CX Club champs

Dan Hall

Hi All,

Here are some potential dates for the CX club champs. There wont be a date that suits everyone but the central league event on the 9th Dec looks like a good option as there is no Eastern league race that weekend.

4th Nov Central league in Dunstable (Eastern league race on the 3rd)
17th Nov Central league at the MK Bowl (Eastern league race on the 18th)
25th Nov Central league at Swanbourne (Eastern league race on the 24th)
9th Dec Central league at Hillingdon (No Eastern league race this weekend, national trophy weekend)

I've set up a doodle poll. https://doodle.com/poll/hd77hyuruax4zx6p

Dan.

Storts

Hi Dan,

I think the race on 4th November has been cancelled as it was the Shuttleworth one, it isn't available on BC.

Scott.

Peter D

The one on 4th Nov has been added into the schedule. It's at Whipsnade Zoo which sounds much more fun than Dunstable!

Dan Hall

The results are in and the Hillingdon event is the clear favourite. There are a couple of people left to vote but not enough to influence the result.

Here's the link & don't forget to enter the senior event.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/185293/Hillingdon-Cross/Central-Cyclo-Cross-League-Round-11&source=website-ems

Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, Springfield Road, Hayes, Middlesex, UB4 0LP

Racing starts at 14:30 but looks like we need to be there for 13:00 to get a sighting lap in.

Dave - will you arrange a special start for us and chip timing again?

Dan Hall

9 signed up so far, no women as yet though!

Stuart F

2 women but in the Womens event - Me and Stevie

Jackie

dhadsley

Entry closes tomorrow for this. Any late takers? It's cross, literally anything can happen so all up for grabs plus it's a great laugh all lining up together in blue.

I've had confirmation from Central that the men will be set off 1 minute after the seniors and the women will be gridded together but will go in the main wave of the women's race.

cfrazersmith

Hi

I am going to be there to pick up on the filming - do you know how many club members are participating and am I right in thinking your off the start line at 2.30pm re Dan's previous posting? (Getting there for at 1pm)

Dan Hall

That’s right Chris. I expect people will turn up around 12:30 to get a sighting lap in from 1pm. Then we have 2 in the women’s race at 1:30 and 10 in the senior race at 2:30.

cfrazersmith

Thanks Dan, I will aim to get there for a similar time and recce what I can in advance of the women's race.

Dan Hall

Well done to Dave H our new CX club champion. Im too tired to write a report but will try and knock something up tomorrow. In summary it was muddy and Dave was super strong finishing 13th overall. Not bad considering we stared at the back of the grid 1min after the main field.

Dan Hall

Chris. Here’s a list of the remaining races.

Stuart F

In other news Jackie retained the womens club CX cup.

Congrats to Dave - looked super strong when he lapped me!!!

Enjoyed the race but it was a tough course especially the bit referred to as the rectangle of ruin the mech grave yard.

As usual enjoyed the get together of the club CX riders and great to be able to start together. I was in the lead for about 1 second but job done as far as I was concerned :-)

Not sure what the race was doing in central league. That was London and way to far to travel to for us. Not sure how good that chip timing is either. Jackie was involved in a sprint for the line and the system shows her as losing the sprint which she did not.

Senecio [Daniel D]

Sunday was a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 12 of us travelled to Hillingdon to compete in the Central League CX promotion to settle the club senior CX Champions for 2018. Jackie and Stevie raced in the women’s event and the rest in the Senior (open) race at the end of the event.

I regret to say I only saw a glimpse of the women’s race, both Jackie and Stevie looking strong and in control. I took note of Stevie’s descent of the slimey off camber hill and adopted the same technique in my race. By the end of their race Jackie claimed victory. Congratulations to her.

The men accumulated on the start line for the final race with much humour and leg pulling. It was all smiles as the commissaire advised us the race would start in the next 30 seconds. Ahead of us was an empty long straight stretch of tarmac and, now, intense silent concentration. So on the whistle we hurtled up the Hillingdon finish straight ‘the wrong way’ to undertake a substantial part of a complete lap on road. Smiles turned to laughs as we raced one another and indeed former club CX champion Stuart did lead the field for, up to, several yards. We then joined the CX course proper. A blue line stretched out in a familiar order.

I am proud to say I held off Stuart and Richard for the next lap, but I was very aware how close they both were to me. Foolishly I crashed, and quite hard. Whilst still on the ground Richard passed me and then Stuart. Stuart asked after me and seemed genuinely concerned. I was shaken but I hoped not stirred. I set off in pursuit. I don’t want to pretend that they only got past me because I crashed, they seemed intent and capable of that anyway.

The whole course was muddy but the bog at the end of the course was hellish and a decisive feature in the lap. I was not negotiating this well and my bike was picking up a great deal of mud. On the long straight back to the pits I rode on the grass, whilst slower than the gravel path I did not want to risk kicking up any stones into my transmission (I’ve done this in Corby and it cost me a rear mech). I fear Dan may have suffered this fate, but he should tell his tale.

By now Richard was a country mile ahead. This was troublesome. However I had a trusted ally in the pits and Sam Daniels was able to hand up a bike with more aggressive mud tyres which did aid my progress and I was able to eventually get up to and then past Richard. I finished ahead of him and one place behind Stuart. I was ‘on my knees’ though this was a proper hard course and racing for 1 hour 15 minutes was very demanding. In fact I am still tired 24 hours later.

Dave rode a stormer. He is a totally deserving champion and finished 13th overall having started over a minute down from the main field (but not the other Field).
We toasted his success with delicious Hall fruit cake (thanks Erin).

