Five of us piled ourselves, our bikes and our kit into two cars and set off on Friday evening to spend the night in Saltash Travelodge. After arriving and not quite managing to sneak ourselves into one family room we passed the rest of the evening with a bottle of Jura and episodes of Robot Chicken.
Saturday was spent riding the 3 tracks at Gawton. The weather was dry but the tracks were wet from overnight rain. Nonetheless they hold up well in all conditions and it was great to be back riding some much steeper and more technical terrain than Lordswood.
After another overnight stay at the Travelodge (in two rooms this time) Sunday was spent riding the shorter tracks at Tavistock Woodlands. This brought the blessing of a shorter push up. We had fun sessioning and trying to cram a bit of phototaking inbetween the heavy rain showers.
I think we all agreed it was a very enjoyable trip, and we plan to arrange another (and hopefully more popular) trip back in the New Year.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
UK Bike Park Winter Series Rd1
The downhill contingent of the club descended on a cold UK Bike Park for their first race of the year this past Sunday. After collecting number boards and unloading the van it was time to put the mud tyres on for those who hadn't already done so before leaving Southampton. Although it wasn't raining at the time it had rained heavily overnight and it was clear that the course was going to be very slick.
The race track started from the large start ramp and began with an energy sapping, pedally slog along the flat. It was quite depressing having to roll through what would be some nice doubles in the dry on this section. The track then continued to traverse but with bit more of a downwards direction which allowed you to carry some speed without pedaling over some nice off camber roots. A left turn pointed you straight down the hill over a double drop and firing round a right hand catch berm in to the first switchback on the track. From here it was steep, off camber and rooty in places with lots of off camber switch backs. Lots of foot out dabbing action down here from all riders trying desperately to stay up on the off camber. Out from the last switch back there was a long straight in to a long, low road gap and then a long left hand berm to rail before a sprint to the finish.
Most got 3 practice runs in and then 2 race runs. In hindsight it might have been nice to arrive a little earlier to get some more practice in.
I think all that attended had good fun despite difficult conditions and we managed to post some good times, most noticeably Nick who was fastest of the club and placed 4th in Seniors. Well done Nick! And we even had a podium in the hardtail category with Ben Craig making a valliant effort and placing 3rd.
I'm already looking forward to round 2 on the 28th Nov!
Club Results Nick Farley - 1:37.15 4th Senior
Pete Irwin - 1:44.38 11th Senior
Bill Bye - 1:51.59 15th Senior
Fresher Rob - 1:55.19 17th Senior
Jack Lambert - 2:02.18 19th Senior
Wizard - 2:04.04 20th Senior
Dan Ringrow - 2:25.42 23rd Senior
Ben Craig - 3:17.22 3rd Hardtail
The race track started from the large start ramp and began with an energy sapping, pedally slog along the flat. It was quite depressing having to roll through what would be some nice doubles in the dry on this section. The track then continued to traverse but with bit more of a downwards direction which allowed you to carry some speed without pedaling over some nice off camber roots. A left turn pointed you straight down the hill over a double drop and firing round a right hand catch berm in to the first switchback on the track. From here it was steep, off camber and rooty in places with lots of off camber switch backs. Lots of foot out dabbing action down here from all riders trying desperately to stay up on the off camber. Out from the last switch back there was a long straight in to a long, low road gap and then a long left hand berm to rail before a sprint to the finish.
Most got 3 practice runs in and then 2 race runs. In hindsight it might have been nice to arrive a little earlier to get some more practice in.
I think all that attended had good fun despite difficult conditions and we managed to post some good times, most noticeably Nick who was fastest of the club and placed 4th in Seniors. Well done Nick! And we even had a podium in the hardtail category with Ben Craig making a valliant effort and placing 3rd.
I'm already looking forward to round 2 on the 28th Nov!
