Cyclocross - CX and SSCX races and training

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having to run the last 2 miles to get there, then proceeding to roll my tub on lap 1

That must have made you incredibly cross. :)

Did the chain hold?

Yep. Got home fine, but was obvs cycling pretty carefully due to the rolled tub. Tyres are being re-glued at present and chain will be replaced - more for piece of mind I guess.

@Oliver Schick I hope you are ashamed of yourself!

Great. That was me with the chain tool, I've had a chain go on me at a cross race before so always carry one now.

Good to see @youramericanlover representing too.

I really enjoyed it, was a fantastic course. Big thanks to everyone involved in organising it.

I hope you are ashamed of yourself!

No way.

I didn't mean to make you cross, sorry. :)

That was a really fun course. And a really nice crowd.

Thanks.
Bonked on the way home.

I discovered astronauts can't hear very well when racing in their helmets, so my shout of "on your right" was missed. We had an interesting couple of seconds following that, but all was resolved amicably (I hope).

Difficulty finding space with an astronaut?

I really enjoyed that, my first go of cyclo-cross. Many actually LOLs from me as I made my way around. Nice to see you @blowfish and @andyp as well - I was a bit dazed when you first came over Andy. I felt privileged to be passed by you, and to which you were rewarded with an idiot wave as you came past when the course came back on itself. My guess is that there is no smiley-waving in normal cx racing.

The light touch organisation was great, and was glad there was good women's field. Thumbs up.

Really enjoyed myself, as did my partner - first time crossers. We were definitely among the slower riders present but did the best we could to hold lines that were out of the way when the quicker riders came through.

Big fan of the beer and whisky(?) handups.

#s 24 & 25.

Were you part of the couple in the red rapha top and a blue jersey? If so it looked like you were having fun - glad you did.

The passing thing/general aggressive riding is a bit weird. It is a race and it is also completely, definitely not a race. So really everyone having an awesome time should be top priority which I think it generally was. I do know a woman wasn't thrilled with getting passed loads with noone saying which side. Always good to be aware of this stuff, but it probably inevitable when there are some newbies (me) and some seasoned vets (like the guy who won and was simply bossing it up the slope with the log without dismounting). It is easy to imagine aggressiveness winning out over kind riding. Anyway.

Unfortunately in a race with such a mix of abilities, with a short, tight lap it's hard to avoid some dodgy undergrowth overtaking. If you're too nice you'd end up sitting on someone's (slower) wheel almost all the way around. At the same time, constantly riding off the racing line, looking over your shoulder for the leaders is no fun for the slower riders either.

Yeah that sounds like us! Who were you? We did have fun and definitely got quicker throughout after we got used to our wheels squirming everywhere.

Blows my mind people got up the log slope without dismounting!

Good to see you too!

Getting passed is not an issue as long as you know which side.. Generally happy to move over a bit for faster riders.. But i've also on occasion shouted no at people if I think its unsafe. Have to say though over/ undertakers in the league races are a lot more aggressive so today was nice

Great course and race overall !! :-)

These pictures are excellent :')

Wheeeey!

What a cracking race! Awesome photos. I think the joy/pain face I've got going on in that photo sums it up.

@George_Sportif Shame about your tub. Glad you hand fun doing the hand-ups and drinking as well. Sorry I missed you at the end again, ended up going down to Canopy for a recovery beer.

Hopefully see some people at Cyclopark on the 29th.

so much fun and a great field of all sorts of abilities all looking like they were having a blast. That was awesome.

Good to meet you @youramericanlover - @andyp I know we've been to several races together now, but I still can not put a face on your name. Mission for next time.

Wentworth Castle. It was definitely a proper cross course. It had everything in it. Berm, hairpins, fast straightaways,, dives, draggy climbs, tree routes, whoops, bricks and mud of every kind from hard pack to rusty water.

I alas, had nothing.

Not sure what it was that was wrong but after the first lap, I just couldn't seem to get anything going. For the next lap and a half I was holding off the one person behind me but I was getting clogged up on a field and the battle ended when a big stick managed to get jammed in. By the time I'd managed to get it out and a lot of other stuff too, he was just too far away to chase.

I spent the rest of the race trying to go a bit faster than just riding pace and improve on my technical handling. Rolled in and quietly reset my number of weeks at Not Last counter back to zero.

Going to order a smaller chain ring ahead of next week's race in Sheffield which is likely to be similar conditions but with a bit more climbing. I'd rather have been spinning a bit today and being able to make better ground on the slopes. Sheffield course also includes the spiral of doom copied from the Iron Cross.

I had everything in it. Berm, hairpins, fast straightaways,, dives, draggy climbs, tree routes, whoops, bricks and mud of every kind from hard pack to rusty water.

I alas, had nothing.

Talk about contradicting yourself in the space of two paragraphs. :)

A good 50 minute warmup secured a nice paced 60 minute race yesterday

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It have absolutely no idea what you're on about.

Ninja edit. :)

Sadly, bolding things in quotes doesn't work.

Thanks to everyone who came down yesterday and raced, heckled, drank beer and generally had a laugh! Great to hear everyones feedback, really glad people had a good time.we are already looking forward to the next one and hopefully @George_Sportif will have better luck next time!

Our friends at Sunday Echappée are collecting photos for our facebook etc so if anyone has any they would like to share post them up or send them to hello@sundayechappee.cc, thanks!

Great pics of Incredibly cross, got one of me as well : )