Mountain Biking / Cyclocross

I have succumbed to the 'dark side' as many of you refer to it, in recent months hence I have missed the last few months club rides.

Is there anyone else interested in developing a MTB/Cyclo cross part of the club?

My plans this year will be centred around MTB races and off road sportives and occasional visits to tracks further afield moving into Cyclocross after the summer. All this will be built around a training plan involving Grafham and some of the other tracks in and around Buckden, Grafham and St Neots.

Phil

I think you'll find there a more than a few of us who like a bit of the dirty stuff!

I've gone the other way after spending the last 10 years riding mtb's.

The problem with the local terrain is that the off road routes IMO are pretty dull and an absolute mudfest from November to April. This meant that any off road riding always started with a car journey.

Recommended local spots (within a 30 minutes drive) would be Chicksands, Woburn or North Herts. I would be happy to act as a guide, but only when its dried out a touch as its very wet at the moment.

We could probably do with some mtb enthusiasts to become involved with goride when its up and running if anyones interested

We also have a couple of people in the club who get involved in MTB racing. Both called John oddly enough, both have forum logins but not seen them on here for a while.

I am struggling for decent trails locally but the local OS shows a few decent routes so I tend to go exploring or try and improve my PB racing around Grafham which aerobically is a challenge

but the mud is pretty bad at the present time where ever you go

I did a MTB sportive in Guildford 2 weeks ago; a 98 mile ride but the tracks were superb and contained lots of things called HILLS which were a lot of fun and clearly we don't see that sort of terrain around here

I have a diary of races and off road sportives lined up over the next 6 months starting with Thetford on Sunday. I cant imagine that I will be competitive this year but who cares . . . . . .

Phil

I meant that it was 98 miles to drive to Guildford - the trail was 50km

Hi there Carbon Pill have you packed in the Tri stuff now,?,did you ever do the iron Man thing ? Geoff...........

Hi Geoff, I have not packed in Triathlon and it is still on the agenda for 2014

I did the Ironman last year so that box is ticked but no plans for another just yet because it takes too much our of your life to train and with a job and a family I can't even contemplate one for a few years. I am training Partner for a friend who is doing one this year so I will be making sure that I do a few 100m sportives before the summer

MTB and off road is a distraction for now and I will give it a try this year. There is an interesting debate on wheel size at the present time as the 26 V 29er comparison has now been hijacked by the 27.5 ?!

May need to sell my TT bike though to upgrade my MTB . . . . . I shall wait until after the bike show in Feb

P

Great keep going, well done on the iron man Geoff...........

Hi Phil,
Gary hits the nail on the head, East Anglia lacks a critical essential ingredient which makes mountain biking fun, so generally all you're left with are flattish muddy bridleways and farm tracks, which, I find, soon get quite boring! Having said that, there are some really very nice off road routes around here - three shires way, Sandye Lane, Bullock lane and some of the other bridleways and greenways west of St Neots are ones I know fairly well. Accept them as pretty rides, don't expect anything especially challenging from the terrain, but do expect to spend a long time cleaning your bike!

If you're going to use Grafham for training, pick your times carefully. As I'm sure you know the path is shared use, although really in many places it is too narrow to comfortably be so. There'll always be at least a few dog walkers, joggers and other cyclist that you'll have to slow down for. For avoiding other users, first thing in the morning (before 7am), and evenings after about 8pm you probably won't see anyone, especially in the summer, although anytime after 5pm is usually fairly quiet.

Phil,

Depending on what series you wish to race in, places like Chicksands (Rowney Warren Wood on the A600) or Thetford Forrest (a big forrest near Thetford! - well Brandon Country Park really!) are the best places to train round here.
These will give you the technical skills to race at most venues in the south.
Rutland cycles have backed a (small) course at Fineshade near Corby. The course is in its infancy and a short lap, but has a few technical sections - mostly berms and the odd jump.

If your planning on doing national races or races further afield, Cannock Chase, Dalby Forrest or one of the Welsh bike Parks are worth a visit.
The Olympic MTB course in Essex will be open to visitors from possibly April this year? I have only ridden there once but it is an ace facility. Only problem is that some of the trickier sections will be removed due to H&S issues! A bit sad as British Cycling needs a proper venue in the South with rocks but there you go.

Cannock is good to ride all year round, whatever the weather! I rode there yesterday with a local MTB club and apart from some very deep puddles it rode well - one advantage of trail centres! The other is you can string together a good few laps without keep stopping to check a map!

If you want to be shown around any of the above let me know. (07585 601825)

On wheel size, having grown up racing on 26" hoops in the 90's I can vouch for the speed of 29" wheels!
If your on the short size, go for 27.5 (650B) wheels - 29" bikes are obviously taller and can be a tad longer making them harder to manhandle over trickier terrain.

Good luck with the racing,

Ian