TC Racing Charity CX and XC fun race - Sun 20 Dec, Cavan

Lumen

Mentioned by Ryan on another thread.

Found an announcement here.

Gwan boardsies, it'll be great fun.

CYCLoCROSS AND MOUNTAIN BIKE Fun RACE
Park Hotel Virginia Co. Cavan

TC RACING and Empowerment Plus hope that you can travel to Virginia Co Cavan on Sunday the 20th of December to battle it out in the Christmas Cross Race. The venue is on the grounds of the Park Hotel making great use of the forest paths and lakeside tracks to offer close and exciting racing.

The timetable of events is as follows:

Race start U8/ U10/ U12 11.45am U14/ U16 12.15pm
Senior/Mtb 1.15pm

Local School Team Prize.

All proceeds go to (Empowerment Plus) a charitable organization working with young people and families at risk

For further information please contact
Tom Clogher -086 7710099

blorg

I might be interested in this if someone was willing to give me a lift. Would be between this and Orwell's Christmas Race though.

RobFowl

Very tempted to give this a bash

Nothing like mud to get you in the mood for Christmas

just need to persuade Mrs Fowl and the little Fowls that they want to go as well :rolleyes:

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

I might be interested in this if someone was willing to give me a lift. Would be between this and Orwell's Christmas Race though.

You can road race all summer.

It looks like Lady Lumen and the sprogs will be away on Sunday, so I'm free to give you a lift.

blorg

Lumen wrote: »

You can road race all summer.

That is very true.

Lumen wrote: »

It looks like Lady Lumen and the sprogs will be away on Sunday, so I'm free to give you a lift.

Cool, I will take you up on that then, many thanks.

billy.fish

I'll be along

Tis a good race, might even wear a christmast hat

Lumen

RobFowl wrote: »

just need to persuade Mrs Fowl and the little Fowls that they want to go as well :rolleyes:

In principle it seems a great idea. In reality, standing around in a freezing gale for two hours to see daddy whizz past every few minutes is perhaps not so fun.

Still, since it's at a hotel they can always retreat inside.

Gavin

Tempting to give it a whirl on the mtb

ryan_sherlock

And remember, for any spectators, put on all the clothes you think you will need, then put on an extra big jacket over it all - you'll thank me.

I think I'll be along - not sure yet though - if the weather is crummy, I would rather race than spend 5hrs riding around the wicklow mountains...

What is the course like? Muddy/fast?

sy

Live 5km from this so might pop down and say hi to a few boardsies.

godihatethehils

blorg wrote: »

That is very true.

Cool, I will take you up on that then, many thanks.

But it's fancy dress...:)

ryan_sherlock

Just a reminder - this will be happening on Sunday at 12. I'll be heading along anyway.

I seen blorg out doing some sneaky cx training the other day - watch out!

blorg

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

I seen blorg out doing some sneaky cx training the other day - watch out!

If I can avoid last place I will consider the day a success. Not crashing too much would be a plus.

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

If I can avoid last place I will consider the day a success.

I think I can arrange that for you.

bcmf

I will be bringing the 2 mini bcmf's up weather and roads permitting. I told them it would either
a) freezing and muddy
or
b) freezing and snowing.
Both options were greeted with 'YAAAY'

RobFowl

Mental note, clean bike immediately after race and not 2 weeks later the night before another race when it's -4 outside :rolleyes:

sy

Some snow on the ground here (2cm) careful on the N3 if heading down.

sy

Well done to all boardsies who participated today. Nice to meet RobFowl, Lumen Blorg and ryan_sherlock ( your brother kindly pointed you out!) Apologies if I left anyone out.. Ryan finished third and Blorg and Lumen were impressive. Lumen in typical cyclocross style ran over the finish line! see photo. Blorg started very tentatively but moved progressively through the field in fine style, Looked like he would have enjoyed another 10 laps! RobFowl arrived late due to poor road conditions but joined in for a few laps. The eventual winner won from the front, see first corner.

sy

More photos, Apologies for poor quality as my camera was acting up in the cold.





Most people were crying at this stage and look at the grin on you know whos face!

sy

Lumen finishes in style! Notice the sign on the left.

Sorry about the quality of photos but camera went a bit ga ga half way through the race.


Notice how careful blorg was at the start. This was the first corner. Didn't want to damage his reputation for crashes!

Lumen

That was quite hard. I crashed a lot, then slowed down and crashed a bit less.

I seriously considered packing it in after whacking my knee, spending several minutes standing by the trail wondering what I was doing there.

