"Most of the time the courses don't allow enough time for drinking - as a corner, hill etc is coming up!"

"I hear he was in walking boots - so not taking it too seriously - still I won't be telling anyone that when bragging that I beat a world champion! Surviving the crashes on the first road section, wind, rain and hail was enough!"

"I used to run an mtb derailleur and cassette with a 39 chainring - now I just go for 34 x 28 as that is the most you can run with road gear (i think) - I have been for a recce of the rideable parts today and several bits are a lot smoother than…"

"Never ridden cross in Belgium - but the one road race I did, didn't require approval from BC, just searched the local paper for a race and went for it - but that was 10 years ago!"

"I have one - from '08 I think - it has done very well for the 3 peaks and 'normal' cross racing - my only bugbear is that the front forks do not have the clearance to get a front wheel out without deflating the tyre - but this may…"

"Very tempting - although I am still in the stoic category! Glad to see you are back and racing."

"Woo Hoo - I have managed a race on them - after using the glue and tape method - hopefully they will last for many more! - now I just need some more wheels for mud tubs!"

"I have these on my commuting cross bike - I got some avid cartridge brake blocks when the originals wore out - v type - and they work well, and they are so much easier to set up and adjust than frogleggs! A piece of folded card at the rear end of…"

"Yes they are gp4 - I don't know where I got MA40 from! Still not managing to make the tubs stick though"

"Another layer of glue on both tubs and rims - its stuck a bit better but not well enough - aaargh! The rim shape and tub shape just don't seem to match and therefore the tub is only sticking on the outside of the rim"

"Yes - I was hoping for a good result as I did alright on this course last year - especially as all the quick boys are in the "elite" race - however if everyone else from the north is riding, maybe not!"

"Yeah, i've just been using jantex. The advantage of that method is that if you use tubs with fragile sidewalls, like the league favourites dugasts, the tape helps stop water coming through the spoke holes and into the base tape, which is one of…"

"  I've just followed that Embrocation method - I take it that's usual tub tape (eg Jantex) you put on, so it's a glue/tape combo. It's kinda hard to get the tyres on completely clean, since you're removing the backing…"

"Mavic MA40 rims ????  are they tubular rims ????  thought they were clincher rims ??"

"Great - thanks for all the advice I think maybe I need some tape as the tubs are not sticking in the centre of the rim"

"In your particular case, Tom, it might be worth cleaning the surface of the old glue - something like isopropyl alcohol is good as it doesn't leave a greasy residue, and it can soften the glue that's already on the rim giving a better…"