Winterton Cyclocross

My last Cyclocross race of the Lincs Cyclocross league in 2014. I had a good ride last week at Nettleham and looked forward all week to getting back on the Cannondale which can only mean one thing - I must be starting to really enjoy racing Cross !

The showground at Winterton was todays venue and it had been raining for a good 6 hours beforehand. The course was not too technical, a lot of grass riding, one mound and one off over two boards - it was definately one for the testers. What made the course hard and slow though was the saturated ground from the rainfall. The top half of the course was rideable and had drained well, however, the bottom half was a real quagmire and you could sink into the ruts very easily.

Again, our Vets race was a 40 minute affair and I estimated I would need to clear 5 laps. On signing on I had been told to highlight my name to say I was here, and this also meant that I was gridded for the first time ever. From my new *cough* elevated starting position, I knew I had to ride very fast from the very start and not my usual casual getting into it slowly strategy. From the off, I went for it and found that I made some good places early, when the field settled down, I tried to keep working hard and snatching places where I could.  The course was boggy and some times the speeds must have been very low. I know that some guys ran some sections quicker than we rode them - indeed I tried this strategy myself but found no difference.

Something amazing happened on my last lap - I had one ! This was because for the first time I had not been lapped by the leaders - it also meant that I had one last lap of boggy misery to negotiate !

So a good finish to the Cyclocross season - next year I'll concentrate solely on the league and try not to get distracted by the running events :-)