South West Cyclocross Round 10

Last weekend I travelled down to Plymouth Moto X Park for round 10 of the South West cyclocross series. Due to not having a cross bike and my 29er being replaced under warranty, the Sowdens kindly lent me their cross bike to race on, it had tubs the lot.

I was quite nervous on arrival as I wasn’t sure what to expect as I hadn’t raced any cyclocross so far this season, Dexter Hurlock was also racing so I knew it wasn't going to be easy. After the pre-race chit chat and a few practice laps to get the feel for riding a cross bike again it was time to line up, I knew I’d have to start near the back as it was my first race of the series, this meant I had some chasing to do. 

As the gun went I quickly tried to get myself into a half decent position my spotting the gaps and going for it, I comfortably got myself into the top ten sooner than I expected but quickly discovered that Dexter and Matt Loake had already gained a small gap on the rest of the field. 

I felt pretty strong so managed to work my way through the field and then set about chasing Dexter and Matt down, I was determined to catch them and after around three laps I managed to bridge across which felt like a victory in itself.

As soon as I had jumped across Dexter began to up the pace but I wasn’t going to let him go after I’d put all that effort in to close the gap, we started to open up a healthy lead on the rest of the field and the race was on.

The battle eventually came down to the bell (final lap), I wasn’t overly confident of outdoing Dexter as he has pretty much been unstoppable all year and the fall near the start of the last lap didn’t exactly help my situation but I was determined and in the zone and wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

The chase was back on until Dexter’s chain came off which meant I gained a bit of ground on him, he soon managed to claw his way back again though, luckily for me I had the lead which played to my advantage as I could basically keep the speed up on the straights and hold my line through the corners which made it difficult for Dex to pass. Coming into the final few corners he tried to creep up the inside but I wasn’t going to let that happen so got my lean on, all I had to do then was then hold my nerve all the way to the line which I did and I felt absolutely ecstatic to get the win and to beat Dexter who is the South West cyclocross and South West mountain bike champion.

Big thanks to Roy Wyle Smith and his crew for putting on such a great event and thanks to all the crowd who made it such an awesome atmosphere to race in, cow bells, horns, Mexican waves the whole lot was going on.

I’m now thoroughly looking forward to my next race which is Soggy Bottom R2 at Newnham Park on December 15^th.

Big thank you to Mullet Snaps for the photos, please go and like his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulletSnaps

Muddy Margam!

On Sunday, I traveled to Margam Park for my first race of the season; nerves were in abundance as I hadn't raced for ages and forgot my strategy of dealing with pre-race butterflies. Once I’d arrived and met all the familiar faces it reminded me of why I love racing so much. However this race was not going to be easy but I do enjoy a challenge. Whilst entering I noticed that Marc Beaumont (world class Downhiller) had entered, this added a little excitement to the race as he was in the same category as I.

After walking back to my van soaking wet, I realized Marc was parked right next to me, I went over and chatted to him and was a bit starstruck it has to be said.

After talking to him and getting a quick insight on what life is like to be a pro downhiller I got my my kit on, changed my tyres and tried to focus on what was ahead of me. My team mates, Nick Butler and Lee Hayward returned from their race and I could hardly notice them, that gives you a clue of what the conditions were like, Nick quoted “that was the muddiest race I've ever done”.

Whilst warming up I rode round the last section of the course, and what would be a super fast section if it was dry had turned into a boggy mess and it was a job just turning the pedals. I have had some decent results in the past in bad conditions so thought this may play to my advantage. On the start line I lined up right on Beaumont’s wheel, as ever the dreaded 10 second countdown began then we were off, I was very surprised with the start I had got I was straight up into second place after the first climb, sitting on the junior national champs wheel. Somehow I managed to gap the rest of the field and found myself a good 30 seconds up after the first lap. I couldn't believe it.

After feeling good for the first few laps, my lungs decided to play up and I felt tight chested for the middle part of the race. This meant Dan Lewis and James Nixon managed to bridge the gap to me. After riding like a complete tool on the rocky shoot. Dan got a gap on me and that was the last I saw of him, this left James and I fighting it out for second place.

James was looking really strong until the last few laps, I realized on the sections where we had to get off and walk/run (the mud was over a foot deep) I could gap him, I was confident then that I could hold on to second place, on the penultimate lap I managed to pull away and started to feel strong again, always a good sign to feel strong at the end of a race. I came over the line in second place just over two minutes back from Dan, I was chuffed with the result considering it was the first race of the season and I didn't feel 100%.

It was so cold after the race, I was very pleased to hear Jay say, collect your prize straight away, I’ve never been so glad about there not being a podium. Thanks to all the people involved on putting the event on in such horrible conditions and to my sponsors of course. Bye for now.