CX Champs - a call to arms

[TamalaMcgee]

Wondering how my boy got no mud on his bike then? He probably just sat in cafe!

[Chris Clague]

Was he riding MTB? - the MTB trails are pretty much bone dry - don't forget they're a completely different type of construction - the earth for those was shipped in from afar (I kid you not) and they're raised well above the water table. We use about 10m of trail in a 2.2km lap.

For the first time ever I got to ride my own course and it's boggy at the bottom of the circuit - I rode limus and even they were slipping a little on one of the climbs.

Either that or he used the jetwash - we hooked it up this morning to check it all worked.

[NealMackintosh]

Yep, my mtb got covered in mucky grassy muck pretty quick when testing the muddy section of the CX course, getting up some of the climbs was a slippy effort, the mtb course however was well drained and made no mess of the bike....
N

[Astrid Wingler]

Well - my bike didn't get muddy during the lap I did. But maybe that's because I was completely lacking in energy and didn't even attempt to ride the wet uphill bits. Anyway, I agree with Chris that you want to use mud tyres if you have them.

Good luck to all of those who race tomorrow. It's a good course!

[Richard]

It doesn't look muddy but the on the open field sections around the pit area the ground is very soft under foot – squelchy – so after a couple of laps the riders wheels will have gone through the grass to the mud underneath. The woodland sections (on the MTB course?) are firmer.

[RichyPoynter]

Had a bash at this today - and whilst I haven't ridden Cyclo Cross before it was a fantastic course…


Really I just wanted to thank everyone who helped to put the event on, it was such a great day and it is very much appreciated. Chris Clague for the overall organisation and to everyone who built the course, marshalled, cheered and enabled the riders to just turn up and ride - That was a proper job guys and girls… a proper job!


Ta!

Richy

[Chris Clague]

I believe we actually hit 400 entrants today. That's mad.

[Damian Robertson]

Aye, a fantastic day; many, many thanks to all who helped with the organisation. It was a great course Chris, well done! Wow, but it was hard!! I keep thinking it (Hog Hill) when muddy is probably one of the hardest cx courses, in my experience. Gotta be fit for that stuff! I'm shattered. I tried to show my appreciation to some marshals (Chris G and Ethan) by getting tangled up on a corner on the first lap; cx is full of mishaps! Before tackling the first hurdles on the drops (wrong) spannering my dismount and remount. Wasn't focussed. I've got a really bruised knee after that! Limping somewhat. But that's my prize for a good day in battle. The usual contenders dominated in my race, but in the seniors I was intrigued to see quite a number of top riders strung out - surely partly due to the demands of the course. Great work everyone! Many thanks to Pat for pitting for me too!

[Chris Clague]

Aoife spent much of her race collecting mud:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1449431013.332982.jpg

[StevenDrew]

Well done Chris and everyone else. That was a PROPER event. Brilliant job!

Sadly having had a couple of weeks off racing, I was a bit sh1te. Add that to not setting up my spare bike very well and the rear wheel on my no. 1 bike not actually turning by the time I crossed the finish line and you get a fairly p1ss poor result. However, with hindsight, there's an awful lot of that race making me giggle.

Chris asked me if that actually felt like CX today and I say absolutely. It's supposed to be hard. You gotta ride (or run) what's put in front of you...

Ace!

[Steve Hanks]

What a brilliant day, I've passed on rider comments I received to Chris via email for the excellent organisation and course.

Funniest albeit not really moment for me was watching one of the ladies shoulder her bike, run to the top of the steps only for her rear wheel to fall out and bounce back down again without the rest of the bike. I felt so sorry for her.

[AoifeDoherty]

So much fun today. Massive thanks to everyone who made it happen, especially Chris, who I was also cursing while pulling mud out of my bike over and over again. Will definitely be back for more! Over 400 entrants that's insane!!

[PatHayes]

Was good event decent cross course all be it dam hard , our version of Gavare .

In the black and red Neil and I managed a geriatric impression of Sunweb chasing the minor places in the V50

[Neil]

Great work everyone, you done us proud.

At half distance I found myself just ahead of Collins and Fox who finished 3rd and 4th. It couldn't last, an exploding tub and long run to the pits rather put me on the back foot.
Ah well, back to the leagues next week.

[MichelleForster]

It was obvious yesterday how much work all you volunteers had put into this fantastic event, and what a long hard day it was for all of you - thank you all very much!

For me, the highlight was watching Rich race the seniors on my tiny bike, which was comically small and short for him. He had done one cx race with me last year on his mountain bike, but this was his first ever cx race on a cx bike. I kept offering him his mountain bike from the pits, but, as he shouted one time past, "No! ONE bike!!" he clearly wasn't going to change his mind about getting two bikes dirty. I was amazed to watch him pass crowds of other riders and, having started completely at the back, I'm thrilled to see he finished just outside the top 20 at 23rd, which I think means he passed 41 riders?! Beast. During that race I also saw a man do a full somersault over his handlebars on that slippery off-camber left hand re-entry after the road crossing, and I saw a man on his final lap, still pushing hard and sobbing openly.

For myself, I forgot to warm up. Who forgets to warm up?! The excess fabric on my skinsuit snagged on my saddle at the start and I watched the field disappearing up the hill. Not long after I finally felt warmed up, I then punctured on the kerb just after the pits and had to run my final lap. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this. It was a bloody hard race and no mistake!

Thanks again to all involved - you did yourselves proud.