Halloween cyclo cross

[Jon H]

Saturday 30th October after dark at Herne Hill velodrome.

I'm planning on going to watch George and Sylv riding round like lunatics, and also checking out what's on offer in the BBQ and beer tent. Anyone else coming along?

[Lucyap]

Yep, Jamie and me are planning to come and watch
Lucy

[EdO]

I'll be there.

[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRLXXFMINm8R0H73HeWWR8dfDBajgc5iSiNwyhl58lcd07WyH0&t=1&usg=__JCNvXI0g0XYc_dmTkjhnPx_LtjY=[/img]

[George]

Sylve finally got his own back on me and put his pedal through my front wheel spokes in the first 20m so my race was over before it started

After beg borrowing and stealing a new spare front wheel I managed to race 2 laps before a bloke in a skirt crashed into my bike flatting the rear tyre Although he did eat some mud for his efforts!

[Andrew G]

I saw the results on LCS and wondered what happend to put you in last place George, glad to hear you weren't throwing yourself with such gay abandon as lat year. Good 10th place by Sylv, well done .

[Sylv]

Ah man George sorry that happened. Someone just ahead of me slowed down almost to a stop, just had the reflex to brake and switch line to avoid them, and then I heard a noise at the back of me but had no idea of what happened. Didn’t realise it was you until Jamie told me at the finish, in fact during the race I thought you were ahead of me when I saw you through one of the switchbacks. I was trying to catch you then!

Hope your wheel is not too badly hurt.

Those cross bikes are hard work

Will write more later – off to a wet Hillingdon now.

[Sylv]

Well George don't know if it can be of some consolation but I had a costly DNF at Hillingdon today, with a rear mech exploded in the spokes and bent hanger, on the last lap (long race - 1h15 by then). I started to get the hang of the cross bike towards the end of the race last night at Herne Hill, and was enjoying it much more today, in the mud, getting up to 3rd place for most of the race not that far off leader Matt Holmes. Towards the end I was fading a little and got overtaken, so was going to settle for 4th.

The rear mech hanger got a little bent last night, which I'd noticed but as it wasn't too bad and the mech wasn't touching the spokes, was going to look at after today's race. Thing is course was so slow today, I spent a lot of time in the smallest gear, and with the wet long grass and mud it didn't help (wait till you see photos of the bikes, worst I've had), and that was that. Pretty gutting but I had to tell myself much worse things can happen.

[Jamie AP]

Shame about the Hanger Sylv , good to hear your getting more comfortable with the cross bike nonetheless.

[Sylv]

Thanks for the loan of the headlight Jamie, was good.

[Jamie AP]

[quote="Sylv"]Thanks for the loan of the headlight Jamie, was good.

[higg]

Some photos here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 74c7d0add5

[Sylv]

Herne Hill:

I'm never really nervous before a race, however big it is, but I have to say I was a little apprehensive riding up to Herne Hill! Promise of thousands of spectators, but moreso the fact that I was riding a whole new breed of bike, put together by myself, and that I'd only tested on the commute to work the prior day. The bike felt real fast on the road, no doubt faster than a mtb, but I wasn't sure at all I'd be as confident, and thus as fast, with it off-road. I was also hoping no bits were going to fall off (I'd had to re-pin a Shimano chain, for the first time ever believe it or not, after cutting the chain way too short at first). It was quite weird getting set up for a race at about 6pm on a Saturday night, but the tailwind ride up the Palace and then to the vélodrome was pleasant.

Saw lots of familiar faces, Maria dressed as a devil, George who had even less practice time than me with his brand new cross bike fresh from delivery, Marco and co, Jon H, Aodan, Elliott and Will and many more, and hooked up with Lucy and Jamie who was lending me his headlight for the race, in addition to my handlebars light. Crowds didn't look huge, but the bridge and tabletop were! Just to make me a little more nervous. Cool to be see legend Nick Craig on the start line, with Jody Crawforth looking like a good challenge to him, and taking big air the night before a National Trophy round!

Got underway and I was having a hard time on the bike. It fitted perfectly, but it took me a while to realise you have to ride a cross bike quite differently than a mtb. You can't just hammer on the pedals till you get to a corner, then slam on the brakes, and start again, as the hoods are much further front, the brakes less poweful, and the tires less grippy. As I'd been told beforehand without really knowing what it meant, it's more "point and shoot" ie you pick your line before getting to the tricky bit, and you better hope you got it right cos there's not much margin for error and correction. It's hard to brake and keep control of the bars at the same time. I had also put a bit too much pressure in the tires at 40psi, as I wasn't too sure what to use and wanted to avoid pinch flats.

Anyway, it got better towards the end, I was getting tired but my lap times actually stayed consistent, which means my technique improved. I don't like getting air on a mtb, and it's no different on the cross bike, so I declined the crowd's offer of "big air" everytime at the tabletop. I've not yet mastered the Cx remount after the hurdles, but in general didn't lose much time except when the pedal wouldn't clip back in straight away. I had Phil G in my sights towards the end, spending half a lap in his wheel, before going past as he was getting slower (ill it transpired). In the end got 10th place which I was surprised at, given that I'd felt quite slow - well I was some 5+ min down on Jody. Avs was about 2km/h slower than the HH cross on the mtb a few weeks back, but not comparable as it was quite damp (and dark!), but there were fewer people to pass. Had the waffle from hell with Marco afterwards (before cooking, it looked like a lump of lard).

Hillingdon:

Combined London League and Central League so good turn out despite the clash with National Trophy round (and atrocious weather), but with most big names missing. Really had to drag myself out for this one, non-stop rain all morning, but I was keen to try my skills on a more flowing course. Good to be gridded #3 on the first line. 30psi in the tires today.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swarbrick/ ... 164012735/
photo Guy Swarbrick

Got a decent start on the uphill road and then before the hairpin left into the muddy grassy hell that was the course. The 35mm tires were good though, when I saw the state of the bike afterwards I couldn't believe I could still ride it at that pace (17.9km/h for 1h20, that includes about 8 min of walking). Got into about 6th place and then managed to pass Richard Mardle and Matt Spurgin (also racing on Sat - 6th place). Was feeling good and having great fun, I love it in those conditions when it requires a mix of fitness and technique, off camber slopes and such stuff. 3rd place was looking good and I was lapping people left right and center. Later on, my legs faded a little, and Richard came back to me without me being able to respond (under the pressure I was also doing silly errors including a slow speed fall at the chicanes), so was going to settle for 4th place, bit annoying but ok for first proper cx weekend.

Then 1/3rd of the way into the final lap (why did they not reconsider number of laps btw? 1h15+ race), the rear mech explosion, and that was that. Started running à la cx style, before realising it was an awful long way to the finish - maybe 2km. So I cut it short to about 1km and a bit and a DNF. Most annoying was that I had been hoping to be featured twice in the following week's Cycling Weekly results page

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swarbrick/ ... 164012735/
photo Guy Swarbrick

[Rogan]

good race report Sylve and nice to see pictures. Bad luck with the mechanical on the last lap.

[Marcus]

Great race reporting Sylv and unlucky for Hillingdon, at least you are getting the dnf's out of the way early on. George unlucky but like Sylv your season will only improve