My CycloCross Season so far

Winning at Oxford.
Pic By Graham Robins

It's been almost two months since I last posted, the cross season so far has been pretty intense, raced almost completely in dry conditions. Not everything has quite worked out to plan, but the form seems good and I'm hoping that now I have started some interval training, things will start to come good.

Not that it has been bad though . . well, not all of it.

Training has been good, couple of setbacks when I've got the recovery wrong, so one or two key sessions missed there. I was kind of following the Simon Burney plan up until the end of October which seems to have worked out well, but for some reason I found that I was struggling to complete two or three of the weekday sessions he suggests, at the intensity he recommends, let alone four. Maybe he wrote it with the younger rider in mind. I'm a Vet now and although I still feel like I can improve, It is becoming more evident that I'm not recovering anywhere near as quickly as I used to and this is causing some problems with deciding exactly what to do. However, I still think that some of this maybe due to mental attitude as much as the need to perfect the physiological preperation. That's not to say though that the unplanned recovery days have done any harm, in fact, maybe I've accidently made things a little better.

Wessex Cyclo Cross League Round Two - Swindon

On my way to a Veteran win
Pic By Graham Robins

After the second round of the Wessex Cyclo Cross league in Oxford in September where I got third Vet, things started to get better. The week after, in Swindon, I was placed on the front row of the start grid, a position I hadn't experienced for a couple of seasons, and lined up with around 60 or so other Vets and Juniors including Juniors Luke Cowley, John Dibben and Vets, Tony Green, Andy Roberts and Gary Allen - amongst others. It's been maybe five years that I have had any confidence in continuing with the fast starts I used to have when I was in my early thirties, racing as a senior, but here, at Swindon, I found that the ability was still there and as Vet it seemed to cut the mustard once more. Only Luke Cowley managed to go with me, but not far behind, chasing hard was Tony Green and John Dibben. By lap three Luke and I were still sharing the pace on the front and John had managed to ride away from Tony and was coming across fast. Luke seemed to be more concerned than I was as John, the other Junior was now challenging not just for the Junior win but the race win. Tony was second Vet to me at this point and gradually slipping back so I just hung in, with Luke pushing the pace. Eventually it was clear John was going to bridge the gap and soon the three of us were together with two laps to go. Two juniors and an 'old man'. Admittedly, I had far more experience than these two but the guys were trying to beat each other for the win and John was clearly the stronger having rode across the gap. With a lap to go I decided to see if I could get the jump on the two youngsters and tried a couple of big attacks, but both attempts came to nothing and the lads counter attacked and rode away from me. Oh well, I might not have been on for the race win but I was clear for a Veteran win and in the last hundred metres, as John crossed the line as race and Junior winner, Luke came a cropper on one of the sharp turns and I just managed to catch him as he climbed back on his bike, allowing me a clear run for second place and Veteran winner.

So, first win of the season, shame it wasn't the overall race win but it's only the Vets classification that concerns me so that was plenty good enough.This result as well as the third place at Oxford now gave me 23 National Ranking points which would help for the next race, the National Trophy in Abergavenny and the official start to the 2010/11 season.


Wessex Cyclo Cross League Round Two - Veteran Results
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/7251/Hargroves-Cycles-Swindon-Cross

National Trophy Round One - Abergavenny


Pretty much all the Nationals for me were always going to be an epic journey what with the need to catch ferries off the Island. The Veteran races for the Trophy mean very early starts to the day or overnight stops due to the 10.30am race start. Abergavenny meant the 04.30am ferry from Yarmouth (the six, and next ferry, was too late) and a three hour drive to what is almost Mid-Wales. It was still dark as I got near the Severn Bridge at Bristol, and I was getting twitchy with the driving. When I arrived in Abergavenny it was only about 8.30 and I still had two hours to hang around, so I got a few laps of the course in and was instantly surprised at how different these national courses were laid out compared to the local league races. Lots of sharp turns, very steep banks, slippery off camber sections and run-ups including a tarmac section through the finish line. I guess over the years the perfect venues have been sought out around the country to make the best courses. That's not to say the local events are bad, the majority are excellent, but some don't really have the variety to make these type of courses. I must admit I prefer the all out, less technical courses where speed and power are needed, but Abergavenny required a fair amount of technical ability too which was fun, but not always to my advantage.

