Erlestoke 6/12 hour 28/5/11 near Salisbury/aftermath-ish!
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neil, are you doing the 6 or 12?
my goal in the 6hour is 5 laps including a break but if i can do 6 i will be really pleased, my longest ride this year so far was 43miles so 5 laps would be 40miles give or take so 1 more and i'd be really pleased.
i'm guessing the course will be quite slow, it usually is up there except for the fire road bits.
looking forward to it, haven't decided on a weapon yet but i am thinking of the vit t2 and my newer clockwork. was thinking 3 laps on the vit t2, then a brake and swapping to the clockwork as it's less race orientated position wise which would be better towards the end i think.
my goal in the 6hour is 5 laps including a break but if i can do 6 i will be really pleased, my longest ride this year so far was 43miles so 5 laps would be 40miles give or take so 1 more and i'd be really pleased.
i'm guessing the course will be quite slow, it usually is up there except for the fire road bits.
looking forward to it, haven't decided on a weapon yet but i am thinking of the vit t2 and my newer clockwork. was thinking 3 laps on the vit t2, then a brake and swapping to the clockwork as it's less race orientated position wise which would be better towards the end i think.
Birdman
Retro Guru
Looks like I'm riding in the 6hr pairs, hopefully the weather will be kind. I'll be on the red Pace race weapon in Retrobike kit. 
Hopefully the course will be like the last two years, flowing singletracky woods to start with , a few field crossings then the long climb up onto the Plain via Pear Tree Lane followed by high speed open descent into more woodsy singletrack and repeat.
Hopefully the course will be like the last two years, flowing singletracky woods to start with , a few field crossings then the long climb up onto the Plain via Pear Tree Lane followed by high speed open descent into more woodsy singletrack and repeat.
Birdman":2eycm63v said:Looks like I'm riding in the 6hr pairs, hopefully the weather will be kind. I'll be on the red Pace race weapon in Retrobike kit.
Hopefully the course will be like the last two years, flowing singletracky woods to start with , a few field crossings then the long climb up onto the Plain via Pear Tree Lane followed by high speed open descent into more woodsy singletrack and repeat.
Sounds ace!!
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just got in, will do a little write up after i have been to the pub!
basically awesome day for me i wanted 5 laps and i did 5 laps!!
slightly bad day for makster, he was gonna leave early anyway as he wanted to watch something on telly, Titanic i think but then his rear wheel died and forced a retirement after 3 laps i think.
heathy risked injury by riding off road before his wrist has fully healed so we'll see what happens there! he was just setting off for a lap as i left, he was doing the 12 hour team, i did the 6 hour solo.
saw birdman aswel, he started eventhough he had a broken rear spoke in the car park!
didn't get any pics though but i did get some taken of me by the paps so if they are any good i'll get a couple and post them up.
good day
basically awesome day for me
i wanted 5 laps and i did 5 laps!!slightly bad day for makster, he was gonna leave early anyway as he wanted to watch something on telly, Titanic i think
but then his rear wheel died and forced a retirement after 3 laps i think.heathy risked injury by riding off road before his wrist has fully healed so we'll see what happens there! he was just setting off for a lap as i left, he was doing the 12 hour team, i did the 6 hour solo.
saw birdman aswel, he started eventhough he had a broken rear spoke in the car park!
didn't get any pics though but i did get some taken of me by the paps so if they are any good i'll get a couple and post them up.
good day
Birdman
Retro Guru
Great course as always, super good to ride but a bit scary to race due to zero margin for error through the trees!
Managed 5 laps which combined with my mates 4 put us in 7th for the 6hr pars. I messed up the start as I set off with the 12 hr riders not realising there was a second start 15 mins later for the 6hr riders
Sorted it out on the first change over though as my mate has to wait for 15 mins before he was allowed on track by the marshal to make up the time difference.
As you had to finish on or before 6 hrs it worked out that I had 41 mins to do my last lap for it to count, so a death or glory charge was called for. I crossed the line with 1 min to spare before the cut off, completely wasted and had to go and have a little lie down for a while :twisted:
Good to catch up with you guys prior to the start, I got my wheel fixed after the first lap, but managed to break another spoke at then end of my last lap, I think a rebuild is called for.
