Category: Blog

Well I wouldn’t say that it was a waste of time, but it was approaching it. Two and a half hours of travelling each way for a course that was just abysmal and form that just didn’t materialise on the day. I finished 35th out of a field of 49 starters, and after a pretty good first lap, i soon succumbed to just not being able to keep myself rolling smoothly and went into the red somehow, not seeming to recover.

Again, I couldn’t close down small gaps on the riders in front after ten minutes of racing and again a cycling god from the low countries came and made the UK cyclocross scene look so amateurish. This time is was David Willemsens, Belgian Amateur champion who rode round the (exceedingly dull) Leicestershire course with ease, lapping most of the field.
After a win in the North West league last year, and wins in two of the four NW races I’ve ridden so far this year, the natural thing to do seems to progress to the top level of competition in the country (and it’s the right thing to do, given the generous sponsorship we’ve had from Wheelbase, SIS and Gore bike wear), but this step is so big, and it’s frustrating that there’s nothing in between!

It was a good chance to catch up with my team mate (and lift share) Lewis, who, conversely, seems to be really getting it together this season in the national trophies. Good on him.

I had the psychological uplift of another cyclocross win on Saturday at the Liverpool Century ‘cross Otterspool Park.

Adding to the euphoria was riding my new frames, Columbus X-Wings, (click on image, right) which felt very nice indeed (though, of course, it’s not about the bike).

As if that wasn’t enough, a total cycling hero Ben Greenwood was riding cyclocross for the first time and finished in third spot. Now I’m not deluding myself about being better than him, no way sir, but I was in this discipline on the day. What an amazing feeling!

As with my previous wins, you sometimes feel like it’s more about who didn’t turn up to race than who I beat, but you can only beat who’s there.

The second round of the highest level of cyclo-cross competition in this country and I travelled down to Ipswich a bit nervous, but also a bit resigned to my form not being where it was last year.

Had an overdue bit of bonding with my Wheelbase team mates Rob, Stuart and Lewis (thanks for the lift!) and managed to keep it down to four polite pints of Guinness on the evening before.  Rob and Lewis didn’t snore: my luck was in !

The race day itself was very, very enjoyable.  I’d never turned up so early to a national trophy event so preparation was very relaxed and subdued.  The course itself was an absolute cracker – some testing technical bits but all pretty fast if you kept your concentration up.

The ‘other’ races (Juniors, Veterans, Women, etc) were good for the North West riders, which helped to make the day rewarding.

My performance in itself was still pretty lacklustre.  I had one of the slowest opening laps I’ve ever had at this level, which didn’t help, despite having a good warm up.  By the time I got myself motoring I’d ‘missed the train’ and could only make up a few places.  On the whole, my performance was better than Cheltenham and I was right on the nail with skills and technique, I just wasn’t fast enough.  More structure to the training will follow!  33rd in the end and a lap down on German winner Malte Urban.

Links:

British Cycling website race report and photos
Lots more photos
North West cyclo cross association website report. 

I organised a bike race on Saturday for the first time in a good few years. It was a really very satisfying experience. The ones I used to organise at Cheltenham – mainly road races and time trials – seemed to be such thankless experiences, where riders expected so much of you and were’nt willing to put themselves in your shoes. Not all the time, but most of the time, this was what it was like.

Organising any event like this isn’t particularly easy. You can be lucky with some things (the weather was near perfect, no-one crashed enough to warrant first aid), and other things you can plan (the venue itself was really good – self-contained non-prescious parkland with a course to challenge all abilities).

What you can’t stress enough though is how you rely on other people so much. My name was down as the organiser, but for Katie, it was just as long a day, and probably more tiring in many ways, because she doesn’t have the ‘things will be okay’ kind of attitude that I have at times like that.

The best bits of the day was the realisation that the North West Cyclocross community is a very strong one – and people were genuinely willing to help out wherever they could without being asked.  It really lifted me up.

So BIG ‘thank you’s go to: Katie, Jean and Bill, Matthew Pixton, Louise Gore, Stuart and Billy Reid, Josh Varty and his marshalling friend whose name I can’t recall, Wheelbase (for the generous prizes), Mick Spiers, Ray Pugh and everyone at Bury Borough Council Parks, especially David Wells.  Finally, thanks, of course, to mum, for babysitting Lily.  The day with Lily at my side not moaning and getting on with things would have been blissful, but utterly unattainable.
Would I do it all again?  You betcha.

The race report and photos can be found here.