Still, because of my fairly high national ranking I was placed on the third row of the grid with around 30 riders behind me and about 15 in front. The start was alongside a couple of football pitches and pretty firm before taking a right, around the bottom of the field. I got a great start, straight down the right side, no-one in my way, and by the turn I had got up to 5th. Maybe though I'd gone off a bit fast and after a bit of scrapping I settled into 9th. The favourites were away, as early as the first lap, and it was clear that I was going to have to fight just to stay in the top ten. This was good though, I might even make it to sixth or seventh as I could still see Keith Sheridan and a couple of others riding three up and about ten seconds ahead. Ten seconds in a national though is a big gap to cross and requires a very big effort to close.

Wessex regular Tony Green rode across to me and the two of us spent the rest of the race chasing down the guys in front. I have to admit that on my turns in front of Tony, I could have tried a little harder. He gave me a ticking off after, well more friendly advice really, and warned me that nationals were nothing like local races and the need to stay right on it all the time was paramount, and he was right, but that didn't stop the two of us going for a sprint to the line for 10th and 11th, which I duly won after Tony seemed to have dropped off a little to let me come through ahead of him so he could get the jump. To be honest Tony, if you are reading, you may have been better holding the small gap you had because I don't think I would have been able to ride across. That's the fun of racing though and what gives a rider the biggest rush. Darren Atkins won this race and I finished 2m43s down. A big gap....

The three hour drive home was nasty and I had to turn off through Bath as I couldn't stand anymore motorway, then ran straight into heavy traffic. On the journey I have to admit that maybe the thought of doing the Nationals wasn't such a good idea after all, and maybe I should just dabble until I feel as if I can challenge in the top 5 in order to make the journey, cost and effort worthwhile.

National Trophy Round One - Veteran Results
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/29468/National-Trophy-Series-Round-1

Below is a video of the senior race, same course I rode, but not my race.


Wessex Cyclo Cross League Round Five - Reading

Leading at Reading
Pic By Graham Robins

I was hoping for a bit of mud and rain in this race as I had fond memories of a great race in the nastiest conditions here two years ago where I was 7th Senior. It was almost entirely bone dry though, which was good, as Reading is great in these conditions. Still, that didn't stop the bike and a little stupidity from letting me down. Once again I managed to race off from the start and soon took to the front. This time it was a little more satisfying than my start at Swindon as I had managed to ride into the lead with Keith Sheridan, Luke Cowley, Lewis King and Gary Allen all behind me, riders that I'm well aware of keeping my eye out for. Lap two, and I got a bit of jump and managed to put around 10-15 seconds between myself and Keith Sheridan. It looked for a lap that I was holding this gap quite well, but then the gears started to play up, the rear-derailleur catching and lifting up and back almost to breaking point. I couldn't see what was causing the problem without stopping so decided to go on for one more lap before considering a bike change at the pit. Big mistake! Along with panic that the gears were getting worse and Keith starting to catch me, I shoved it into the big ring in the hope that maybe the issue was with a bent inner ring or a bad chain-line for the gear I was riding (I was clutching at straws now) but that was a bad move, the derailleur caught and the mech exploded, snapped in half and locked the back wheel up. Race over! The pit was too far to make any use of a spare bike. As it turned out, one of the jockey wheels had snapped so I can only think this caused the chain to jump around too much and catch the derailleur, resulting in the eventual fail. At least I could be happy that I was riding the race right at the front and seemingly holding that lead with relative ease.

