Lenny, Alek and Rob's cyclo crossbromance

Peterx

Only in the sense that everyone is a winner could I be classified as coming within an asses roar of winning.

easygoing39

@ PeterX,Well according to Strava you rode a very very respectable race!! Fair play to you I say!!!!!

Alek

Great race yesterday.

1. Thanks RobFowl for the transport. I hope it wasn't me talking too much that caused all these wrong turns
2. After pre-riding the course I found my usual 35psi a bit too much. Risked 30psi and it was fine - although I could feel the rim in a few places and in some tight corners tires were moving in strange directions a little Dedicated tubeless tyres should be better, once these hit the bin.
3. I totally screwed the start. The bunch was positioned really wide at the middle and everybody tried to squeeze in before the path got narrow. Not really willing to collide with others I quickly found myself at least 30 places down from my original position.
4. This was my third time in Punchestown, yet I found the course somewhat harder than before. It was first time when it was dry, grass was lumpier and descent in the woods dustier (my MTB friend: what descent?) - every single time I was thankful I did not went down this time, as wheels were dancing a bit under me. Or maybe it was too low pressure?
5. >> fast forward plain boring suffering >>
6. Important lesson for the guy just ahead of me: stop pedalling after you cross the finish line. I caught up with you at the last 2m before the end, only because you thought for a moment your place is safe :P Why could you not hear me huffing and puffing from the distance, I don't know.
7. Beer was good.
8. Customary video footage will be posted tonight. Stay tuned.

Alek

Results are up on DCCX Facebook page.

DirkVoodoo

Alek wrote: »

Results are up on DCCX Facebook page.

Some of those timings look very...odd!

fat bloke

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Some of those timings look very...odd!

Yeah - I don't how lads managed 4 minute laps!!!

Still though. 12th out of 76 riders (were there really that many??). I'm getting closer to that top ten!! :pac:

Not having to stop at all for mechanicals or mishaps makes a huge difference.

DirkVoodoo

fat bloke wrote: »

Yeah - I don't how lads managed 4 minute laps!!!

Still though. 12th out of 76 riders (were there really that many??). I'm getting closer to that top ten!! :pac:

Not having to stop at all for mechanicals or mishaps makes a huge difference.

Ah, they've said the system made an estimate if they couldn't read your number.

If I'd just removed my number I would have won the feckin' thing in half an hour!!!

detones

Woo Hoo!!! not last....................................Just.

The tax man

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Some of those timings look very...odd!

They have me finishing ahead of people that had already finished when I crossed the line. My last lap time should have 4 minutes added to it, no way did I do a 6.14 final lap. I'm not that good.:p

DirkVoodoo

Yeah, one of the top A riders had a fastest lap time of ~ 7 minutes on Strava, so that's your baseline right there.

4 minute laps in the last 2 laps for the winner...

Alek

lap time of ~ 7 minutes on Strava

With all these tight turns, wooded areas and low speeds vs GPS accuracy of 5 to 50m, you cannot rely on Strava lap times at all.

Tenzor07

Looks like the DCCX crew need to Invest in chip timing?

The tax man

Results Vs Strava
8:49

---

9:42
9:19

---

9.19
10:02 ---- 10:03
10:07 ---- 10:04
6:14

---

9:52

Manual timing is not an easy task and fair play to the timekeepers on the day with the numbers of riders they had to deal with but I'll believe my Strava times. I should be many places below my result.

Tenzor07

Generally speaking your Strava times will serve as being for your information only and as a guide, and would have nothing to do with the race timing itself.

Though without a chip timing system then your laptimes would not be 100% either as it would rely on the speed and accuracy of timers entering the numbers manually into the laptop, which as anyone who's done race timing will tell you it's a nitemare when you have a train of riders crossing the line at roughly the same time.

The accuracy of the results and timing is 100% down to the race organisers and it's one of the basics that needs to be right for all riders, after all without them there would be no races, and it's the least anyone can expect for there €20 and attendance at the race, no matter if you're first or 51st

DirkVoodoo

True Alek, but like Tax Man, my own times are broadly inline with Strava:

Lap

---

> Strava

---

> DCCX
1

---

> 09:29

---

> 08:36
2

---

> 08:55

---

> 08:56
3

---

> 08:50

---

> 08:49
4

---

> 09:08

---

> 09:05
5

---

> 08:37

---

> 08:35

I'd be inclined to go with Strava for the first lap too because of all the bunching up and getting stuck behind people.

DirkVoodoo

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Generally speaking your Strava times will serve as being for your information only and as a guide, and would have nothing to do with the race timing itself.

Though without a chip timing system then your laptimes would not be 100% either as it would rely on the speed and accuracy of timers entering the numbers manually into the laptop, which as anyone who's done race timing will tell you it's a nitemare when you have a train of riders crossing the line at roughly the same time.

