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@andyp
London X League Round 5 at Hog Hill yesterday.
It was my first visit to Hog Hill so I wasn't sure what to expect, except I knew there was a hill (more of a mound really but Hog Mound doesn't alliterate well does it?). The course mainly consists of existing MTB trails, but Ben Spurrier of Vicious Velo had done a great job of using the cambers of the slope to make the infield section in front of the club house quite challenging.
Once again I missed out on being gridded, so started in the third or fourth row and tried to hit it as hard as I could from the whistle in the hope of gaining as many places as possible. I got away cleanly and held a good position going into the first corner and luckily avoided a crash on the inside (I'd purposefully gone on the right hand side to set me up for the 180 degree right hand turn just after) line. I made up a few places on the infield and got another one with a committed move on the corner round the back of the club house, and then hit the downhill section hard. I nearly lost it a couple of times but managed to avoid a crash and hit the bottom of the circuit with daylight ahead of me, so put me head down and kept pushing. As I hit the drag back up the hill, I could see a couple of riders ahead of me so spent the next lap chasing them hard, passing one before the descent and then catching the other at the top of the hill on the next lap and worked hard to gap them.
I wasn't working hard enough, as number 386 caught me at the flat section at the bottom of the circuit, so I tucked in behind him hoping he'd help me catch the riders in front, but I made an error on the climb passing some back markers and he got a gap that I couldn't close.
On the next lap the same thing again, this time as two East London Velo riders passed me, so I tagged onto them, only to end up on my arse dismounting to jump the two (enormous) hurdles. Sadly this moment was caught on camera, by Pip Jenkins;
That was pretty much it in terms of moving position, so I spent the final two laps pushing as hard as I could but without catching anyone, although I passed one of the ELV riders as he was walking his bike at the foot of the hill.
Then it was time for a last big push up the climb for the final time, I nailed the off camber corners, then it was eyeballs out up the road section into the final corners to the finish.
Again, I thought I was outside the top ten but managed to finish 10th for the third week in a row which should, I hope, get me on the vitally important list for gridding for the rest of the series.
It was good to have a quick chat with @J.Dennis afterwards and admire his very nice bike.