First off Cross Club headed to Gateshead for the TLI National Championships. Paul, Neal and I headed to a very windy Gateshead, the Met Office had an Amber warning out due to the wind speeds but a decent crowd of about 60 riders still turned up.
Usually I like to write about how much I enjoyed the course, this time, nothing could be further from the truth! It wasn't really the course more the fact that the wind killed me! There were a couple of climbs into the wind with one particularly horrible climb only to be hit by the wind as you crested.
My awesome Van Dessel ready to role
It was a tough race and it felt like I spent the rest of the lap recovering from the hill. Neal had a great race and Paul was going well until he punctured and had to run most of a lap. Luckily one of the Blackhawk riders lent Paul a bike so he could complete the race.I'm not sure about the results but I think Neal was inside the top 15, Paul was about 18th and I managed a personal best at around 22nd.
So for a tough race it ended up going pretty nicely!
Next up was Barnard Castle last weekend.
This was my first real taste of Cyclocross weather! Up until now all my races have been dry and I've only needed to wear bib shorts and a jersey. Barnard Castle brought freezing rain and sleet and along with it arm and leg warmers and a gillet!
After completing a practise lap, the warm up consisted of sitting in the car with the heater on full!
With Paul in Belgium enjoying waffles and beer and Rich racing at the next round of the duathlon series it was left to Rob, Neal and I to fly the Cross Club flag.
The course was great and at 1.7 miles it felt like the longest course this season. The course had a couple of barriers, some tarmac and some sticky mud! Just about perfect.
Neal riding it like it's on rails
With the North East Championships on the Sunday the Saturday was providing an opportunity for some of the big guns to have a practise on the course. With Paul Oldham showing us all how it is done.
Me following Nev Martin
I had a great race fighting hard with Nev Martin from Infinity Cycles and Dave Charman from Blackhawk bikes. The three of us battled for most of the race with Nev pulling out a lead in the last section of mud and me getting in front of Dave on the tarmac to the finish. Next time I think I will let Nev follow me across the line!
Rob and Neal both had great races, with Rob managing to meet the cut off for an extra lap. This gave me and Neal the chance to recover and then laugh at the pain on Rob's face when he crossed the line.
As a treat I had invited my parents to come and watch this race, the weather made wasn't perfect but it was good for them to see what it is all about. It didn't take long for my Dad to get the hang of Cyclocross, at the end of the race he even had a few tips. Basically I need to go faster at the start and then just stay in front of everyone! I suggest you all watch out at the next race as I now know what I've been doing wrong.
The race was also the first outing for the Crossclub kit. Thanks to the sponsors Apex Acoustics Ltd and Bearded Man.
No comments:
Post a Comment