Fresh off a good race on Thursday, Friday had been a lazy rest day, and with clearance from mission control my crappy rollerskate polo got me to Newbury safely.
A light breeze wafted across the field, but did little to keep the temperature down. Glugging yet another bottle, I was concerned about cramp , especially with the extra 15 minutes tacked on the end of my familiar 45..
Sign on, and chin wagging, the familiar routine,
Pinning on my number and a quick fettle on the bike. Tyre pressure ok. Shifting ok. no brakes rubbing.
Aaron gives a heads up about the circuit, and it isn't long before I am rolling out for a reconnaissance lap.
Pretty good course, with a mix of flat field, hardpacked tracks, punctuated by banks of varying heights and technicality..
blat across the field into a 90' right hander. Across field, trying to find a less bumpy line towards to the far end of teh course. a tightish corner, but careful on dusty loose exit. through a loose gravelly corner byu some farm machinery and onto a long straight of hardpacked soil . two lines made this section a good place to move up. the slight rise led to a hairpin left and an awkward drop off. track before a bounce over and sweep right back under the trees again.
Double hump..
rutted run down to corner. inside line or sven line using berm.
back on yourself again pumpy bomb hole to hairpin with a step. ( easier than in the winter)
off again hammering parallel to the motorway.
awkward very bumpy stretch hidden by the long grass, teeth jarring potholes hidden by the grass, that didn't really flatten out as the race went on.
On to the top end of the course, left hander drop through the trees, carve through a flattened horse shit. and immediately pop out of the tree into hairpinned gates.
short sprint to more taped gates, left wards through gravel trap to line up the awkward step up.
50cm high step, with a groove cut in it.take it at an angle, unload the front and flick the back end up.
right through a farm gate, avoid a nasty pothole, and then hard left onto the field. sprint past the car park towards a set of double backed gates.. and then follow the line down to another farm gate on smooth grass.
go wide to just miss the gate post and a little jink to you to the really technical section. I think this was maybe an old 4x4 test track , or something similar, but a bump section a tight right hander and chose your line carefully. go wide, right hand rut was the easier of the two, but the left turned tighter and was less dicey on the exit. a sweeping rutted corner and a right hand drop followed by a shortish bank. rolling off the back into another dip before the most awkward of obstacles so far.
 |
| Bastard awkward |
Running remount and a scrubby nasty little right hander, only the field.
run around the perimeter followoing easy lines.a long straight along the side of the start straight, with a hairpin takes you back onto the start straight. At about 1.5 miles per lap, a cracking circuit, a bit different in places , but great to ride it iin the dry ( after tetsing it in the wet last Wessex season.)
Two laps to warm up felt about right, I was really worried about cramping up in the heat, so it was water> pee> water>pee , but at least the site had great facilties, Cotswold Veldrijden do a fantastic job of promoting Cross events.
Slowly circling the show ground, in ever decreasing circles ending up at the start line. Andy Commissionaire( resplendent in his Heisenberg hat) held us back as I lined up front row. but we seemed to grid ourselves reasonably well to his satisfaction as he let us roll onto the start line. A quick brief. and then the nervous wait after " I will start you in the next 30 seconds"
Low over the bars. twitching and ready to go. Jamie Newall on my left and Aaron Taylor on my right..
The whistle comes and with a surge we are off.
I dont get such a good start today... but still make that first corner in about 5th place. Jamie is off like a rocket. by the time we are onto the bottom field, we are already stretching out..and as we round the corner at the far end, that's pretty much the last we see of Jamie.
I settle into a rhythm. the race is an hour, so I am nervous of wrecking myself in the first ten minutes. Pacing myself in a cross race?... that's not right... its hot, its longer than usual, Cramp is likely to be my biggest opponent later in the race... gaps open up quickly.
A guy comes tearing through, but really balls up the dismount for that double step and flounders left, breaking his seatpost in the process. All credit to him, he remounts and finishes the race standing up... I am in about 3rd or 4th,.. Hugh of Team Tor makes a mistake going into the gateway , losing concentration,. and I pass him.. I keep the tempo up, still digging hard after each corner.. conscious that any mistake, the slightest slip will allow the chasers to gain ground on me.
I pass young Tom Sewell and he tucks into my wheel. As the laps tick down he manages to stay there. I cant shake him. Each acceleration from a corner creates a small gap, but each time he can bridge back. I cant slow down in case the chasers gain ground on us, I will need that gap if anything goes pear-shaped later on. I dare not attack too hard in case I burn a match and cant hold a gap, so I am stuck in limbo, just dragging him around.
I start to worry about him jumping me, I need to get away, then I hear him make a mistake on that muddy step, I think he dabs a foot, so on the next lap I make a concerted dig on the short rise after the step. A short out of the saddle effort and a good dig gives me a gap, this time I manage to make it stick and it soon starts opening further.
One lap to go, I nod to Jamie who reappears going the opposite way, he has managed to lap the entire field except for Tom and I.
I screw up the double step going into the dismount way too fast and not lining up, smacking my knee in the ensuing endo. Its sore, but doesn't really slow me down as I kick off for the last stretches across the fields and a very welcome finish line.
I cross the finish fairly knackered. The hour wasn't as bad as I thought it would be , but I had made a conscious effort to sit up and ease off a bit , staying loose in the last two laps. no mistakes., ride conservatively to stave off the cramp. I am pretty chuffed with my second place, and first Vet. ( Does that count as a win?)
Here is the Official race write up:
http://www.velouk.net/2014/07/12/report-cotswold-veldrijden-cyclo-cross/
what went well.
- drilling in the position change and the core work I have been doing is paying dividends.
- finishing the 60 minutes .( normal vets races are 45 mins)
- No cramp :-)
- 2nd place. best result since Citycross motos.
- my crappy VW Polo got me there and back
- Good dry course.
not so good.
- bashed my knee hard.
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