Club Results Nick Farley - 1:37.15 4th Senior
Pete Irwin - 1:44.38 11th Senior
Bill Bye - 1:51.59 15th Senior
Fresher Rob - 1:55.19 17th Senior
Jack Lambert - 2:02.18 19th Senior
Wizard - 2:04.04 20th Senior
Dan Ringrow - 2:25.42 23rd Senior
Ben Craig - 3:17.22 3rd Hardtail
Thursday, November 4, 2010
October Afan XC Trip
It seems to be fashionable to start these entries with some comments about the weather, so I'll just mention that it we experienced a monsoon while loading up the van and minibus. The forecast lead us to expect a damp weekend so we were pleased to discover that this was the last significant downpour we experienced.
14 club members travelled up to join 2 old friends in our usual accomodation for the traditional first weekend XC trip of the year. Our riding plans were slightly disrupted by the closure if the Penhydd trail, so instead of starting at Afan we kicked the riding off at Glencorrwg on Saturday morning with a lap of White's Level. After lunch at the Drop-Off cafe we headed back up the singletrack climb for another descent of the black run followed by the shortest 'July' version of Skyline. A misread turning on a trail diversion saw us navigating a bog (some with more success than others), then sent us down an unexpected natural trail complete with running water, a pedal width rut to follow and rock steps. Great fun, challenging to ride fast and a change from all the manmade trails on offer. This brought us out at the bottom of the last fireroad climb on Skyline (a real grinder) and when we reached the top it dawned on us that we were back at the mid-point of the diversion. Still, the final three sections of singletrack descent more than made up for it.
Saturday evening saw a change from the traditional pasta to rice and chilli for dinner. XC Captain Rob ate way more of it than his stomach could hold down, while the rest of us were a bit more sensible but compensated by rehydrating with beer, cider or whisky.
On Sunday most people undertook a single lap of The Wall, following it up with a relaxed lunch while the keener (fitter) members went out for a second lap.
All in all a successful trip, and we took away from it a new name for XC Rob, a new song penned by Fresher Rob for Rich Hebb and greatest of all the experience of feeding Manbearpig as we left.
14 club members travelled up to join 2 old friends in our usual accomodation for the traditional first weekend XC trip of the year. Our riding plans were slightly disrupted by the closure if the Penhydd trail, so instead of starting at Afan we kicked the riding off at Glencorrwg on Saturday morning with a lap of White's Level. After lunch at the Drop-Off cafe we headed back up the singletrack climb for another descent of the black run followed by the shortest 'July' version of Skyline. A misread turning on a trail diversion saw us navigating a bog (some with more success than others), then sent us down an unexpected natural trail complete with running water, a pedal width rut to follow and rock steps. Great fun, challenging to ride fast and a change from all the manmade trails on offer. This brought us out at the bottom of the last fireroad climb on Skyline (a real grinder) and when we reached the top it dawned on us that we were back at the mid-point of the diversion. Still, the final three sections of singletrack descent more than made up for it.
Saturday evening saw a change from the traditional pasta to rice and chilli for dinner. XC Captain Rob ate way more of it than his stomach could hold down, while the rest of us were a bit more sensible but compensated by rehydrating with beer, cider or whisky.
On Sunday most people undertook a single lap of The Wall, following it up with a relaxed lunch while the keener (fitter) members went out for a second lap.
All in all a successful trip, and we took away from it a new name for XC Rob, a new song penned by Fresher Rob for Rich Hebb and greatest of all the experience of feeding Manbearpig as we left.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Gorrick Autumn Classic Rd 1
It was a bright and crisp day when SUMBC turned up to Swinley Forest on Sunday October 17th for the first in the autumn series of the Gorrick XC series. Six riders from the university went to compete with a great time being had by all. The sport category saw competitors take on three laps of a fun, fast course and was the first category that the university's riders were competing in. The bright and dry weather brought out a large field with 91 riders starting the race. First home for the uni in 36th place was Rob Collier, closely followed by Tom Roberts in 43rd spot just over a minute behind. Steve Burnett was third home from the university riders in 59th place with Chris Tyson following in 71st spot. James Gaffney rounded out the SUMBC riders in 80th position, however he would have been higher placed without a slight timing mishap. Special mention must also go to ex-student Matt Treviss who finished in 18th place. The sport category was one lap longer and Tom Bandy was the club's sole presence in this competition finshing a very succesful 18th position. All in all it was a great day on a well designed course and a good start to a new academic year's racing.
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