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HSBC National Trophy Round 6 - York 15/12/2019
For those that don't read the CC Ashwell Youth Facebook page.
Juniors at National level race for 40 minutes
Most of you regular CX'ers race 40 minutes but in Eastern League however the Juniors race with the seniors and Thomas is usually pushing himself in a 60 minute race. The regionals at Welwyn was his chance to try and get all of his energy used up in 40 minutes for a change. He had a decent race that day but said he did have some left at the end so maybe could have gone harder.
Roll on to yesterday and Thomas was representing CCA at the National CX in York racing in the Juniors race.
We’d been pre warned yesterday that the course was muddy so went ready with both bikes wearing mud tyres and plenty of water for bike washes.
Thomas lined up on the back row, around 59th or so. 64 entered but a few didn’t turn up.
After the long tarmac start he’d made up a couple of spots already and continued to pick off riders lap by lap using the tricky cambers and tight turns to make up time ( Marks Wednesday session training coming in to effect very well)
Bike changes every lap. 1/2 laps would have worked but I can’t clean the bike that quick !
Thomas ended up 34th and was really pleased with his performance. His laps were really consistent and he finished ahead of a couple of league riders he’s not beaten all year.
If you’ve not ridden Nationals before then think about it for next year. It’s not as scary as you’d think. It’s just like a league race but a bit bigger of a setup.
Juniors at National level race for 40 minutes
Most of you regular CX'ers race 40 minutes but in Eastern League however the Juniors race with the seniors and Thomas is usually pushing himself in a 60 minute race. The regionals at Welwyn was his chance to try and get all of his energy used up in 40 minutes for a change. He had a decent race that day but said he did have some left at the end so maybe could have gone harder.
Roll on to yesterday and Thomas was representing CCA at the National CX in York racing in the Juniors race.
We’d been pre warned yesterday that the course was muddy so went ready with both bikes wearing mud tyres and plenty of water for bike washes.
Thomas lined up on the back row, around 59th or so. 64 entered but a few didn’t turn up.
After the long tarmac start he’d made up a couple of spots already and continued to pick off riders lap by lap using the tricky cambers and tight turns to make up time ( Marks Wednesday session training coming in to effect very well)
Bike changes every lap. 1/2 laps would have worked but I can’t clean the bike that quick !
Thomas ended up 34th and was really pleased with his performance. His laps were really consistent and he finished ahead of a couple of league riders he’s not beaten all year.
If you’ve not ridden Nationals before then think about it for next year. It’s not as scary as you’d think. It’s just like a league race but a bit bigger of a setup.
Comments
Top ride, Thomas! :-)