One Peak Results & Photos - 3 Peaks Riders Good Luck

Well thats the One Peak of Hetton / Neccl RD2 done and dusted. What a cracking day with fantastic weather conditions for the event. The results are done and you can find them here and the photos will be uploaded into the gallery here with more added by Ian Dunn over the next few days, well after he has recovered from the 3 Peaks Cyclo Cross tomorrow. On that note good luck to all the NE riders who are brave enough to tackle the beast. The weather is going to be better than last years flooding so quick times should be on the cards if the wind keeps away .
All the best MBE  

One Peak is ready @ Three Peaks Cyclo Cross this Sunday

The One Peak of Hetton 2013 is ready. Course inspection is done and everything is looking good. Ground conditions are excellent with the course flowing/riding very fast. Weather forecast is excellent. Prizes are all sorted. Sign on will be open from 11.15am in the morning. Plenty free carparking so get yourself along for a cracking days racing @ Hetton Lyons Country Park. Below is few photos of the views from the top of the One Peak.  

A full set of Results and Photo gallery will be uploaded asap on here on the Saturday afternoon / evening.

On Sunday 29th is the Three Peaks Cyclo Cross. Is is always an excellent event to go and watch / support the NE riders. Full info is here
Also the Wiggle Hell of Hexham Sportive is also on Sunday with three different courses and entry on the day as well, some cracking routes with proper hills in as well. Full info here .
Also the 'Ride for Michael Bonney Sportive' from over in Penrith is also on Sunday. Entries close Midnight tonight. Full info here its for a great charity.

MBE ONE PEAK Details

MBE One Peak of Hetton / NECCL RD2

Saturday 28th September 2013 @ Hetton Lyons Country Park, Hetton Le Hole.

U12/10/8 12.00 Midday £1 15mins
U14/16 12.30pm £3 30mins
Sen/Vet/Lady/Jun 1.30pm £7 mem / £12 non mem 50-60min

The prize list is opposite. After the main race if you can drop your numbers in the box there will be a prize draw for all the riders who havent already won a prize.

There will also be loads of goodies for all the kids.

As per normal free cake and refreshments after the main race as well.

Course details are here this is provisional and may be altered on the day to take into account weather / ground conditions. The course is 100% rideable and very fast flowing. The climbs are gentle and no run up's.  
The event is open to all ages and abilities from complete noive to experts. You can race on any suitable offroad bike inc mountain bikes. Registration is on the day so turn up early and allow enough time to get your bike sorted, signed on and a practice lap in. If you have the right money it would be a great help.
All the best MBE

RD1 Hardwick Park, Sedgefield - Results, Photos etc

What a fantastic days racing at Sedgefield. The weather was smashing and so was the course. No muddy bikes to wash for riders this year. The full results are here and a gallery of pics are here . Next up is the ONE PEAK OF HETTON / NECCL RD2 @ HETTON LYONS COUNTRY PARK Sat 28th Sept. Full details inc courses etc will be posted asap. You can download the flyer from the One Peak Section, top right of website.

Regards

MBE 

CX @ Sedgefield Today

What a lovely day for some offroad racing. The course is out and the ground conditions are perfect. Its running very fast under tyre and no mud plugging. There is plenty parking and registration will be open from around 11am for signing on. Goodies for all the little ones and cash prizes for all the age cat's.

Not long now to Rd 1 @ Hardwick Park, Sedgefield

Round 1 Saturday 21st September 2013

Hardwick Park Visitors Centre, Sedgefield, County Durham. TS21 2DN

Directions- Hardwick Park is on the A177 Durham to Stockton road on the west side of Sedgefield, two and a half miles from A1(M) Junction 60 (well sign-posted).

Facilities – Plenty hard standing car parking. Signing on. Toilets. Cafe. Visitors Centre. Childrens new play areas
More info here and here
Organiser – Ian Dunn. Ferryhill Wheelers CC.

