Originally posted on the TROG Forum.
Others have probably already said it better than
me, but I'd suggest that to begin with you should just sign up and aim
to enjoy yourself and see how you do 
The
mix of abilities at MSG and WS is huge, and once you get a couple of
races under your belt you get a feel for where you 'belong' in the pack
and then you can set your own goals for where you want to be next time.
As
for training, I don't tend to have any real structure to it... To
begin with I was entering 2 hour races, so all I did was ensure I was
comfortable riding for that amount of time. I then rode with people who
were quicker than me which helped me to up my pace and gradually I've
worked up the pack.
Ultimately though I have to fit in riding around
'real' life so I tend to nip out for 30min blasts before work when I can
(much easier on warm, light summer mornings than cold wet winter ones!)
and try to do a longer mid-week ride and a longer weekend ride (again
with people who are quicker than me - although sometimes it's good to
back off a bit and just get some miles in rather than speed).
Lately
I've had some challenges with mates on Endomondo which has been great
for motivating me to get out of the house when I'd rather be tucked up
in a nice warm bed.
For what it's worth, I've never been on the race training rides so I've no idea how well I'd be able to keep up with them.
This was a race of two halves...
There was an off on the start line, a couple of places in front of me, which I managed to dodge. The start was interesting
in that it had a shortish gravelly climb to a 90deg left hand bend
which was pretty sketchy, then not much further on the course narrowed
into a single-file ditch crossing! Fun with a few hundred riders
hitting it at once!
I did 6 laps, the rain came about 1/2 way round
lap 5 and in an instant the grass and dirt sections changed from fast
and grippy to slippery and unpredictable!
That's two races in a row I've finished 25th... At least I'm consistent...
Got
home and discovered that the claggy, clay-like mess wouldn't shift!
Even with Fenwicks' finest and with the hose on full power!
Finally got through it though and then off to the pub for a few recovery drinks...
No write up. Finished 25th.
Technically this isn't my write up (I didn't do one for this event), I've copied it from the TROG website.
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On Sunday 5th June 2011, MSG in partnership with TROG hosted the
third round of the Mud, Sweat and Gears mountain bike racing series, and
what a fantastic days racing it was.
Anyone who has ever raced
knows that you turn up at the event, pedal as fast as you can around a
marked out course, try to stay on the bike and then go home with tired
legs and a good sense of achievement. To make this happen there is a
lot of work that goes on beforehand.
Preparation
Tunstall
is a public forest managed by the Forestry Commission. Whilst the FC
supports TROG, to run a race we still have to get permission and the
race loop approved.
The TROG chairman, Mike Moore, and club
member / MTB stalwart Graham Elliott (G) planned out a prospective
course, unduly complicated by the fact that the harvesters were due back
in the forest so all the harvesting areas had to be avoided. The
initial plan was to run last year’s course backwards but “you may have a
course come race day, or you may not” from Nigel @ the FC re harvesting
put paid to that.
Thanks to half term Mike was able to spend
somewhere in the region of 20 hours riding the forest over and over
again, looking for lines, pits and some elevation. He eventually pulled
together the course as it was raced and put it to Nigel to approve. Some
nail biting four days later they came back and said Simon (the head of
the FC) wasn’t happy about it running through some sensitive bird
nesting areas. However he was willing to let it go as ‘they were in use
by walkers and riders already’. Thank God, we finally had a course!
Once
the loop was approved by the FC, the strimming, raking, digging and
general bracken bashing began. This was no small task as part of the
loop and two of the bomb holes were not normally ridden and were under
six feet of bracken and nettles. Over a number of weeks and dedicated
weekends, TROG members got stuck in to ensure that the loop and arena
area was ready for race day, with a special mention to G for giving up
huge swathes of his own time and money to strim almost the entire
course.
The day before the race arrived and a number of TROG
members turned up to help set up the arena and get the course marked out
with the help of Mike & Debbie from Thetford MTB - we started at
11am and finished marking it out at around 7pm. Another challenge was
then thrown in as a local farmer had put a whacking great irrigation
pipe across the course and so a ramp was built to get over it – an
interesting TTF.
