London and South East Cyclocross League 2015/16

[Damian Robertson]

Good going Ben! Ah, rear mech death! Single speed might be the way forward in some cases; saw an HGT wallah going well with ss.

They've got me down in 52nd place, while in reality I came 4th. It's like a satirical quiz show where random and arbitrary scores are awarded!

[Chris Clague]

Yeah, maybe I should enter one. I could be credited with the win.

[PatHayes]

Always great thing about London League the results lottery .

[PatHayes]

Well done Damian we must have a huge collection of 4ths between us!

[MaxReuter]

London League at a new venue yesterday. Billed as 'the badlands', this was a picturesque strip of grassland squeezed between the outskirts of Gravesend, a petrol station and the motorway. The conditions were miserable with constant rain and strong wind throughout the vets/women's race (and probably worse for the seniors). Apart from an endless grassy slog into the wind the course was nice, a bit of up and down, some off-camber and lots of (good quality) mud. Good LP turn-out as well, with Daniel McQueen, Chris Gardener racing in addition to Caroline and myself [late edit, sorry: as well as Petra ad Aoife as 5th Floor under-cover agents!].

With the horrible conditions, clothing was an issue. After long deliberations I decided to race with my jersey over the fancy LP rain jacket that I bought off Stuart last year. Caroline raced similarly wrapped up and neither if us regretted it for one second. During the race, the going was tough but I managed to beat a few people that had got the better of me before Christmas and managed to battle with (but ultimately lose to) Crawley Wheeler George Higgs who usually drops me early on. 11th place according to the results, even though I thought that I held the guy ranked ahead of me to the line. Caroline had a good race, as usual. She took her habitual second overall/first vet woman after running a repeat of Friday's Herne Hill Madison against Adalta's Emma Lewis.

Then followed a very wet cycle back to Meopham station, some thawing under a hot shower and endless washing and cleaning. Next weekend is off, then it's Wilmington School, which brings back unpleasant memories of endless muddy single-track and a ripped-off dérailleur...

[ChrisGardner]

That felt like a fairly good intro the world of cross (racing rather than marshalling). Horizontal rain, a bitterly cold wind and really quite a lot of mud. It's hard. Enjoyed the course and met my main objectives of (a) not breaking anything (man or machine) (b) not coming last and thereby disgracing the jersey and (c) most importantly not being lapped by Dan McQueen.

Good to see the Reuters flying the Phoenix colours so well and to see Aoife in fancy new kit (I didn't spot Petra in the pre-race scrum). Thanks owed to Dan for persuading me to do it.

[StevenDrew]

That felt like a fairly good intro the world of cross (racing rather than marshalling). Horizontal rain, a bitterly cold wind and really quite a lot of mud. It's hard. Enjoyed the course and met my main objectives of (a) not breaking anything (man or machine) (b) not coming last and thereby disgracing the jersey and (c) most importantly not being lapped by Dan McQueen.

Good to see the Reuters flying the Phoenix colours so well and to see Aoife in fancy new kit (I didn't spot Petra in the pre-race scrum). Thanks owed to Dan for persuading me to do it.

Nice job, all. Chris - great stuff for getting out there

[Astrid Wingler]

Well done Chris for giving racing a go (even if you appear in the results as "London pheonix")! Those shambolic CX rides must have been a good preparation.

[ChrisGardner]

Well done Chris for giving racing a go (even if you appear in the results as "London pheonix")! Those shambolic CX rides must have been a good preparation.

Thanks, Astrid, Steve. The Hell of the Tim CX shambles definitely helped. Most shambolic element of the race was sign on - hence the mispelling of my name and Phoenix - despite having done it all on line first. It is a great way to race though. Regardless of fitness (low in my case) and skill (ditto) there are people to race and just staying upright and not being sick was entertaining.

[PetraDolejsova]

Good to see the Reuters flying the Phoenix colours so well and to see Aoife in fancy new kit (I didn't spot Petra in the pre-race scrum). Thanks owed to Dan for persuading me to do it.[/quote]

I was hiding from the rain Chris but should have probably used that time to warm up. I think I saw you at the start line.
This was mine first proper winter cx race and weather couldn't be more unwelcoming. I was quite scared on first two laps so lost some time. Then my breaks sort of stopped working which probably helped me to catch 4 women in front of me. I finished 5th in Seniors and Aoife came 3rd. Caroline smashed it with win in Vet and 2nd overall, SO STRONG!
Think I'll be back for other cx racing. Though just saw the one on 17th Jan is cancelled

[Chris Clague]

There's a central league race up at Milton Keynes on 16th if that's any help?

[WillBeresford]

So LL was cancelled today. Any idea why?

[Chris Clague]

Barbed wire fence too close to course apparently