Last week I didn’t post an article as I was nursing my wounds.. Okay that isn’t strictly true; I did have wounds but I actually had a lot of work to do whilst at work, yes I know – totally unreasonable, and I had more of a social life.
Going back to the wounds situation, I raced a cyclocross race last Sunday and ran out of talent a little when going round a corner. It was a real nightmare as I was in first position before the crash. But from the beginning…
Many people have not heard of the cyclocross discipline of cycling before, and on many occasion I have been rewarded with a blank look for even saying the word. Wikipedia describes it as “cross-country racing on bicycles, with lots of mud” and it isn’t too far off. You see, with cross (as it is affectionately known) the muddier, more hurdles, trees and ditches you can get before it becomes mountain biking, the better.
A rare sight – very few photos exist where I do not look as though I wish to either throw up or punch the photographer. Photo courtesy of John Orbea.
The course last Sunday was located on the grounds of St Helena School for Girls in Hertfordshire. It was organised by the local cycling club CC Ashwell who had designed a perfect course which combined all of the above descriptions and more. There was even a bomb-hole (a steep descent followed by a steep ascent). Unfortunately there was also gravel.
The race started at a very fast past as they set us off along a 50m stretch of tarmac. This was great news for the sprinters and so, as sprinting isn’t so much my forte, I started off in third place. However, by the second lap of the course I already moved up the field, had a 10 second lead on the second place rider and was going well. Until I remembered the corner. Flying out the bomb-hole, I was at maximum speed until I had to take the ninety-degree right hand corner. This wouldn’t normally be a problem, but this corner had gravel on it; not the small pebbly kind of gravel, the tiny flint-like gravel that is almost sand. I completely lost the bike as it kept going forward and my body went round to the right, meaning that I skidded on my elbow and thigh. In doing so I lost 29 seconds and ended up in fourth place as my competitors flew past me.
Although this doesn’t seem too bad, it is a lot of time to make up, especially on a cross course. there are rarely any clean straights which lend itself to sprinting as they are either broken up by tree roots, hurdles or random bends. It took the following half an hour to make up three of the positions which I had lost and I crossed the line 21 seconds behind the leader. Bummer. I hurt and a lot – not only were the scrapes that pathetic “I’m not going to bleed a lot but I am going to sting like crazy” version, but my muscles were screaming out where I had pushed myself and my shin hurt from tripping over one of the hurdles.
A worried face as I attempt to negotiate the hurdles without injury, this time – third place rider hot on my heels. Again, photo courtesy of John Orbea.
Although yes, I did crash and ended up in pain, it was a great fun course which lent itself to the more ballsy riders. The events which are organised as part of the Eastern Cyclo Cross League (http://www.easterncross.org.uk/) are superior to all other leagues (in my unbiased opinion, of course) – the results are accurate, timed and published within ten minutes of the event finishing and the staff are friendly. If you have any issues or queries, they are always happy to try and help, but only if you ask nicely… Oh, and there is always cake.
Once over the finish line, John Orbea catches me slump as I cannot hold myself up any longer – I pushed myself hard that day.
A Life to Remember 