Ian has also a arranged for when riders sign on they receive a 20% off discount voucher for the cracking cafe. This year the course has been revised and can be viewed here. The venue is ideal for begineers through to experts and always holds up well even to the worst weather conditions.
Entry is on the day, so turn up early and allow enough time to get signed on, sort your bike and get a practice lap in. You dont have to pre register / complete a form or purchase a number. Its the cheapest racing in UK - £7* for upto 60 mins racing
U12’s 12:00 noon, entry fee £1, 10-15 mins
U14/16’s/Novice Lady, 12:30pm, entry fee £3, 30 mins
Sen/Vet/Lady/Junior, 1:30pm, £7* TLI Memebrs, £12 non TLI Members, 50-60min

The new Garmin Edge 510 on test vs Edge 800

I have been using Gamin bike gps for many years now and I am currently using the Garmin Edge 800. From new the set up was easy and navigation through the menus is not too complicated. It has had a couple of blips with satellites on a few occasions when out a ride but apart from that no major problems. The rubber flap on the charging / card ports are not the best and on a wet ride water can creep behind. I just pop the bungs out and let it dry out in the house.
Angus had saved up some money and wanted an early Christmas present so orderd a Garmin Edge 510. Setting it up was very quick and easy. He got the bundle package with HR strap and Cadenece kit. The kit now comes with a fly mount as well as the normal twist & turn mounts. He has fitted the kit to his Cannondale Caad10 with no problems. It is easy to use when out on a ride and uploads the ride data through Garmin Connect when he gets back in. We both did a ride yesterday am and recorded exactly the same ride. The data was all the same which was good to hear apart from Edge 800 recorded alot less elevation gained! I thought that might be the case as i have suspected that mine was getting slow in recording gain when going up a climb. If a road is undualting and i hit it at speed the elevation dosent change even though you can clearly see that I have climb several feet. Not sure if its because the memory is getting full and I need to clear off some old data to free it up? One other difference we found was the cover on the 510 is made from a different silicone and alot less grippy / flexible compaired to the cover for the 800. We will be playing around with it over the next few months and see how the unit performs.
As the weather has now changed its time to get the bikes set up ready for winter / some dirty riding. We have spent some time getting a few bikes ready and a report will follow inc a test on Conti 4 Season Road Tyres.
  

Ride through to South Shields

Yet again it was a cracking day on Sunday so we decided to have an offroad ride through to South Shields for the day on the Fat Bikes. It was a steady 26 mile ride through mainly on cycle tracks and a couple of beaches as well. Once we got past Marsden we noticed they were getting ready for the Great North Run. We thought it was later in Sept but its this Sunday. Its the biggest set up yet i have ever seen for the event and the lads were very busy setting up the temporary buildings etc. We had a look down at the outdoor velodrome and even that was full of tents and a telecommunications mast had been erected. You will not get anywhere near Shields / Coast or Newcastle this weekend by car but ok by bike! When we got to Shields it was time for ice cream, crazy golf and you cannot got to Shields without having a loop around the lake on the steam train.

Sunny @ Whitby

It was time for some relaxing riding instead of organising and doing event paperwork for a change. The sun was out so it was time to head towards the coast. We had not been to Whitby during the school hols so the trip was well over due. Me and Angus took our Fat Bikes down for some beach riding. We set off from the West Cliff area down onto the beach and had a ride along to Sandsend. What a lovely little village Sandsend is, from there we went along a coastal track to a Lunar type location which is weird place and never seen nothing like it. We have never ridden a bike on this type of terrain and was great fun. After a play around is was time to head back to Whitby along the beach as the tide was coming in fast. Then it was time for some beach fun, slot machines, fish n chips then icecream !

No more Mtb racing in the NE for this season

It was the last Round of the NE XC Series on Saturday gone at a rather damp and muddy Hamsterley Forest. The day before it rained for nearly 24hrs and i mean rain. The course was longer than the normal Wednesday night event (apart from the U12's course). The day started off with the U12's and there was plenty of them as well. It was the same course as normal for them with the older ones lapping some before they even got one lap in. The little ones struggled on the climb and descent and were off and pushing in places. Arran had a good race and got 1st U10 on the day (5th in the race) and 1st overall in Series. Then it was onto the second race of the day for the U14's on the full course. There was massive gaps forming between riders and they ended up racing on their own for most of the two laps. Angus was 6th U14 and 7th on the day and come in 3rd overall in the series. The third race was the Sen, Vet, Lady, Jun @ U16's race. We didnt stop to watch this so no photos but there was a low turnout with 38 riders finishing the race. Here are some photos of the action inc Kids presentation. Its a shame that its only the top three from each age cat that get a mention at the Presentation as they have all worked very hard all season to finish the series.