the 2020 event, but cancelled for obvious reasons. Bit different from the road racing and TTing I am more used to, but good fun and a good sense of comradary between the riders.


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## Drago (20 Apr 2021)

T'was the Mountain Mayhem that i did. Its fairly local to me and my chums, which sealed the deal.


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## Venod (20 Apr 2021)

HarryTheDog said:


> I cant believe there has not been a thread on XC racing yet so I thought I would start one.
> I have been a on and off XC racer for several years, lately more off having not raced for 2 years or even ridden my MTB for the last year. Well one of my MTB club mates messaged me asking me to make up the numbers for a multi club championships. So I entered and last weekend dragged my bike out of the shed and went for a blast and found out my rear brake was virtually usless so put it into the local LBS who diagnosed contaminated pads and my rear rotor was very thin, so I got the bike back this saturday and off to racing this Sunday.
> 
> It was a local race with 4 waves, each wave consisting of a club or 2 or the first wave which was riders with no club at all. 11 members of my club and another 24 from others , so a small field.
> ...



I enjoyed reading that, well done for holding the chases off, and well done on the result.


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## HarryTheDog (20 Apr 2021)

MasterDabber said:


> I've thought about entering one of the Gorrick races but two things put me off.
> The age categories mean that the oldest group is the Grand Vets but that is everyone over 60. At 73 a potential 13 year difference is pretty significant in terms of physical performance. I'm certainly a very much lower rider now than when I was 60 (or even in my 60's). Not that I'd have any expectations of placing well but I'd rather not look too crap.
> That leads me to the second concern which is that at the moment Gorrick are using their Area 51 venue (their own land) which is a fairly small area but into which the routes zigzag unrelentingly but each lap is pretty short. Therefore the potentia lto keep being lapped and generally getting in the way of others is pretty high.
> Haven't decides yet but might just try it sometime (but maybe not).


The oldest guy in my race was 71, he showed off by not bothering with a XC bike but used a CX instead ( as did around 3 others) . He did get lapped by a fair amount of people though, but I am sure they showed him the respect he deserved and no one elbowed him into a ditch.


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## Drago (20 Apr 2021)

There were some very, very quick boys and girls out there, and being twice as heavy as some on them made me hopelessly uncompetitive (thats why I don't compete). My stamina and climbing are great, but "speed" and "Drago" are rarely found in the same sentence.

But on the more technical sections their inability to read the terrain well in advance, poor positioning, poor stance and gear selection for each obstacle, and in most cases obvious lack of training meant I was making up good time compared to the racing snakes. Funniest bit is that after a while I was recognising other riders and watching them make exactly the same mistakes with every lap.

I'd say to anyone already racing and wanting to step up to the next level that a few hundred quid spent on some training is easily worth 10 times that on a "better" bike. That's not an advert for me personally as racers aren't my usual target audience and I may be giving it up this year for health reasons, but as a general piece of advice I would say some proper training will comfortably bring the best performance improvement per £££ spent.


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## I like Skol (20 Apr 2021)

Drago said:


> But on the more technical sections their inability to read the terrain well in advance, poor positioning, poor stance and gear selection for each obstacle,


This was also my experience of CX racing. In the 3 or 4 races I did I found my fitness was reasonable, but the real gains in places were made in the technical sections. I was riding my CX bike but my Ninja MTB skills meant as soon as it got slightly iffy I was hop, skipping & jumping past my opponents who were off the saddle and dabbing a foot down for balance.
Fitness, physique and the best bike in the world don't mean squat if you are floundering like Bambi on ice


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## HarryTheDog (20 Apr 2021)

@Drago the trick is findng a decent coach who does not charge a fortune and is "interested" in you. I live in the South east where they can charge 100 per hour for individual attention. I have tried 2 different coaches and found they werent really interested in helping a "has been/never was" at all and just taking my money. They both coached youngsters for nowt , more glory for them!. I also found this with a swimming coach when I tried triathlon, after going along to group lessons for 2 months he pointed out something I was doing wrong and said I had always done it, why didnt he tell me 2 months ago! ( too busy with his "pets") . One of the guys I used to regularly ride with was a "race coach" and he never gave sod all away for nowt and the best I got out of him was follow my lines . ( which actually was quite useful) . I am sure there are some coaches out there interested in old farts but I am yet to find one.


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## Drago (20 Apr 2021)

Hundred quid _an hour?! _I charge that per delegate _per day_, and don't charge at all for Search and Rescue personnel. Having said that, I do it for the satisfaction and have never attempted to make a living from it.

OK, I'm not a specialist sport MTB trainer (I also do advanced road - not race - skills, defensive tactics for riders, first aid, basic fitness and nutrition, basic maintenance, etc) but even so, a hundred quid an hour is eye watering.

I guess it's a big wide world out there and I occupy just a tiny corner of it - seems I could steal someone's lunch and still make a profit if I weren't so elederly and broken. And could be bothered.


