Mistley CX results & report

Dan Hall

Its a very long drive to Mistely - over 80 miles from Ashwell, I normally set a limit of 60 miles max to go to an event but fancy my chances against Dave on this course. I'm having problems with my front brake which I thought I had fixed before I set off only to find it still gripping the rotor when I fitted my front wheel. Luckily Rob was on hand to lend me a took kit which I then went on to break, not a good start (Sorry Rob). I was very early for a change and managed 3 sighting laps before the race, nothing too tricky except for an exceptionally large root in a small chicane that was catching a lot of people out. Its very tricky to get past anyone in the woods due to the single track so its important to get a good start, mine was OK but Dave was a lot closer than I would have liked. We are shoulder to shoulder on the first lap and he takes the lead but I feel comfortable sitting on his wheel. We finish the 1st lap with identical times and are now back in the woods when my bike starts to make a very strange grinding noise, I ask the rider behind me if he can spot anything in my rear derailleur but he tells me it looks clear, we take a corner into a steep climb and as I put the power down my chain comes off - disaster! Dave disappears into the distance and I try and get my chain back on as quickly as possible. It only takes a few seconds but there's another problem, my chain has also come off the jockey wheel and is trapped between the wheel and the cage, I'm conscious of lots of riders passing me and it seems to take an age to get the chain out. I get shouts of encouragement from the crowd as I remount my bike but I'm totally deflated. I remind myself just how far I've travelled to compete today and the beauty of CX is that there is always someone to race regardless of where you are in the field. I know catching Dave is going to be impossible so its damage limitation as I try and move up the field to get as many league points as possible, not easy when the passing opportunities are limited. I eventually finish in 31st place, looking back at the results I dropped from around 20th to 40th but still managed a finish in the top half of the field, Something last season I would have been incredibly happy with but I've set myself higher expectations for this season.

So Dave drags another point back and its now 3-3. The momentum is now with Dave and the mud will be coming (Dave loves mud). Its not looking good.

Women:
Emma P 16th

Vets 50:
Vince F 25th
Mark W 30th
Pete D 35th
Daniel D 38th
Richard L 46th

Vets 40:
Iain F 14th
Ben R 17th
Dave H 23rd
Dan H 31st

dhadsley

Very unlucky with the mechanical Dan. It was a shame too as I think that would have turned out to be an epic battle, one like I used to have with Tim, but we've not had yet this year.