The accuracy of the results and timing is 100% down to the race organisers and it's one of the basics that needs to be right for all riders, after all without them there would be no races, and it's the least anyone can expect for there €20 and attendance at the race, no matter if you're first or 51st

I'm not overly concerned with lap times, I care more about where I finish relative to other people and if there are signs of progression.

Although, if a computer gave me a 4 minute lap time I wouldn't argue much!

Tenzor07

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

I'm not overly concerned with lap times, I care more about where I finish relative to other people and if there are signs of progression.

Although, if a computer gave me a 4 minute lap time I wouldn't argue much!

Of course, each competitor deserves to know there exact lap times, so a chip timing system is needed, Strava wouldn't be great because of all the variables, GPS coverage/accuracy, course changes etc that Strava will try and estimate for you...

nak

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Of course, each competitor deserves to know there exact lap times, so a chip timing system is needed, Strava wouldn't be great because of all the variables, GPS coverage/accuracy, course changes etc that Strava will try and estimate for you...

Timing system cost a fair bit, race organisers have to pay for this, venue hire, poles, tape etc up front, so if you don't have the backing/budget of a big club, it's a significant outlay.

The timing chip system isn't great either - I was placed way down the field in the last Fixx race in error and one poor rider's chip didn't even register so she was down as DNS.

fat bloke

Did anyone else notice that the judges were all standing on the right trying to read numbers on our left shoulders! Wasn't making it any easier for themselves

DirkVoodoo

fat bloke wrote: »

Did anyone else notice that the judges were all standing on the right trying to read numbers on our left shoulders! Wasn't making it any easier for themselves

They told me at sign-on to put it on the right shoulder, but a lot of people still had it on their left shoulders.

Tenzor07

nak wrote: »

Timing system cost a fair bit, race organisers have to pay for this, venue hire, poles, tape etc up front, so if you don't have the backing/budget of a big club, it's a significant outlay..

Maybe this is something to be discussed at the Off-road agm, any clubs wishing to run races can apply with CI, and as part of that a chip timing system can be hired at a discount for each event.

This will bring consistency and a standard to each event...

**though I would hardly called Worc a big club, it's usually a handful of guys who are also racing who run the event..

fat bloke

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

They told me at sign-on to put it on the right shoulder, but a lot of people still had it on their left shoulders.

Oh. Pretty sure I was told left but maybe tis I'm wrong so.

My times are consistently (& I suppose accurately) mediocre though

RobFowl

fat bloke wrote: »

Did anyone else notice that the judges were all standing on the right trying to read numbers on our left shoulders! Wasn't making it any easier for themselves

They did tell us all to wear them on the right

RobFowl

Thought it was a well organised event yesterday and the more clubs involved in organising races the better
Shows how far the sport has come that now people are clamouring for results within a few hours of the race finish and expecting accurate laps times within 24hrs.

Had a tough race myself but glad to be able to ride at all after a fall Friday left me unable to cycle on Saturday.
Some night colour effects all down one leg today although for some reason Mrs Fowl isn't giving me an ounce of sympathy !

Alek

FIXX has announced a separate Ladies race for Round 2!

lukegjpotter

I reckon, my times were accurate, save for the first lap.

The main issue with reading out the numbers here was that the numbers were black, with a red background. A lighter coloured background would've been easier to see the numbers, because contrast.
I was very unsure with the number on the right (because shouldering the bike), but I rolled with it anyway. I wasn't in a queue when I was signing on, so I had enough time to clarify with the guy. I seen one lad in front of me, on the grid, with his number on his back pocket.

I'm very happy with the progression I've made since the last race.
I really enjoyed the course.
I was unhappy that I crashed and took out the guy behind me.

wanderer 22

Have you got your blog post up yet Luke? I'm in danger of getting some work done here.

Alek

I was unhappy that I crashed and took out the guy behind me.

"If you don't crash, you don't try hard enough" - Lenny


(Sadly I didn't this time.)


(In seriousness, I like crashing in CX as you can normally get up and carry on. Its part of the fun and gives you a nice adrenaline kick too )

Peterx

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Of course, each competitor deserves to know there exact lap times, so a chip timing system is needed, Strava wouldn't be great because of all the variables, GPS coverage/accuracy, course changes etc that Strava will try and estimate for you...

Is this really true though? For instance there would have been no event yesterday if a chip timing Diktat was in place and there was a great race there yesterday.

If I could multiquote now I'd quote Dirk Voodoo - "I'm not overly concerned with lap times, I care more about where I finish relative to other people and if there are signs of progression"

Race = cake
Timing = icing

Lap times are nice but I would very much regard lap times as an add-on, not a necessity.
Don't get my wrong, I nearly always crank up an excel spreadsheet and work out my time gap relative to my friends, to the winner, to anyone but that is mere icing on the cake.
The cake is the important thing

lukegjpotter

colm18 wrote: »

Have you got your blog post up yet Luke? I'm in danger of getting some work done here.

I'm working on it.

Alek wrote: »

"If you don't crash, you don't try hard enough" - Lenny

This Lenny sounds like a decent sort.