Many people commented on how good it was to see so many from one club having such a great time and indeed we really did have a brilliant day. The competition was real and hard fought but what a fulfilling time we had. Special mention to Ed who raced only his second CX race to take part. Thank you to all and especially the long suffering Sam in the pits.

dhadsley

Stuart, the chip timing worked well. Jackie did indeed beat someone in a sprint but they were a lap behind. They've got someone finishing 1 second behind Jackie but a lap less. They were from the same team as the person finishing ahead which may be where the confusion is. Great result from Jackie overall too, finishing 7th.

Dan Hall

So I arrived at Hillingdon and pulled up in the car park next to a rider who has just finished his race, he looks annoyed and I ask him how he got on, his reply was to look at his bike, I do as I’m told and I see mud, a lot of mud, and then a rear mech hanging down, the only thing keeping it attached to the bike being the gear cable. Its been a costly day out for this poor soul and not what you want to see when you are taking your new CX bike out for what is only its second outing. I’m glad I finally have a mud tyre set up and I know SRAM is far more robust than the Shimano derailleurs when things get muddy so I try not to worry too much. I meet with all the CX regulars and the usual banter begins, Dave is feeling very confident, Ben isn’t feeling well, Iain is missing due to injury and Vince has bottled it so I really fancy my chances of getting third place today. We head out for a practice lap and enter the “mech hanger graveyard” part of the course, it looks quite short to the eye but it was taking an age to get round, within a few pedal strokes my mud tyres are now slicks and my bike is make strange noises that I don’t like, we exit the mud and straight onto fine gravel, light enough to be picked up by the mud and strong enough to rip a mech clean off. The noises my bike are making are getting worse, I don’t like it all. I take advice from Tim and swap to my pit bike for the remaining lap. There’s a tricky off camber but I’ve found a line that works for me so no real concerns. We get to the start line and watch the main field head off, not long after and we are off. No one really wants to tow the group so it’s almost a neutralised start, the real racing beginning when we get to the mud. I’m with Ben and Dave and we already have a small gap over the rest of the field. Its not long before Dave gets away with Ben not too far behind. Mark is behind me but the gap looks like its growing, I’m enjoying catching up with the rear of the field and get a bit carried away taking far too much speed into a corner, I lose my front wheel and go sliding along the ground, a rider behind me panics and also hits the deck. I’m back on my bike and conscious that I’ve given Mark an opportunity to catch me up, pushing too hard I now come off on the next corner. Mark goes past me and I have to tell myself to relax, I sit on Marks wheel for a while, we swap places a couple of times but we are lapping at the same pace. I follow Mark’s line into the graveyard but I’m too close, my face is sprayed with wet mud and I can’t see a thing, I panic and hit the deck. I’m up quick, I don't want Mark getting away as I really want the 3rd place podium spot. I’m back on Mark’s wheel but at the end of the gravel section my chain comes off. I put it back on but with every pedal stroke the chain comes off again. Mark is disappearing and I’m panicking, there’s mud everywhere and I’m clearing off as much as I can by hand but my chain is constantly dropping. I have a pit bike but I’m nowhere near the pits, I pick up my bike and start running but then decide to have another go at fixing it. Eventually I find the issue, a small stone caught between my chainring and crank arm is pushing the chain off. It’s well wedged in but eventually I free it and I’m off again. I know Tim has passed as he offered encouragement, Pete has also passed with a less than helpful Forrest Gump remark. I’ve no idea how many places I’ve lost but I know the podium dream is gone. The next lap is a bit depressing but then I spot Richard up ahead and this gives me the motivation to push on, I catch him up and then I see Daniel up ahead, more motivation to keep pushing and I pass him just after the hurdles, there’s another blue jersey ahead and I can just make out Stuart. We are coming round to the finish line and the leader is very close, I fear this could be the last lap so I put a massive effort in, I’m also helped by the fact that Stuart takes a bike from the pits, I pass the finish line but the leader also has one more lap to go so I need to dig deep again. I’m blowing from the effort and then all of a sudden Stuart comes past me like a steam train, somehow floating over the deep mud. We have a battle through the graveyard and come out side by side, I put in another big effort on the straight and I’m relieved to see that Stuart hasn’t come with me. I keep pushing hoping to find Tim and Pete but they are out of sight until I come to the final bend and see the group already gathered past the finish line. Dave grinning from ear to ear. Its 2 points for him in the Dan v Dave challenge and as well as being the new club champion he’s almost certainly secured the DJH trophy. Despite missing on the podium I’ve really enjoyed the race. We celebrate with beer and cake before making our way home.

Its back to the Eastern league this Sunday, I’m armed with new skills form a muddy race and I know what to look out for next time my chain drops, all good experience.

geoffg

great write ups guys. You are all so wonderfully bonkers.

RichardL

Stewards inquiry needed!!

RichardL

RichardL

RichardL

Stuart F

Thanks for posting the pictures Richard.


Dave just looked at the timing results. They have corrected them as it did not read like that on Sunday evening.

Beny R

That was a seriously tough race!! We are use to racing for 40-50 minutes but over an hour for most of us was a shock to the system lol. Great racing by everyone and a massive well done to Dave for taking the Win!

Vincent

Well done all. I'm not going to say I,m sorry I missed rear mech corner. Missing Ipswich too. Writtle is on my radar now and even considering the Norfolk one plus cambridge of course. I have a score to settle with the cambridge X. Better climbing gears this year.
Tell me when the mud hardens.