Rossington Cyclocross

Finally, after all the weeks of racing, and indeed, the past year or so, of being told each course was a testers course, we were presented with a testers course !

This was a new course so nobody knew what to expect. The youtube clip of the previous course had shown at least four mins of wooded single track section, and I hoped for something that suited me better to be honest. 

well, I certainly got that in the shape of a course that was almost entirely flat, was exposed to the wind, and had long sections where tapping out a persistent effort paid dividend.  My usual stuttering start of the Vets race, coupled with a tentative first lap whilst I felt the course out, meant that I had plenty of energy left in the tank when I started to make my move from lap 2 onward. The riders had strung out and I had worked out that the race was going to be shaped by how well I rode the very long uphill drag section of the track. everything else was flat and I knew we would all be much the same on that, but the key was going to be that hill, plus the couple of bad headwind sections and that was where I concentrated my real efforts on. 

No charity this week, and when I managed to get past a team mate, the moment they moved in my wheel, I shifted across the track so that they didn't get a tow - pretty ruthless, but a race is a race not a charity ride. 

Back to 40 minutes this week, so I knew it was only going to be a five lap affair, and felt as I finished that I had paced it just about right. At that moment, I immediately retired for the season because as good as it has been - I am after all a tester, and next week marks a return to road riding and getting road fit for the TT season which starts in February - there is a little matter of a Boxing Day & New Years TT to negotiate first.

Regionals

Regional Cyclocross Champs took place over in Shropshire on a miserable wet day. We arrived early in the morning as our first rider was off at 11.15, whereas my own race would not start until 2.15 - ample opportunity to cheer on at the earlier race, and get some time on the course. 

The course, of course, was a really fun one in the dry. Lots of ups and downs, tight turns, mud, off cambers and a huge dip to bomb down and then a lovely longish grovelly climb to get back up.

By the time my race came about though, it had been raining on and off, and the well used track had become a bit of as quagmire. It still looked like fun, but it was going to take lots of effort not to fall off. I was surprised to be gridded, and this put me further up the field at the start than I was comfortable with - preferring the idea of starting at the back and then feeling my way into the race. 

No matter though because I went backward almost from the very start, and what unfolded felt very much like a slow bicycle race on ice ! Mud accumulated very quickly so the bike felt really heavy. I was fine in a straight line but any deviation from this resulted in a battle to stay upright. 

The massive drop I mentioned took an age whilst I went down with the brakes on whilst others litellay raced down it - the climb up the other side was good though. A special mention to the cross cambers which were treacherous !  

In just over an hour I managed to negotiate 6 laps whereas the winner did 9 - still, not last, but a large amount of bike cleaning needed afterward !