Cyclocross - CX and SSCX races and training

Sounds like you had this attached to your bike.

Talbot bike > Howard

Are those legs shaved?

#shitjustgotreal

I barely have the patience to shave my face let alone my chicken legs

Anyone going to PORC this Sunday? @andyp is suggesting I man up and do it.

Mainly because he can't make it. It's a good course, especially for a lighter rider like you @Howard , normally ridden in the depths of winter when it's axle deep in mud. It'll be interesting to see what it's like when it's dry.

Any suggestions for how to get there? Train to Cowden?

Train to Cowden is relatively straightforward, but you have to change at Oxted and I think there is only one train an hour on Sundays. There's a (off road) cycle path from Tonbridge to Penshurst too, which gives you a more frequent train service.

Thanks - sounds like a bit of a mission

This is why spending a few hours on the roadbike is appealing

I'll concede that it is a bit of a ball ache to get too.

Great course though.

Geekhouse are selling a S+S coupled disk brakes team Mudville frame n forks (57cm TT) for 1100gbp... It's super pretty.

Rideable from Sevenoaks. I did it last time with wheels on my back.

So Jon Prolly is seen to be kind of condoning the beer spraying douchebags at crossvegas and is kind of called out on it by cyclocosm then they kind of have a twitter ruckus and prolly kind of...no actually does call him a dick.

Lol cyclocross

Aha! Single speeded my first ever Cyclocross race today - the Horwich Humdinger in Bolton. Got told I was crazy by a few people for doing it single speed, and at points would have agreed. The standard 42/17 that comes with a Spesh Singlecross is WAY too big, had to attack every lump and bump (howling) like a mad women.

Was the only SS in vets/women's race, think I was last or maybe beat one granddaddy. Going to gear right down before the next race at the beginning of October.

SSCX is all about getting that gear right. If you do you can be pretty competitive on most courses - I'd favour a cassette SS rather than a screw on for that reason. Much easier to switch gears around.

Race at PORC today was tough, as per normal. The normal icy/slimy steep descent near the start line was baked dry with bits of rubble sticking out ready to catch you out should you get your line wrong. Punctured metres beyond the pits on my second lap so ended up running an entire lap and was pretty unmotivated after that. Still, a finish is better than a DNF.

Well done for getting down there. I wasn't in the shape for it, so it turns out.

Really enjoyed LXL at Penshurst today. Was talking to someone on the start of the vets race with a nice grey SSCX Singular. Anyone from here?

SSCX is going to be an exercise in humility for me, yesterday's Dad AM session at Bethlem indicated that....

I'm not sure it did. You'll improve in leaps and bounds if you do a few races and, if and when this dry period ends and it gets muddy, SSCX'll give you an advantage over many.

What do you think it will be like for me then? Even if it gets muddy, I'll just sink

You'll have to start getting up early on Sundays Dan.

I've had enough of early Sunday mornings, hope to race most Sundays for the next few months.

Talking of which, who has raced at Gunpowder Park before? If I can work out an easy way of getting there I'll race next Sunday, but it'd be useful to know what the course is like and what the surface(s) are to inform tyre choice.

Apparently if I don't do a race sometime soon then I have to give my (borrowed from British Cycling) bike back. When's the next race that's a) easy to get to and b) not horribly hard? I don't mind coming last (well, obviously I do mind but I know I have little choice about it) but I'd rather not break any limbs or anything.

Herne Hill on the 28th.

I'm terrified of Herne Hill. There, I said it.