Managed 5 laps which combined with my mates 4 put us in 7th for the 6hr pars. I messed up the start as I set off with the 12 hr riders not realising there was a second start 15 mins later for the 6hr riders
Sorted it out on the first change over though as my mate has to wait for 15 mins before he was allowed on track by the marshal to make up the time difference.
As you had to finish on or before 6 hrs it worked out that I had 41 mins to do my last lap for it to count, so a death or glory charge was called for. I crossed the line with 1 min to spare before the cut off, completely wasted and had to go and have a little lie down for a while :twisted:
Good to catch up with you guys prior to the start, I got my wheel fixed after the first lap, but managed to break another spoke at then end of my last lap, I think a rebuild is called for.
Fisrtly, what a fantastic course! If mayhem was that good, I'd do it solo
I did indeed have a bit of a nightmare though. I managed my first 2 laps in 1h33mins and came in for a drink and to tweak my skipping rear mech.
Checked the lap times and team Eaton/Houlton (although Houlton was at home in bed :roll: ) were in 13th.
Refreshed and raring to go, I set off on my 3rd lap. Rear mech was still playing up, so a quick swap to friction was required (I LOVE THUMBIES!!).
I was looking to do another 2 quickish laps and then bugger off home to watch the football, but about 3/4 of the way around i managed to badly buckle my rear wheel.
It was so bad that I had to finish the lap with no rear brake (not good through the tight singletrack, that was now getting quite wet!).
Thoroughly enjoyed myself though, and will be returning in a few weeks to finish my laps
I did indeed have a bit of a nightmare though. I managed my first 2 laps in 1h33mins and came in for a drink and to tweak my skipping rear mech.
Checked the lap times and team Eaton/Houlton (although Houlton was at home in bed :roll: ) were in 13th.
Refreshed and raring to go, I set off on my 3rd lap. Rear mech was still playing up, so a quick swap to friction was required (I LOVE THUMBIES!!).
I was looking to do another 2 quickish laps and then bugger off home to watch the football, but about 3/4 of the way around i managed to badly buckle my rear wheel.
It was so bad that I had to finish the lap with no rear brake (not good through the tight singletrack, that was now getting quite wet!).
Thoroughly enjoyed myself though, and will be returning in a few weeks to finish my laps
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i'll do my quick review now then, well, longer than the previous "this happened and now i am off to the pub post!"
me and makster started at the back of the group at around 12.15pm, the 6 hour race starts 15mins after the 12 hour race. i like starting from the back of the race, you don't get the super keen race heads barging you and as a result the trail infront of you is less occupied which means it's way more fun!
my first lap was a learning curve, i hadn't ridden the Vit T2 in ages and i forgot how flexy it was meaning i had to re-learn to sit and climb as opposed to occaisionally get out of the saddle. the first section of the lap was the edge of a field then into some great single track that wound it's way down then slowly up and out on to a field which was a slight climb but seemed to drag then back into some more single track which again was great then again out onto a field which again, slog! then more climbing singletrack eventually out on to a private-ish road which is a very steep climb (this is approx 1/2 lap) then again more awesome in and out up and down singletrack all of which rolls fast, then across a field where luckily the wind was beautifully behind us on every lap and again back into the trees for one of the best singletrack in and out of trees descents i have ever ridden!! after a little more single track and a blast through some more trees you were back at the (small) arena.
who ever the course designer was deserves a pint!
i was happy with my first lap which i think was about 54minutes but i was hot so i quickly stopped to remove a layer, had a quick drink and an energy gel and carried on, the second lap generally felt faster but the super keen race heads started lapping about half way through, i'd wait for slow bits and keep an eye out and pull aside so they could pass unhindered as i didn't want to hold any of the quick boys up.
on the 3rd lap it started to rain but frankly it was welcome, i was pretty hot so it helped me keep nice and cool, it then stopped and i finished my lap.