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## HarryTheDog (25 Apr 2021)

Today was the first round of the Travers MTB series and it had attracted more riders than the club champs last week, 61 had entered the 16+. I had been upgraded from League 2 to 1 from my result last week. . 3 waves on the day. elite, League 1 and league 2 seperated by 1 min at the start.
I had outdone myself last week and all week my Garmin was telling me I was in crap condition.
On the practice lap my heart sank, my garmin telling me I was 4 points below base performance.

The course was nearly identical to last weeks but in reverse without the log jump. Meaning the start was a horrible rutted uphill, right turn through the wood and finish line with hardly any bends through the woods then out onto a straight 400m+ then into the twisties finished off at the finish by a shortish uphill with the finish strangely on a right hand bend. This meant you could go max effort off the start for over 2 minutes. Normally my 2 minute effort w/kg is quite good in comparison to most over 50's , however this race was all ages.
Anyway24 in my league, I had a bloody good start by the end of the 400m going into the twisties I was 5th however there was a fly in the ointment, some chunky guy who for some unknown reason had been put in the elites was caught and overtaken by the first 4 but I got stuck behind him into the twisties.
He was slow in the twisties but was not being a gentleman and getting out of the way. ( he was perfectly entitled to keep his line and not give me a inch) So I ended up with a queue behind me waiting to get around chunky. The front of the race was disapearing.
Now I was a little miffed with this and was determined that at the first tiniest opportunity I was going through whether he liked it or not. I soon got my opportunity on a small uphill ,shouted a warning, on your right and just forced my way through( without making contact) . No one else got through and I made a supreme effort to get to the leading 4. 
Well I arrived at the rear wheel of the 4 in bits, I had overdone it, heart rate through the roof and no respite to get it down. I just had to let go or I knew I would be in physical trouble later. I cooled it a bit and tried to get my heart rate down, it wouldnt!. Then a group of 4 who had got past chunky, started to hunt me down. I had sod all in the tank and just had to let them go past. I tried to jump on the tail but nowt happening. 

Then onto lap 2 I carried on losing places and my heat rate started to come down at last and I started back into a rhythm.Towards the end of the lap I was joined by a rather large powerful looking chap on a CX bike ( probably in his fifties as well) who got passed me but I then decided to draw my line in the sand, nothing was getting past now! and I was going to hold onto Mr CX to the finish!
Into lap 3 and Mr CX was inching away from me and I got caught by a further 2 people who got past despite my mental line in the sand, they also got past Mr CX, however Mr CX was still attainable. 
Going into lap 4 me and Mr CX were yoyoing . I was praying for a last lap bell ,then towards the end of the 4th 2 elites went past then a couple more and hurrah the bell went. Mr CX was 20yds in front.
Last Lap I needed to get on his tail by the long 400m or all was lost. I went sod it to the heart rate and got my skates on. Timed it to perfection and was on his tail at the begininng of the 400m and he towed me to the twisties. My plan was to sit on him the whole last lap until the uphill finishing bit and try my chances at a sprint hoping the significant weight difference would be in my favour. Well this plan was working fine until a lapping rider asked to go past, I moved left not seeing a branch which hit my bars which steered me straight into a tree, I hit it hard, my bike low sided and I went across the top of a bar end putting a 8 inch scrape across my stomach , I somersaulted and got back on the bike, I had lost only 5 seconds but had lost the race with Mr CX. However towards the end of the lap, I lapped the supposed Elite Mr Chunkie and spied another guy in my league on his uppers. Then 200m from the finish a lapping rider overtook me and the guy on his uppers, he then assumed I was a lapping rider as well and nearly stopped to let me through. 
Well I didnt totally disgrace my league one promotion and came 16/24 in league 1.
Strange how your mind works, i most have been concentrating on MR CX so much as looking at the results it would seem I got lapped by 11 elite riders and 6 league 1's. I lapped 2 elites , 4 league 1's and a further league 1person twice! and lapped 11 league 2's. I didnt think that many people lapped me and I certainly cant remember overtaking 18 people towards the end of the race, I would have said 2 or 3 at most!
No doubt tomorrow my stomach and ribs will be telling me off. With 2 weeks of re-couperation before the next one I hope to feel in better fettle for it.
Sorry it was a long post and no photos, I was thinking of posting a photo of my injuries but then remembered no one wants to see a slightly overweight old mans hairy gut, there may be children watching!


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## tinywheels (29 Apr 2021)

Wow,I thought racing mountain bikes went out of fashion circa late 90s. when I was a younger man we did it on non suspension bikes,then hardtails, eventually fully suspended bikes arrived. Nice to see racing is still a thing.


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## Drago (30 Apr 2021)

Well, at the lower levels its more fast risk taking than racing.