I managed to stab myself in the balls with the nose of the saddle several times and slipped off hard onto the crossbar once.

Finished on foot (last, I assume) after dropping the chain, despite my new dog fang. No idea how that happened.

Need some bike handling skills.

On the upside, the course was very picturesque in the snow, the atmosphere was very relaxed and jolly, the weather was surprisingly benign, and I didn't break any equipment.

Looking forward to the next one.

ROK ON

Guys. Well done.
A few questions.
Is it fun?
How long is a race and what sort of pace are the folks at the back doing?
Is it good training?
What are the most important/relevant skills?

I have a cross bike and I have just put cross tyres back on?

Can one take a beginners session?
Ate there any midweek sessions in Dublin?

Thanks and once again well done. Great pictures Sy.

Gavin

Good photos Sy, I see there were some people on mtb's there. How did they get on ?

Toss up between race today or mtb up 3rock, stuck with 3rock. What did Blorgo think of it ?

sy

A few answers to some questions posted.
The race was an hour plus a lap. Each lap was about 2 km and I think Ryan clocked it at 18km so that makes 9 laps (for the first 3 or 4 riders as some were lapped). The participants thought the course was quite technical with lots of trees (know very little about cyclocross myself) and suggested the addition of a few fields in the next event!
I think there were 3 guys on MTB's and there was a prize for first MTB and 1st Vet and the usual 1st 2nd 3rd. There were only 16/17 riders in the field as road conditions in the area were treacherous. A few dropped out due to bike problems and one character rode around in baggies, a short sleeve tee-shirt and runners.0 Celsius and that's not including the wind chill factor. :eek:
There was quite a range of abilities and it looked like good fun (from the sideline:)), mind you Lumens voice was several octaves higher when I spoke to him at the end. Hope they are ok!!
So expect to see you there next year ROK ON and Gavin

pbull69

Well that was great fun. Never go to warm-up but my heart-rate was already quite high after the mental drive to virginia!!!! Quite a technical course. Ryans av speed apparently 14k/hr compared to a usual 20k/hr tells a story. But i too really must learn to stop crashing!!! But bring on Stamullen and the nat champs, just for the craic though!!

DirkVoodoo

Great photos Sy, may not have been nice for the riders but they look great.

Look at our law abiding moderator, dismounting during a race when he sees a "pedestrians only" sign, great example to us all!

blorg

That was fun. I went flying over the bars into a bush early on and lost my Garmin but found it again after the race. Bike survived fine during the race but while going around slowly looking for the Garmin got completely clogged up with mud; I think the slower you go the less it clears. About halfway around this final lap my derailleur decided to jump into the spokes. I had just put on a new Ultegra SL RD the previous night too. So I need a new RD and a new derailleur hanger...

sy

pbull69 wrote: »

Well that was great fun. Never go to warm-up but my heart-rate was already quite high after the mental drive to virginia!!!! Quite a technical course. Ryans av speed apparently 14k/hr compared to a usual 20k/hr tells a story. But i too really must learn to stop crashing!!! But bring on Stamullen and the nat champs, just for the craic though!!

Hi pbull69, sorry didn't realise another Board member was there. I assume from your location you are a Mullingar rider. well done yesterday. Are you in any of the photos on the first corner?

pbull69

hey. Im the middle of the 3 lakeside wheelers goin into the 1st corner.

niceonetom

I'd love to get into this next season but the 1-to-1 ratio between races and dérailleur purchases seems to make cyclocross a rich man's game... looks like fun though.

ryan_sherlock

niceonetom wrote: »

I'd love to get into this next season but the 1-to-1 ratio between races and dérailleur purchases seems to make cyclocross a rich man's game... looks like fun though.

I have a 6:1 race:derailleur ratio... Go for Rival/Ultegra, not RED

Rutrider

Anyone with an interest and a cross bike should try the nationals in st. Annes park in January. Better to race than watch though well worth it from a spectating point of view too. Bring your own beers and chips and mayonaise for the authentic European flavour.

http://www.mtbireland.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=1034

ryan_sherlock

A few words about my race: http://ryansherlock.blogspot.com/2009/12/2009-virginia-cx-race.html

Nationals will be great - I know Greg is putting in a lot of work on it and it will be something special.

billy.fish

ryan_sherlock wrote: »

A few words about my race: http://ryansherlock.blogspot.com/2009/12/2009-virginia-cx-race.html

Nationals will be great - I know Greg is putting in a lot of work on it and it will be something special.

Am i?


oh wait yeah...

Press release should be out tomorrow if i get it done!