Wessex CX league Round 1 Newbury

First race of the season.and as my friend Phil put it.. its like the first day back in school, all new geometry sets and pristine new pencil case.. and sheepishly looking around at the cool kids. Seems the grown ups are out...
Summer cross has been fantastic, but now the big guns come out, and as the carpark fills I recognise the top guys from last year.
Its been a good summer, I am fairly handy, maybe a bit down on where I was last year , but looking forward to measuring myself against the Wessex circuits this Autumn and into the Winter.
I travel up with Phil in his behemoth of a van, arriving just as the kids racing gets underway.  We eventually find sign on and meander back to the van to prep bikes.
Its warm, no need for arm or leg warmers yet. the sun is even trying to burn through the thin film of mist.

A cracker of a course.. A long straight to start, slightly uphill across the field. Past the race HQ and drop down gently towards the first corner.. a slight right, followed by a tighter left  past the pits.
a decent straight past the north end of the college, scoot across the road and down a dip into to only boggy bit on  the circuit, no problem, it was damp and a bit cut up, but easily navigated. A wide slight uphill,  a sharp drop in closely followed by a steep bank exit.
through a gravel trap and start on a draggy hill.. a lot tougher than it looked.
a hairpin at the top and a very welcome downhill.
all too soon finished witha  left hander along the bottom of the feld. two lines here, both bumpy and difficult to find the smoothest and fastest  route.
Popping out onto the roadway and witha  quick pop over the sandbags lining the kerbs onto an awkward slalom around off camber trees. this led to a series of tight up and downs of a steep bank , lined with spectators during the race,,Past the pits again, sligtlyl downhill and building up a fair bit of pace.
a series of trees puntuate this east bound leg, an abrupt off camber corner,across the field to a fast right hander around a tree into a tight switchback next to a tree. I ballsed this up both laps on my warm up, fingers crossed I dont on the race.. a slight dig up hill towards the running boards, closely followed by good use of the long jump sand pit. A horrible bi of winding in and out of a small copse, switching back on yourself twice, remaining upright on the roots and trying to exit to a fast scoot across the southernmost part of the course.
A bank, switch>bank switch> tight 180 and a hard dig up again.

a breather as you rolled off  and dived off towards the spiral. I really enjoyed this section and managed to ride it well each lap.. maybe it was a throwback to the spiral of doom at city cross. -------------------->
blast out of the spiral and head for the finish line for another lap.
Cracking circuit. technical, with some good flat line speed parts.


So to t he start line...a bit nervous for the new season, and keen to get my tyre nudged out front. The V50s were all called forward.. gridded, then the Juniors, followed by the Ladies... a full 40 or 50 riders in front...not exactly great. As the V40s were called forward I was dismayed that the gridding was based on the top 20 from last years league finishing tables.  I end up somewhere back in the fifth or sixth row, feeling boxed in pretty tightly, surrounded by unfamiliar faces and a bit glum at being so far back, despite a successful summer campaign.
The familiar whistle goes, and its down to business. Everything up until now has been playing, this is the main event. As the sprint start opens up, gaps are slow to appear as I am boxed in, so its more of a rolling start than a dig for the holeshot..
as we pass the pits, I accelerate into the right hand side. not the best line, but good for overtaking.
The road approaches, and I drop off the kerb and bunny hop the opposite side, cutting out the bottleneck of riders taking the dropped kerb exit. worth the risk of cocking up and pinch flatting.
I push the line to get into position for the steep dip and bank. easing slightly , to line up before committing. I hear a clatter behind as a rider a few back dabs a foot and grinds every one to a halt. Committed to the right edge I am unfazed and open a gap through the gravel and up onto the hill.
Time to burn a match.. I go well into the red and overtake a few riders going up the hill. The hill was a bitch. while it wasnt particularly steep, it was pretty rutted with two lines. the right hand tape line was smoother, but to overtake the left hand bumps really took it out of you.
As i reach the top i coast for a bit of a breather.. approaching the top ten, and already starting to cut through back markers.
The down hill comes and goes, and the bottom of teh field leads quickly onto smooth tarmac. I balls up the wiggles in and out of the trees, and make a mental note to practice  these super tigt off camber turns.I over take another rider, and wedge my nose past another at the top of the steep bank.
the bank hits your legs hard, but two or three cranks and its over... easing off and allowing me to chunker down through the rear block and build up some speed.
I overtake a few riders on the section down the field.. shifting weight to cut past the trees as closely as possible. this became a favourite line to overtake as the race progressed.
I almost roll a tyre on an off camber section ; definitly on t he limit of tyre adhesion. ( i finish teh race with strands of grass poking out like a hairy halo around the rim) (hahaahaah)
the race progresses and the gaps open up. I have worked up to a top ten place and am thourougly enjoying the circuit. The spiral of doom is a particular favourite ad i manage to dial it in pretty quick. gratefully thanking slower riders who slow or pull over to let me pass.

I get a gap on rival Wil Macdonald of TriTeam. and manage to hold him off, putting time into him each lap.

The bell comes and I have no real chasers, and my closest rider up front is well ahead. Dont risk cramp, or a crash. but do pop a wheely coming out of the turny tree section ( at the behest of the joking Marshals)

Overtaking a few more back markers I have a dig for the line and finish 8th. 

flat out on the floor, and my team mate Ben comes over to say "Hi". we decide to do a full lap together as I talk him through the lines I had used. I watch half of his race nursing a cup of tea.. heckling and getting a few pictures.. 

Massive thanks to Phil Chinn of Fareham Wheelers for giving me a lift and sticking up with my inane post race chatter.

what went well: 

No mechanicals :-)

raced hard and got a pretty good result, 

Great course.Probably the most enjoyable that I have ridden to date.

Not so good.

Not gridded. fifth row!

weak on tight "back on yourself type" corners.(180's)