i had decided i would change bikes at this point, mainly because i knew i would be getting tired so changing to (cough cough) modern would be more upright and with suspension, so after a few energy bars and some more water i started out on my 4th lap, quite a difference on the 07 clockwork. the main thing i noticed was i could hit things harder and faster on the downhill sections but strangely i noticed one section i felt slower with less control, i am not sure whether this was because i was more tired or it was because the turns were very tight and the wheel base of the bike is longer :? either way i got round and decided to have a longer stop and eat then roll around one more lap.
the 5th lap was slow and i kept stopping to take breaks, i'll admit i was knackered by this time but then that was the point! go as far as i could and my goal was to do 5 laps in total and i had achieved this i finished the 5th lap at about 5.30pm so by my working i think i averaged about 1 hour per lap which i am very happy with because it was a slow course, but in a good way, there were no 30mph open downhills it was all in and out of trees technical downhills so the average was never gonna be high.
having looked at the computers on both bike the details are:-
from the 3 laps on the vit T2
2 hours 37 mins, average 8.2 mph,21.75 miles
from the 2 laps on the clockwork
1 hour 47 mins, average 8.1 mph, 14.51 miles, max speed 24.4mph
i will defo look out for pics via the spambiking website.
haven't cleaned the bikes yet, they aren't too bad but i had other things to do!!
me and makster started at the back of the group at around 12.15pm, the 6 hour race starts 15mins after the 12 hour race. i like starting from the back of the race, you don't get the super keen race heads barging you and as a result the trail infront of you is less occupied which means it's way more fun!
my first lap was a learning curve, i hadn't ridden the Vit T2 in ages and i forgot how flexy it was meaning i had to re-learn to sit and climb as opposed to occaisionally get out of the saddle. the first section of the lap was the edge of a field then into some great single track that wound it's way down then slowly up and out on to a field which was a slight climb but seemed to drag then back into some more single track which again was great then again out onto a field which again, slog! then more climbing singletrack eventually out on to a private-ish road which is a very steep climb (this is approx 1/2 lap) then again more awesome in and out up and down singletrack all of which rolls fast, then across a field where luckily the wind was beautifully behind us on every lap and again back into the trees for one of the best singletrack in and out of trees descents i have ever ridden!!
after a little more single track and a blast through some more trees you were back at the (small) arena.who ever the course designer was deserves a pint!
i was happy with my first lap which i think was about 54minutes but i was hot so i quickly stopped to remove a layer, had a quick drink and an energy gel and carried on, the second lap generally felt faster but the super keen race heads started lapping about half way through, i'd wait for slow bits and keep an eye out and pull aside so they could pass unhindered as i didn't want to hold any of the quick boys up.
on the 3rd lap it started to rain but frankly it was welcome, i was pretty hot so it helped me keep nice and cool, it then stopped and i finished my lap.
i had decided i would change bikes at this point, mainly because i knew i would be getting tired so changing to (cough cough) modern would be more upright and with suspension, so after a few energy bars and some more water i started out on my 4th lap, quite a difference on the 07 clockwork. the main thing i noticed was i could hit things harder and faster on the downhill sections but strangely i noticed one section i felt slower with less control, i am not sure whether this was because i was more tired or it was because the turns were very tight and the wheel base of the bike is longer :? either way i got round and decided to have a longer stop and eat then roll around one more lap.
the 5th lap was slow and i kept stopping to take breaks, i'll admit i was knackered by this time but then that was the point! go as far as i could and my goal was to do 5 laps in total and i had achieved this
i finished the 5th lap at about 5.30pm so by my working i think i averaged about 1 hour per lap which i am very happy with because it was a slow course, but in a good way, there were no 30mph open downhills it was all in and out of trees technical downhills so the average was never gonna be high.having looked at the computers on both bike the details are:-
from the 3 laps on the vit T2
2 hours 37 mins, average 8.2 mph,21.75 miles
from the 2 laps on the clockwork
1 hour 47 mins, average 8.1 mph, 14.51 miles, max speed 24.4mph
i will defo look out for pics via the spambiking website.
haven't cleaned the bikes yet, they aren't too bad but i had other things to do!!
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