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## HarryTheDog (30 Apr 2021)

I have always been aware of both road crit and proper road racing and XC and CX.
In the eastern region I found XC and CX more accessible for a middle aged not ultra serious racer, as age based whereas road being Category based. Racing road with the LVRC aged based ( League of veteran racing cyclists) if you are a normal bod off the street can be like being thrown to the lions, I always considered a race with them where I did not come last a triumph. 
Racing 4th Cat in a BC crit was quite often a case of will I finish before some prat crashes and takes me out, I hate road rash!. I have also done TLI crits ( 3 ability based categories where you pick your own category and quite non serious despite their website saying its age related) locally but that can get boring as its only on a pan flat airfield midweek evenings but quite a large good natured turnout . ( apart from the time 2 peanuts took against my daughter racing, she was the only female in the race and one tried "leaning on her" in bends nearly sending her off the circuit several times, he found a angry Dad was best avoided! and did not turn up again)
XC and CX here have very big fields of middle aged people competing, in CX usually 80 or so over 50s, in XC I have known 150 over 50's turn up. In the middle of the pack where I race always good natured and friendly. 
In XC there is always a problem for the organisers, the faster better end always want more difficult technical sections, old boys like me and less experienced dont want to go flying off 6 ft drops etc when I started XC about 15 years ago the courses looked like CX ones and if you could ride a rutted field you were ok, then they got more and more technical putting newbies off ie racing around the hadleigh olympic course. I gave up XC 2 years ago when my team mate a year older than me broke a bone every year for 3 years and I started shying away from A lines. 
with the outbreak of COVID they have dumbed the courses down again to stop trips to the hospital so I started again. Its a shame both the local and regional main race organisers have gone from age to ability based ( so away from BC) but apparently thats what people want and BC charge too much for their stamp of approval etc.


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## Fintious (3 May 2021)

Wow this has got me thinking. Not raced XC for years - in fact the last one I did was the Malvern Hills Classic in about 1992/93 (someone was stabbed to death in a tent that year). Also used to regularly do the Thetford Forest series. I’d have to seriously step up my training to do it now but it has given me an interest to have a go....


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## HarryTheDog (3 May 2021)

There are plenty of people who race XC for a giggle or just to ride in new places, I would not worry too much about training like a pro.


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## HarryTheDog (9 May 2021)

Still no one else racing?
Ok another report from me then. Well durring the week I knew something was not right with me, on the face of it I should be better, I suffer from high blood pressure and am on Ramipril ( have been for years) this week my blood pressure was lower than it has been for a long long time,( 170 over 70) also my resting heart rate has dropped from its usual 42 to 44 bpm down to 40. However I was really tired yesterday and actually fell asleep in the afternoon. Ths morning I really felt like not turning up, but I did.
Well the course was 100 metres uphill over a rutted field, then downhill and into the woods for endless twisties then onto a 400 metre straight, short trip through the woods then short 25 metre uphill. Around 13-15 min per lap.
More people had turned up and 81 overall. 25 in my league 1. I am normally a good uphill starter but not today. By the top of the 100 metre hill I was 3rd to last, I was shattered already. I stayed where I was for the first lap and found I was sweating like I was in a sauna, when I shook my head I gave the bike a shower. I really felt like bailing out at the end of the lap but I have never bailed mid race so carried on. 
2nd lap I stayed where I was and lost sight of the riders in front but plodded on, by lap 3 some faster league 2 guys started to go past, then the kicker was being overtaken by some over 14 kids ( they start 15 mins after the adults, shorter race) on a uphill, one of which probably wieghed less than his bike and looked like a 8yr old he was tiny. 
Then lap 4 I actually started to catch some league one guys and managed to get past a couple or so. I prayed I was on the last lap but no, one more for me where I caught one more league 1. I also managed to upset a elite lapping rider, I knew he was behind me and we were coming to a short hill, smooth on the left, roots on the right, I expected him to ask to go past on the left but no he asked to go on the right and he nearly stalled on the slippery roots so I pulled away on the smooth got to the top of the hill and gapped him down the downhill, he then had to get past me again, I gave him room but he was not happy, his fault though! Also he was on a CX bike so cheating a bit in my book.
When the results came out I got another kick in the teeth, the timing chip thingy had completely lost me a lap and had my 23rd out of 25 in my league, I contacted the organisers who will sort it ( last 3 get relegated to league 2) . So I was really 19/25 league 1. ( around 52/81 overall, hard to tell with the chip cock up)
Talking to other people todays course was described as un-relenting and lots of people did not like the never ending number of very tight corners. 
Now I need to get to the bottom of why on the last 2 races I have started with Garmin telling me I am in a bad state before I start whereas on the first race and most training days I am in very good order. I am missing the next race due to holidays so wont be able to train anyways, maybe the rest will sort me out.


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## HarryTheDog (9 May 2021)

NB at least Strava gave me a boost with what is most probably a GPS glitch and gave me a 2nd overall on a strava section with a speed of 49mph downhill. Err I dont think I got over 20 mph anywhere on the course.


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