sylvain
BoTM Winner
Did the first round of the Beastway race series in North London the other evening and remembered how much fun it can be in the mud - there had been a few storms during the day, then it really lashed down as we were doing our practice lap. It didn't stop raining for the rest of the evening ... started with clear-lens glasses, then had to take them out as I couldn't clear off the mud fast enough, so for the rest of the race had big chunks of mud flying into my eyes. The worse was when following someone's wheel. But it was great fun all the way and hearing from other people's comments most enjoyed it.
On a retro note, I was using the Ibis ti which is just fantastic to race on such a fast course. Have converted it to 9-speed with a 12-27 cassette. Got some bad chainsuck at the front while in the middle ring, and the mud and grass made the close rear gears a bit fussy. I had come with a Fast Fred semi-slick at the rear, which was horrendous when I tried it out, so I managed to borrow an old Ritchey 2.1 Megabite which was miles better for grip. I'm also using those Ergon grips now which are excellent and kind of replaces the need for bar-ends, I seriously recommend you give them ago (they are butt-heavy though). My Flite Evo 1 which was still nice and shiny before the race has now a dull satin look due to the mud sandpapering on it ... it actually looks pretty alright. And good V-brakes on ceramic rims though nowhere nearly as good as discs still work good enough in the wet.
After my usual not-so-fast sprint start and catching up with riders I managed to move onto another Masters who I thought alone was at the front, so sat in with him for a bit, until I realised at the "go on you can catch them!" shouts by spectators that there were others ahead of us. Tried hard to do so but just didn't make it in the end, there was actually only one guy ahead, maybe another lap and we would've fought it for first place. Still happy with coming second though.
So what's the physical result of a 1-hour mudbath?...
This reminds me of the Jackass when he got into the portaloo that was then lifted upside down ...
We were having showers fully dressed afterwards ...
On a retro note, I was using the Ibis ti which is just fantastic to race on such a fast course. Have converted it to 9-speed with a 12-27 cassette. Got some bad chainsuck at the front while in the middle ring, and the mud and grass made the close rear gears a bit fussy. I had come with a Fast Fred semi-slick at the rear, which was horrendous when I tried it out, so I managed to borrow an old Ritchey 2.1 Megabite which was miles better for grip. I'm also using those Ergon grips now which are excellent and kind of replaces the need for bar-ends, I seriously recommend you give them ago (they are butt-heavy though). My Flite Evo 1 which was still nice and shiny before the race has now a dull satin look due to the mud sandpapering on it ... it actually looks pretty alright. And good V-brakes on ceramic rims though nowhere nearly as good as discs still work good enough in the wet.
After my usual not-so-fast sprint start and catching up with riders I managed to move onto another Masters who I thought alone was at the front, so sat in with him for a bit, until I realised at the "go on you can catch them!" shouts by spectators that there were others ahead of us. Tried hard to do so but just didn't make it in the end, there was actually only one guy ahead, maybe another lap and we would've fought it for first place. Still happy with coming second though.
So what's the physical result of a 1-hour mudbath?...
This reminds me of the Jackass when he got into the portaloo that was then lifted upside down ...
We were having showers fully dressed afterwards ...