Wessex Cyclo Cross League Round Six - Oxford

On my way to Winning at Oxford.
Pic By Graham Robins

So, third time lucky? Oh yes, third time lucky. Another trip to Oxford School and another dry-ish race. Not as dry as the race a few weeks back but still no mud of any note. With last week in mind and a perfect start straight for another fast one, I made sure that I took full advantage and raced off with the sole intention of building the biggest lead I could by the end of the lap, which turned out to be around 30 seconds with Gary Allen and Lewis King chasing. This time I had complete control and each lap I pulled out a slightly bigger lead. On the finish line I had 1m10secs over the chasers and crossed the line as outright winner with Lewis and Gary sprinting for second place. It seemed strange to be a spectator for the remaining podiums in a race that I had just been in. Very satisfying, it's not a feeling that I get very often, winning races. In my twenty years of racing, I've probably won maybe ten or so open/league races in all my disciplines combined, and this win reminded me of why I do this sport. There is nothing like the feeling of being the quickest and knowing the training is working, its very satisfying but it doesn't take long to be knocked down a peg or two, and this happens in the biggest competitions time after time. Only a week later, I'd experience a personal flat spot in the season so far, but made a little sweeter by the fact that my contribution to the Inter-Area champs, riding for Wessex, still counted towards a nice achievement all the same.

Wessex Cyclo Cross League Round Six - Veteran Results
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/11291/Bikezone-Cycles-Oxford-Cross

Inter-Area Team Championships - Leicester


Another long drive, three hours once more but this time I didn't have to leave quite so early as the Veteran race start was a bit later in the day. The Inter-Area champs have teams of four riders competing in the race from all regions around Great Britain. The Vets race had around 70 riders with around 20 teams taking part. Some regions had enough riders to make up an A and B team; Wessex A team had just three, Myself, Tony Green and Lewis King which would be enough, as three riders finishing was all that was required to get a team placing. In our opinion, the organisation at the start was shameful, this was a national event after all and we found ourselves five rows back, behind a number of B teams. This was totally unfair and once the fifth row had been set, the grid just turned into a free for all. We were at a total disadvantage, with one of the commissaries even telling us the grid was based on last years positions? Not sure that was fair. This may have been true though, but when it came down to it, the start wasn't wide enough to grid all the regions A teams to a fair order.

The start was frantic, within 30yards there was a crash and the three of us were held up by it. I think I came off worst. I managed to avoid being in the pile up but I was right behind it, had to stop, then ride over a bike to get back in the race, then, by the first set of hurdles, in my haste to move up, I slipped and went down, twisting around just in time to see another rider coming right down on top of me. In a tangle, and a few choice words the two of us got up and on our way, thankfully both in one piece with no damage done. I had no idea where I was at this point but I estimated around 30th. It was possible to pass two or three riders at a time this far down the field, but inevitably you start to reach riders as quick as yourself and it gets harder to make up the positions. Once I reached about 20th, I finally saw Tony and Lewis up ahead, so at least that meant we are all in the top 20. A few laps later and I was almost on Tony's wheel with Lewis a couple of places further up. We were all in the top 15 now but only had a couple of laps to go. The gaps had grown out and I couldn't quite latch onto Tony as he pulled away from me again. This wasn't a problem though as no one else passed me, and I think Tony and Lewis may have picked off another position or two in those closing stages. At the finish Lewis claimed 10th, Tony 13th and me 15th which was surprisingly good enough for third place team overall!! A great result, considering our rubbish start and the fact we only had three riders, leaving no room for error.

Personally, I was a little disappointed with 15th and believe I could have got a top 10 had our start been better, had I not crashed and had I not backed off a little in the closing stages, but still, considering all the negatives, I was ok with 15th as I didn't feel too good on this extremely twisty and slippery course that, although not muddy, was very slick due to recent rain and a lot of grass. Not really my type of course but a great course all the same, well worthy of any national level event. Just a shame the organisation at the start was a bit of a shambles.

Inter Area Cyclo Cross Championships - Veteran Results

Inter Area veteran Champs. I appear for 2 seconds between 1m03secs and 1m05secs going past the pit entrance, in the Wessex yellow and red top.


So that's where I am so far. With all the rain we've had this week I'm expecting Wessex Round 7 at Basingstoke tomorrow to be very muddy, and to be honest, I'm relishing the challenge as CycloCross doesn't get seriously fun until the mud arrives, and at some point soon, this has to happen.