Bardney Cyclocross

This would be the very last event in the Lincs Cyclocross League and is their Handicap race. This meant that today would be more about the performance and less about the finishing position.

It was cold, and there had been a hard frost the night before, the recent bad winds had abated though and it was a pretty windless day on Bardney Fen !

There must have been less than 30 of us Vets that made the trip to Bardney and again I found myself gridded onto the fourth row - not that it makes much difference because I quickly fell backward places during the opening sprint - and then I started to make them back up again, so that was OK.

The course is split into two halves really - a faster first half which is out into flatland and a quick up and down a bank to contend with, and a second half of more technical lumpy ground, with some off camber work and a down and up ditch effort.

Lap 1 saw me learn the course and lap two saw me moving up the field a little bit. Lap three was my best lap and I fought tooth and nail with a fella from Arrow Cycles. There were two lads in front of us, but neither of us worked together and as a result never got close enough to them.

I started to fade on lap four , but again managed to avoid being lapped which meant that I had lap 5 to attend to. I was literally hanging out of my arse on this last lap (technical term), but enjoying it at the same time. That was it, the last race of the season and nine months of doing other stuff until it starts again in September.

Winter Double

Boxing Day 26.37 (trike)
New Years Day 19.32

The Lincoln Wheelers Winter Double is historically a two race series that takes place on Boxing Day and New Years Day - two days of the year that a good race is the perfect antidote to seasonal excesses !

Boxing Day this year was to be a fancy dress affair for which I dessed all 70's like and rode the trike, and New Years Day was to be all serious ! This is how my Winter Double unfolded :

Boxing Day - I went off at No.1 knowing that the trike would be slow compared to some of the field. My flared trousers flapped in the wind and my leather jacket looked like a bat cape ! It was hard work and the 12 weeks that I had put in on the turbo seemed to have had no effect at all. A struggle round and a time of 26.37 in the end. I think I'll stick to skinsuits !

New Years Day - A very windy day at c.20mph whereas Boxing Day had been a gentler 8. This made the course backwind, headwind and then crosswind. I started well enough and got to the Torsksey turn with an average of around 25.5mph. The 3 mile stretch along the A1133 into headwind killed this stone dead and the average dropped to around 22.9 by the end of it. I battled the crosswind along the A57 and managed to get to around 23.5mph by the end. I did notice that I span the pedals better than last year and overall probably pleased with the time. 19.37 at the line - I think theres more to come as the year progresses.