Herne Hill cyclocross Wed 3rd Sept + Hog Hill Sat 6 Sept

[Sylv]

3 September

U10/U12 15 mins 18:30 £free
S/J/V/W 45mins-1 hour 19:00 £6.00
U14/U16 25 mins 19:20 (approx) £3.00

That's a good fun, not too hard course. See you there?

[kieran]

what type of bike will do for this?


e.g. an old rigid MTB with v-brakes and heavy 2.1 inch tyres?

[Sylv]

That's what i'll be on (or singlespeed if it's very wet)

[kieran]

so how'd it go? I had been thinking of trying it out but my wife had a meeting this evening so needed at home.

[Sylv]

Well that was a rude awakening - after not touching a bike for ten days, and doing virtually no exercise except for two 1-hour runs, I wanted to gently blow the cobwebs in order to last more than one lap at Hog Hill on Saturday.

My knee that had caused me grief on the ride to Brighton had been painful (bearable) after 40 minutes while running, Tuesday I got new cleats and insoles for my shoes, and went for a gentle 30-mile road ride, and another one this morning. Still a bit painful but not getting any worse during the rides. Got onto the mtb tonight and within 500m the pain was back and much worse. Didn't know whether it could be the different position on the mtb or the fact I'd been riding in the morning. I thought about turning back, but tried lowering the saddle 1cm and at least to ride to HH.

It got better so I decided to race. I was expecting a not-too-competitive race with a 20-30 field, but it seems everyone had the idea of using this race as a rehearsal for the upcoming cyclo-cross season. We were over 70 at the start, with some of the top riders in the London League. Saw Maria but no Kieran (excuses!). The race went ok-ish for me, I lost contact with the front group early on, hardly any pain in the knee, settled in my own rythm managing to pass a few, after about 40 minutes of the 55-minute race I started tiring, some people who I can usually keep up with came past and I couldn't respond. The course was good fun except the full lap (and a bit) of the grass centre of the velodrome, a nightmare with big fat tires.

By the end I was pretty spent, but had to rush home straight after as I hadn't even thought of taking lights (parts of the course were pitch-black by the end of the race). My ride back turned into a bit of a nightmare, I improvised a route to try and avoid climbing to Palace, but ended up doing a longer route AND doing the climb. Had to ride on the pavement in the end as it was getting dangerous, I was getting really tired and am now still completely spent, just like after a hard 5-hour ride.

Thankfully I have two more days to build up the miles before the weekend!

[Toks]

Well done Sylv[quote="Sylv"]My knee that had caused me grief on the ride to Brighton had been painful (bearable) after 40 minutes while running, !

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Recovering "top end" speed from riding a 12 takes a good few weeks. I am still feeling the effects.
Guru P

[Sylv]

You might be right Paul that's what it feels like.

Toks, possibly but sometimes pain on the bike doesn't translate as pain on foot, and vice versa. I did the runs 4 and 8 days after CBC as I was eager to test the knee having done nothing else. I had the same pain in the same knee out of the blue 8 months ago, and a fitting session with custom soles and shims solved it pretty much straight away. Don't know why it's come back though.

Oh, and I came off last nigth - it's becoming a habit - on my good knee.

[Andrew G]

[quote="mrP(Boonen)VT"]Recovering "top end" speed from riding a 12 takes a good few weeks. I am still feeling the effects.
Guru P

[Robh]

[quote="Sylv"]By the end I was pretty spent, but had to rush home straight after as I hadn't even thought of taking lights (parts of the course were pitch-black by the end of the race). My ride back turned into a bit of a nightmare, I improvised a route to try and avoid climbing to Palace, but ended up doing a longer route AND doing the climb. Had to ride on the pavement in the end as it was getting dangerous, I was getting really tired and am now still completely spent, just like after a hard 5-hour ride.

Thankfully I have two more days to build up the miles before the weekend!

[kieran]

[quote="Sylv"] I wanted to gently blow the cobwebs in order to last more than one lap at Hog Hill on Saturday...

[Sylv]

Kieran - great! I'll be driving if you fancy a lift

Rob - yep what they say is true about the 12h - I didn't really believe it until pushing myself up to race pace

[kieran]

a lift might be nice, I have looked into cycling there vis tower hill, 18 miles approx so not too bad, similar to Hillingdon. So how early are you planning on leaving?

[Sylv]

Yes it's a bit further for me.

We could either leave in time to see Michelle kick butt at 13h10 (say 11h45), or just for our race at 15h30 (say 13h15)

I'm happy to go early if the weather is ok

[Sylv]

I heard you can go round the whole circuit without hitting the brakes