A 1hr Friday night race with about 100 riders around forest-way near
Sulby Aerodrome in Leics, and my first MTB race - what a disaster!
Borrowed an old bike from a friend the night before (a Raleigh Savanna
- a really old rigid with a fairly high centre of gravity), it looked
pretty 'gripped' to me, but them I'm used to road bikes. Started to
have reservations on the start line when some other riders pointed out
that the tyres were far from 'gripped' and I might struggle in the
woods (they had a solid line of rubber in the centre of the tyre's
contact patch - prob. intended more for dual road use).
Each lap was ~3M and took in a purpose built BMX style hilly section
with a long, twisty and muddy forest section at each end connected by
some flat grassy and wood-chipped areas. On the plus side the heart-
rate and breathing were being put through their paces so it wasn't a
waste of time, but mechanically... Naff all traction and chronic
understeer in the woods saw me flying over the handle-bars and head-
butting trees more often than I'd care to count (this was one time
when I didn't mind wearing a helmet), coupled with a rear mech that
was seizing up and not taking the slack led to a constant skip in the
crank, not to mention the woefully inadequate canti-brakes that had
seen better days and the lateral play in the bottom bracket. Stopped
half way round to let about 15psi out of the tyres (started on 50),
but that didn't help all that much.
The speed and control of the other riders was impressive though -
bikes that actually turned through muddy corners - I was a little
envious.
Going to give the club-run a miss tomorrow - far too bruised and
beaten, but I'm tempted to get hold of a decent entry level front-sus
hard-tail for the next event to try it one more time, Need to find out
whether I'm really that [censored] or was it largely down to the bike?
Still, didn't finish last so it could've been worse.
Was thinking of maybe a GF Marlin Disc, or a Rockhopper '07, any
thoughts?
Regarding riding style, I thought it was just a matter of keeping your
weight up and over the rear and using the rear brake more often than
the front. Am I missing something fundamental here?
Many thanks,
Duncan.