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