Post-Christmas Cyclocross Blues

Your latest Cyclocross news report from Peter Golding

Well the busy Christmas/New Year period is finally over, and what a period it has been, especially if you are an armchair cyclocross fan. There seemed to be a race on the gogglebox most days, lots of excitement to entertain us, whilst there was a lack of racing in the UK. It’s been 3 weeks already since the ‘Wheelers’ hosted Round 9 of the Eastern Cross League and we still have 2 more weeks to wait until the next and final race of the League Season !

But, cyclocross returned to the UK last weekend, well, for some of us it did. It was Round 5 of the National Trophy held at a change of venue from that previously advertised at Tong, it was moved to the Richard Dunn Sports Centre on the outskirts of Bradford. And what a venue it was, sadly the building and its grounds are no longer used, but it lends itself completely to a very technical cyclocross course, one which the Shibden Club exploited to the maximum. An uphill tarmac start, into an off camber grass bank, then a series of slippy corners led to more tarmac, then compressed gravel took you past the pits and down a really steep bank to an off-camber and a steep climb on grass to a 180 turn, back to the pits entry if required, more tarmac, led back to a very technical section, steep drops and un-rideable climbs, more off-camber, deep berms and 180 turns and sloppy mud, which led back to the pits for the second time, but not before 2 x 180 turns at the bottom of a steep drop and the inevitable run up, pits passed, more sloppy mud, a respite on the tarmac, and back to the technical bits with a very steep drop and climb out, which led to another, and a final off-camber steep drop onto the tarmac, led back to the finish, phew !

Peter Golding was our sole rider on the day, but there were others from the Eastern Region racing, especially in the Youth Races. Peter got a descent start, but on the first uphill off-camber and subsequent slippy twists and turns, allowed himself to be bullied (fairly) off line and lost a lot of places by the time the pits were passed for the first time. However he was making up ground, but at the first steep drop and climb out, he chose the wrong line, finding himself behind one of the slower V50 riders, who subsequently fell off before the top of the bank, meaning Peter had no where to go, except slide back down the bank and be passed by more! There after he [Peter], wasn’t ’at the races’, he did make up some places, but lost heart not being able to compete with his normal adversaries, He would normally be really fighting to hold off Nick Craig from lapping him, but was delighted to be passed relatively early on Nick’s penultimate lap. So 20th V60 was not the result he was hoping for, especially with the National Championships only one week away, but it was Cross and it still made him smile.

Meanwhile given the weather on Saturday night, which forced the organisers to cancel Day 2 of the National Trophy, the Leicestershire League were fighting and working hard to keep their event hosted by Coalville Wheelers at Grace Dieu Priory ON. There were regular updates given on FB during the morning, with their team and Commissaire’s on site from 7am, it was a relief to know they were going to make it happen.

Megan Free, Karl Hale, Nick Rush made the journey across the A14 and up the M1 to take part, whilst Peter Golding dropped down from Sheffield, hoping for a better race than the day before !

The track at the Priory was epic, lots of gloopy mud underneath the covering of snow, making the twists and off-camber turns difficult, the uphills really tough, that most found quicker to run, the disused railway line after some very slippy 180 turns was somewhat of a relief, but then the hurdles at the top of a difficult rise were joyous especially if you’d run for the last 150 meters ! Riding through the farm yard, past an iconic red phone box gave you the opportunity to clear your cleats and pedals, by banging them against each other, before you started the mud fest all over again. Choosing the right tyres and crucially tyre pressures, coupled with being able to clip back in after running on frozen mud was going to be the make or break for a good result.

Megan was off first and truly enjoyed the battle with the elements and the course, there were several Juniors competing, who had entered ‘on the day’ after the Trophy round was cancelled, which swelled the women’s field at the front. Megan it seems relished carrying her bike and running and was delighted to be 15th overall and 4th Senior on the day, but it wasn’t over for Megan as she still waited for the last race of the day, to be ‘Pit Crew’ for Kieran Jarvis.

Peter, Karl and Nick were off in the combined V50/60 race, after the previous races the mud was even gloopier and looked even more red through the snow, if that were possible. After a 100 meters the course went through a series of muddy bends and then down to the first serious off-camber corner, carnage ensued, all it took was for one person to slide out and the domino effect took over, all 3 Wheelers got a good start, but that was thwarted by the road block in front, as everybody behind the pile up, was off and running. Nick riding on intermediate ‘tubs’ with very low pressures (for him), was revelling in the conditions, riding when most others were running, Karl was not enjoying the mud, finding it much quicker to run, than trying to churn through it on intermediate tubulars, Peter on full mud tyres with tubes, couldn’t make his mind up whether to ride, run or cry ! Non the less it was a great event in challenging conditions and Chapeau to the Coalville Wheelers for ensuring it went ahead. Karl probably ran more than he rode and was grateful to be passed by the leader, putting his 53rd place and 39th V50 behind him, to fight another day, Nick had a thoroughly enjoyable day out, truly enjoying the weather and riding conditions, and learnt a lot from riding ‘tubs’, he was delighted to be 46th overall, 12th V60 and a lap up on Karl, Peter redeemed himself from the day before, narrowly avoiding being lapped by the winner to complete the 6 laps and finish 15th overall and 3rd V60.

Of course none of that would be possible with the support of family and friends, so a huge thank you to all of you, who braved the weather so that we could race.

Next events are:

The National Championships 11/12 January at Cyclopark Kent, Gravesend

19th January Round 6 of the Leicestershire League at Glebe Park, Corby

26th January Round 10 of the Eastern League at Milton Country Park, Cambridge

See you there.