Race Day
7am start,
putting signs up so everyone knew where to go, then on arriving on site
we were told there was a lady somewhere on the course pulling down tape
and poles saying that “We couldn’t close the forest; you’re not allowed
to advertise”. Mike headed off on a pre-ride to try and find her but
thankfully she seemed to have disappeared and everything else seemed to
be running ok.
To perform car parking and marshalling duties,
the Air Cadets came to help and along with some dedicated TROGs did a
fantastic job.
The Race!!
IT DIDN’T RAIN!!!!!
Proof that it didn’t rain
The
TROG presence in the race was unrivalled, with 21 racers across the
different categories – everywhere you looked there was a TROG.
The course held up really well and had a good mix of tough
climbs, technical singletrack and fun bomb holes. It was a bit sandy,
but that just adds to the fun, and to the face war paint!
To cheer on the racers, the TROG support team was out in force and could be heard across the forest.
The TROG Support Team
All in all, TROG had 7 racers in the top 10 and 3 podiums.
Mike’s Race Report (11th Place Senior Racer):
I
wasn’t sure I was going to be any good during the race because of all
the hours I’d put in the day before, so I started reasonably steady and
found myself keeping pace with Paul Thomas and Andy Sampson. After
crashing in Junk Pit due to letting the wheel drift (which I’m now
paying for!), I got back on and decided to push a bit harder. I overtook
Paul Thomas and started working my way up through the ranks. A bit of
back and forth with a guy from Chelmer Cycles and a rider from Pedal
Revolution and towards the end of the race I found I’d shaken them off. I
picked off Callum Riley (KTM) towards the end too (hurray!). My thighs
started twanging on the 7th time up Token Hill, but I managed to keep
going til the end where I found out I’d finished in 11th place. What a
result!
Mike coming out of the sandy “Junk Pit”.
Jodie’s Race Report (3rd Place Female Racer)
Lap
one and 2 where tough, it took me ages to settle into a rhythm on this
race. Although from the outset it seemed like fairly easy terrain, it
was, for me anyway, quite a physically demanding course - the two hills,
one after the other was the worst, however the long great bit of single
track at the end of the circuit more than made up for it!
As
ever the support from the side lines was amazing and it was great that a
few people ventured out along the course to cheer in the places you'd
least expect - just what you need when you're feeling really tired!
I
managed to complete all 6 laps but it felt that I hadn't performed at
my best on this race - so to find out later that I had a podium position
was brilliant - and great for the TROG's as a whole too.
Some much need fluid courtesy of “The Claw”!
The big clear up
Whilst
the rest of the racers headed for home, a number of TROGs were left to
clear the site and pick up all those lovely sticky gel packs that had
been thrown around the course. Lots of weary faces, but an excellent
team effort was put in to get it all done as quickly as possible.
Thanks Role Call
Mike,
Lizzie, G, Libtech, Blondie, Horndogrob, Geordie, Human, Kim, JoJo,
Jodie, Andrew, Ady, Geordie, Andy, Martha Lampkin, Wingnut, Troy,
Ecnarfi, Screwy and Mrs Screwy, JohnE and Mrs E, JohnnyD, Smithy, Mark
A, vumad, Julian, Lewis, Leanlanky, Ecnarfi, Big Chris, Mark, IanW,
Mike & Debbie Mallett and the cadets.
Video of the day - Provided by John E
I did the final round of the Thetford Winter Series, my first taster of this stalwart of the local MTB calendar.
---
I opted for fully geared in the end, and I'm glad I did! The fourth
climb up the double-shocker was a proper thigh-burner! I'm reasonably
pleased with 37th (of 131) but now realise I needed to make more of an
effort to get past people on the opening fire-road section. The long
crawl around the single-track on the 1st lap was pretty frustrating; the
2nd lap was great through, plenty of passing and could flow nicely
around the course.
That's my 1st (non-D2D) Thetford race and I
thought they'd made a great course. The rain had only mullered one or
two sections of single-track and Howes Pit, other than that I thought it
was running well.
Found a few pics of some of us;
Screwy;
It'd be much harder work without the support!
