And so it begins...

My first taste of cyclocross racing came last October, and despite its reputation for being miserable anyway, it was awful. Unknowingly carrying a knee injury and riding my MTB, it was a baptism of fire to say the least, at a muddy but fast Temple Park in South Shields.

So it was with a sense of unfinished business I approached my first cross race this year at the same venue. Armed with a proper cross bike, some summer riding and a goldfish memory I rocked up at a balmy Temple Park on Saturday. Quickly joined by fellow Cross Club riders Paul Errington and Neal Wesley, we scoped out the opposition and compared tyre pressures..

"See that Dutch lad in the tiny car? He won the World Cup..."

Rumours of Belgians and Dutch pain merchants abounded; and that was just the start, as Paul Oldham, Steve Lampier et al also warmed up... not to mention Kenny Haswell! A scout of the course showed it was quite quick, a good dismount on the back section and a sandpit providing the only obstacles.

Northwest Kneewarmers embrocation liberally applied, some of my favourite Clif Shot Bloks devoured, and at 2:30pm the race began. A chaotic start with the large (some mention of 100 riders) group meant bottlenecks at the first taped section. Still, the field soon spread out with the top 10 moving away swiftly. I thought at the start I'd try and stick to Paul's wheel. Having trained together a lot and having been lapped by him the previous year, I knew he could put the power down and I couldn't bear to be passed again... early on in the first lap though, I felt good enough to make a cheeky pass, and latched on to a group of 3 other guys.

The 4 of us put in some good shifts, each doing well in different parts of the course and working hard. The dismount/remount worries prior to the race were unnecessary; although the guy who's saddle snapped off his post mid-remount next to me will surely have had sore nuts this morning. The sand pit was good fun; 'just power through' was the general consensus.

It came with a sense of certainty that I heard Paul Oldham politely ask for room on the right as he lapped just before the bell. Only a group of 4 remained at the front though, showing how fast it was despite the National Trophy the next day (The Dutch guy in the tiny car won both, in the end - beating Oldham to second on both occasions).

With the bell we pushed hard; I tried an attack and shook 2 of my fellow sufferees, but was pipped through the sandpit by the third to the line.

Note to self; don't attack too early.

All in all, a seemingly decent result for a first race, and thoroughly enjoyable regardless. With the unexpected congratulations of a good race from Paul and Neal, I can only look forward to next week and a trip (possibly) to Windermere for Rapha Supercross, and then Gateshead for the CXNE on Sunday.

Unfortunately I am no doubt a marked man in Cross Club now, and expect to get my arse handed to me by Paul soon enough.

Until then, though, I feel the Temple Park demon has been laid to rest after last year, and look forward to more. Bring it on :)