Welwyn X (Central League)

JeremyP

No Eastern League this weekend so quite a few CCA riders at the 10th round of the Central League at Stanborough Park. The Welwyn Wheelers promoted event used pretty much the same course as their Eastern League event from October. The first half of the course tramsitions across the natural hill with unrelenting short descents and climbs. Also a nice long off-camber turn/descent that could be taken full speed with the bike squirming underneath you. The second half was relatively flat with tight turns and some hurdles. All very rideable as the dry autumn continues to keep the worst of the mud away.

Welwyn know how to promote an event with the pop music cranking and the live commentary. Probably the same 80s CD as last time with Robert Palmer cranking out Addicted to Love etc. I thought the burger bar smelt pretty good too - certainly better than the smell from the offerings outside Emirates stadium. All they need is a bar selling Jupilier and it is proper Belge.

I saw the start of the V40/J event with Dave Hadsley, Tim Duckett, Richard Lawrence, Iain Foulkes and Dan Hall all choosing to race as a collective at the back of the pack. All made good headway through the pack and had some good battles with the course and other riders. Sounded like there were a couple of pile ups before the field became spread out. Good to see Travis Pell back racing again in the Juniors.

Daniel Doncaster and I rode the V50 event both of us being gridded mid-pack. Not sure how they do the gridding but assume we get some sort of secret squirrel BC ranking that organisers use? Anyway I had better luck on the start this week and made some good progress through the field in the first half lap. My tactic was to trust my fitness, ride harder and not worry about blowing up. Aspiration is to finish in the top 25% - still got a long way to go!

There were others racing including Mark Ross and family as well as Archie Foulkes.

Full results from the event can be found at the link below:

https://app.lap.io/event/2016-central-cx-league-10/results

Looks like a gap in the calendar next weekend unless you riding the Regional Championships.

tduckett

Thanks for the write up Jeremy. Sounds like you were going really well. It was interesting starting right at the back and i liked the fact that you had half a lap to get up to speed as you worked your way through the pack rather than the hideous oxygen debt first few minutes when you are gridded. Unsurprisingly though my first lap was nearly 2 and a half minutes slower than the rest of my laps.
Couldnt quite keep up with Dave again and suspect i was too tentative on some of the slippery corners but caught and passed a big group of about 10 riders towards the end of the race and also caught and passed a rider on the last corner using a bit of Wednesday night cornering stealth!
Lovely day and a great WW promotion but the course closure and left turn 10 metres after the final sprint was a bit terrifying!

dhadsley

I think the massive difference in the first lap time was mostly due to the clock starting when the juniors went off a couple of minutes ahead. Definitely slower though due to traffic.
I too enjoyed the slower pace of the start and was able to pace myself really well culminating in a massive last half lap effort to distance the two riders from the group I was in. As soon as I'd crested the last little climb I emptied the tank on the second flatter half of the course. One of the guys afterwards said I played it perfectly as he knew where I was stronger than him. They'd been trying to pass me constantly on the hilly corners for the last lap but I used every trick in the book to defend my position knowing if I was ahead come the flat section I'd probably beat them.
Tim, I saw you come flying past a whole group of riders on the slight descent to the far corner. Most people seemed happy to take a bit of a breather down there but you were in the drops giving it full gas.

Stuart F

Well done everyone.

We were at the nationals today. The local one at Ipswich which was very well organised event over 2 days. Exceptionally fast and flat course with the usual technical lumpy section. Results to follow.

Dan Hall

Was good fun all starting together on the back row. I had a good start but then Richard found a good line and made up a few places but it wasn't long before Tim, Dave and Iain came cruising past. I'm finishing in the last 20% of the field and finding it difficult to move up but might try your tactic Jeremy of just going all out and seeing how long I can hang on for. Really looking forward to the Ashwell championship in Jan. Still lots to learn before then... I lost a place every time at the hurdles mainly due to my lack of remount skills.

tduckett

oh yes, of course, i had forgotten about the juniors going off first. messed up our average lap time that!

IainF

Enjoyed the mini-CCA champs - its a good incentive to move through the field rather than the usual mayhem of trying to retain your start position on the first lap. Tim & Dave were very strong and Dan catching up fast. Great to see Richard tearing up the course on the first lap. I struggle with those corners - there's a lot to learn in cross as Arch keeps trying to teach me!