Cyclocross - CX and SSCX races and training

I have a place on a webinar next Thursday run by Dig Deep Coaching. I suspect / hope I'll be racing at Herne Hill, so if anyone wants my place do PM me.

Details here

@Howard - are you racing tonight?

I think tonight could be a bit squidgy under tyre.

Yus, if I don't drown on the way to HH

GoPro'ing it?

Ya

Cool, I'm curious about what the Herne Hill course is like :-)

After all this rain? A mudfest.

I asked Jason a couple of weeks ago how much grass had grown on it since last autumn. "A bit" was his answer.

I was out this morning on my cross bike, and it was surprisingly muddy in places and that's before we account for the deluge that is currently covering south London.

Debating whether I can be bothered to race. It is supposed to be fun after all.

I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about falling off and getting injured again since I just got over an injury recently.

You won't be going fast enough to hurt yourself, due to the conditions rather than a sly dig at your form.

Do it. HH in the mud is always fun.

Considering joining Jimbilly with some tinnies at HH tonight - should be some fun viewing..

You won't be going fast enough to hurt yourself, due to the conditions rather than a sly dig at your form.
Do it. HH in the mud is always fun.

Truth - CX in the mud is much more fun and will teach you masses about bike handling and if it is REALLY wet then the mud doesn't stick as much either and tends to wash off rather then turning your bike into a 2 wheeled hedge

what time does the racing start tonight?

7pm seniors

What a mess.

A fun mess?

No. 2 laps, 2 crashes. Fuck that. There were dozens of broken rear mechs, including mine which decided to die halfway up college road. Bent hanger as well, which by all accounts will be a complete cunt to replace. There was one piece of good news, but I'll let them break that news.

I'm still on the bloody train. Should have just walked home... I managed 15 mins of 'racing' before my mech and rear wheel died.

I did sort of enjoy it. Couldn't see through my glasses though which made it tough.

Total time invested will be circa 4.5 hours for 3 miles round the course and a borked bicycle :-)

" The first year I qualified for cyclocross world championships I knew that it cost a lot if $$$ to go and race in Europe. USACycling alone charged $1000 to race at worlds and that didn't include transportation. One day in the shop I told Robin about making the team (which had been my dream since starting to race CX) and the expense to race in Europe. He gave me an email to his financial person and said to write them a letter. Not long after I sent off an email I got a check big enough to cover the USAC fees and all of my travel expenses. So thank you again Mr Williams for allowing me to fulfill my dream and represent the US at Cross World Championships. His generosity and love of cycling extended to all aspects of the cycling world "

Ah, @lardboy, I take it it was you with whom I shared the vestibule on the train?

I managed three or four laps before wheel and derailleur became special friends.

Hah that mud. Much peanut, so stick, very ruinous.

Was going quite well until the bike took on so much of it that that the wheels no longer went round and the chain couldn't mesh with the chainring any more. Then I ran a lap, spent a bit of time scooping out the mud, and soft pedalled the final lap. No idea where I placed, but I finished.

Well done Howard. Finishing that was an achievement. I don't know how many people abandoned, but it was a lot.

@owlz Hiya! Good to meet you, despite the circumstances.

Given that my cross bike was also my commuter, it's a good job I finished building the Pompetamine.