Hi,

There is a weekend of mountain bike racing coming up in Tak. Has anyone been to either Tak or this race weekend in the past thta can describe what to expect in terms of racing, terrain and accomodation?

Cheers

Hi: I rode this event last year.

I don't know what age group you ride in but I'm 60 and had to ride in the 50+. A tough call. The road route went out of Tak onto the main highway until the turn for the dam. Then along that tarmac and up a few climbs and down some descents to get you into the dam area. There is only about a kilo (if that) of off road through a muddy football field. Points to watch:The Thais do not have a clue of how to ride in a bunch. There was a lot of bumping and boring without any effort to ride in a group doing bit and bit or whatever. If someone went off the front with a superhuman effort, they'd then end up getting blown out of the back. Absolutely crazy. Near the climbs towards the end there was a HUGE crash and I saw a couple of people get quite hurt. Out of 70+ riders I came in about 15th. Never again.

On Sunday there is an off road race as well as a child and parent race. I rode with my son aged at the time 10. He is an experienced cyclo cross rider from the UK as well as two years experience of road and track. They sent us on a course which you would only expect very experienced adult riders to use. Up rocky unrideable steep climbs and so on. After one lap we climbed off. It was dangerous and pointless and clearly devised by someone who did not have a clue about racing or how to lay out a course for young riders.

I'm really getting fit at the moment and I could cope with the road race on MTBs but I could not cope with the sheer madness of it all. I'm serious about my cycling and I have raced in all disciplines for 50 years. This was insane and badly organised.