A cold Southampton.

Penultimate race of the Cyclo Cross season.

 Only one cross left this season. Good job really as my skinsuit's are getting harder and harder to get clean ever week

Red Bull Hill Chasers Bristol 29th Jan Park Street Bristol

A cracking night I can't wait till the next one.

 

World Masters Cyclo Cross Championships. 2011

Bakewell. but didn't have time to buy a tart.

A quick dash down to Thornbridge Outdoor centre, near Bakewell for the 9th Round of the Sram sponsored Notts & Derby league race.

The race started well but after two laps I was showing the strains of two big weeks training and racing, and on the second lap made a bike mistake coming down in a heap with a lapped rider.

After sorting ourselves the front group had long gone so I just put my head down and used the race for training for next week National Champs in Derby.

 this is what the course looks like after all the tape is taken down.

eventually finishing 16th overall and 4th Vet. a good work out.

Too good a Christmas

After what was probably too good a Christmas it was back to racing and riding the bike with a bang.

28th December it was over to Macclesfield for Royles Supa cross. A wet and icy course which turned out to be the coldest race this season I finished a creditable 2nd with blue hands and feet, which gave me some good national ranking points which moved me up into second place.

It was then on to Todmorden Cross the final round of the Yorkshire Point competition and my first race of 2011 on the 2nd of Jan.

I was going in to the final round with a one point lead and all I had to do was beat the Second place rider. Well easier said than done.

 thanks to Ian Hodgson for the images

After pulling both my feet out at the start and going down on the top tube.

I put in too much of an effort to get back upto the front and never really recovered. I ended up finishing the series on equal points with a very squeaky voice, but the best placed rider in the last race takes the win.

thanks to Ian Hodgson for the images  above a moody Watson.

So Second it was. But I really got into (maybe even enjoyed) the race in the end which included this narrow cobbled slippery climb a brass band and some really bad Siciliana music.

Which reduced me to running at times

 thanks to Ian Hodgson for the images

next race is tomorrow at.

SRAM Notts & Derby Cyclo-cross League at Thornbridge Outdoors, Nr Bakewell
DE45 1NY.

wish me luck.

 

 

Another Snowy Sunday

Yorkshire Points Round 8

Finished 3rd today, but that should be enough to put me in to the lead in the series going in to the final round.

Looking moody/cold at the start line -4 wishing i was tucked up in bed.......:-)

and me looking out of control on the ice

quick update

Sunday 5th December was a snowy North of England champs. good fun but not a good Result for me. But did get a nice picture in the North West mail.

Works Christmas do. Christmas Jumper Theme. 

Then it was straight up to the Bradford round of the National Trophy Series. A fast icy course which turned to mud later in the day.   After a nice start I held on to finish a low 10th spot.

A long weekend

The weekend started with Hull Ferry crossing to Zeebrugge a nice quiet crossing and an early night was on the cards...... :-) 

 

 

 Then is was on to Koksijde in Belguim to a Round of the Cyclo Cross world cup a another nice quiet race 

Then it was a quick dash to a snowy Channel Tunnel for the crossing back to Southampton  ready for the following days National Trophy Round.

It was an early start to get to the venue for a 10.30 start time.

-5 on the van dash told me this was not going to be the mud fest everyone had predicted. quite the reverse a super fast frozen course . 

After a final lap warming up on the course I noticed the corners were getting fairly ice so decided to run my tubs at very low pressure. This turned out to be a bad idea as I folded rear tub in the second corner losing a chunk of pressure.

Images by James Hoppe of Cycling Sports Group.

I made the decision to ride on the under inflated tyre for an extra lap until the field split up.

  After losing a few places I changed on to my Spare Charge freezer which was waiting in the pits for me,

My Supporters club turn up to cheer me on Cheers lads.

I managed to pull back another two places finishing 11th.

After I had warmed up it was just a small matter of a 5 hour drive home then bed.

A long Weekend.

A weekend of Chicken Dinners

A unfamiliar warm morning on the banks of the river Mersey was the back drop for the  Geoff Bewley Memorial Cross.

I warmed up on the course in my shorts a fantastic technical one it was if not a little too narrow in places.

I tock the start and was amazed by the amount of riders there was 108 in total, I knew then this was going to be fun on such a technical narrow course.

I got my good start and found myself in a good spot leading my category and 5th overall but my worst fears came true when a lapped ride put me in a ditch as I passed him smashing my Sram lever.

 Image removed on request of Photography. 

when I dragged myself of of the brambles and ran to the pits to collect my spare bike i had lost the lead and was down to 12th overall, with two laps to go I was slightly annoyed and the red mist tock over. I worked my way up the field passing more and more lapped riders to finish 8th overall and getting 1st prize in my Category,  

 
 Image removed on request of Photography. 

Bikes cleaned and it was on to Sundays race. thanks to Sram spares department for the replacement lever body a snip of the price of a new lever.

They say the races you win are the easiest and sometimes this is true.

Myrtle park Bingley was the setting for the next Round of the Yorkshire Points series, this is as near to a home event as you get so I was well up for it. I lead from the gun check out the video from the British Cycling site.