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Mud Sweat and Gears Hadleigh Park
Sunday saw the first of the MSG races for 2018 at Hadleigh Park. A good attendance from CCA - Logan raced in the U9 event on a shorter course and the rest of us raced on the full circuit - Harley, Thomas, Sam, me and newcomers Mark Lightfoot and Will Daniels. The race was meant to be 45mins to an hour but timings were a bit out and we were riding for between 1h16 and 1h42. The race was set on the side of the escarpment which meant half the course comprised fun and fast downhill sections but the pay off was getting back up the hill. One long grassy section was especially leg sapping. Laps were longer than cross at about 20 mins each.
There were 2 A lines - an impossible (to me) uphill rock garden and a daunting (to me) fast steep descent that certainly Sam and Harley rode (maybe others?). The B line to this last one looked slightly less scary and cost about 3 secs so that was where I headed. There was also a much slower C line but that cost more like 30 secs a lap.
It was a bit chilly yesterday but once you'd ridden that hill, cold was the last thing on your mind.
Good results from Harley, Thomas and Sam and a cracking first race result from Mark. I managed to get in the top half of my race so not too bad.
For anyone missing Cross or fancying a bit of mountain biking I'd recommend these MSG races. They are technically more challenging than cross but anyone who can ride cross can ride these (with an MTB of course). As the races are longer they certainly boost your fitness. All in all, great fun and developing your off road skills and fitness stands you in good stead for the cross season. There are no off's (walking/ running an A line will result in a time penalty in MSG). As ever with these things there are a range of people attending and you can ride at your own pace.
Next one's 18th March if anyone fancies it.
There were 2 A lines - an impossible (to me) uphill rock garden and a daunting (to me) fast steep descent that certainly Sam and Harley rode (maybe others?). The B line to this last one looked slightly less scary and cost about 3 secs so that was where I headed. There was also a much slower C line but that cost more like 30 secs a lap.
It was a bit chilly yesterday but once you'd ridden that hill, cold was the last thing on your mind.
Good results from Harley, Thomas and Sam and a cracking first race result from Mark. I managed to get in the top half of my race so not too bad.
For anyone missing Cross or fancying a bit of mountain biking I'd recommend these MSG races. They are technically more challenging than cross but anyone who can ride cross can ride these (with an MTB of course). As the races are longer they certainly boost your fitness. All in all, great fun and developing your off road skills and fitness stands you in good stead for the cross season. There are no off's (walking/ running an A line will result in a time penalty in MSG). As ever with these things there are a range of people attending and you can ride at your own pace.
Next one's 18th March if anyone fancies it.