Cross League Round 7

[George]

Down in kent this afternoon in a aptly named village of Chainhurst.
Now it was around a farm and lots of slippery tracks around the perimeter of fields and quite a bit of nadgery going in and through the woods, I thought this was an excellently laid out course by our friends at the San Fairy Ann cycle club down here in Kent.

Fortunately for me it had been raining all morning long and the rain didn't really let up all afternoon, it was wet all through the race, now I like the rain and love the slippery conditions so was sure gonn ahave some fun today.

I was indeed gridded to the front row and I had cleveryly positioned myself right on the side so I could hold onto a post, and it was a my feet already clipped in for a speedy start. Off we went and it was a 300m uphill dash to the first section of woods. I managed to get away in about 7th position, I rekon I should have started in the small ring now as the big ring took a couple of revs to get going.

My parents were down cheering me on with my Auntie and uncle, hell even Geraldine was shouting come on George every lap, this was great motivation and really made me push on hard.

I was picking off a rider here and a rider there and working my way up to the front of the field, I made it up to about 4th position and the first lap and felt very comfortable with my effort.

Then the back end started to bob up and down, a classic sign of a puncture then sure enough I was riding on a flat tyre on the rim , unfortunately I had just passed the pit area so had to ride half a lap on the flat to get to my spare wheel. I did notice that even with a flat I had lots of traction in the slow corners but it was hard accelerating out onto the starights. A few riders were over taking me whilst this was going on.

I swapped the wheel in the pits and got back into the action as quick as I could, but I had lost tons of places, the leaders were almost half a lap ahead now so I knew I had my work cut out for the rest of the race.

I was flat out all the time now and really standing up and honking along the starights passing riders left right and centre. The one thing that was a little tricky now was that my spare tyre was almost bald so not too much traction there but even still I was able to maintain a good pace as I just love it when everything is going sideways pete tong stylee

I think a few of the riders who I took believed that I was the leader so were cheering me on and giving a nice wide berth for overtaking which was nice

Passed Aoden who was having fun in the slippery woods and passed Maria who didn't say much as I passed

My father told me I was holding my position with the leader but unfortunately was a bit further down the field so all I could do was keep catching as many riders as possible, I think towards the end of the race I may have just got myself back in the top 10 but we'll have to wait and see what the results tell us.

A really good cross course that really suited me, I was just unlucky to get that puncture early on, who knows where I may have finished if luck was on my side today.

[Dominic]

Nice one George, shame about the puncture Sounds like it was easier than last week

[Sylv]

Bummer George! - better luck next time.

I remembered the course once Aodan tried to describe it to me on Friday night - then I knew I didn't want to go back


SVWJ
1 Jamie Newall
2 Chris Ansell
3 Billy Joe Whenman
4 Stuart Jones
5 Pierre Rousell
6 Jacob Wollenforf
7 Matt Seaton
8 Phil Cooper
9 Gary Record
10 Jon Lyons

[Andrew G]

Bad luck with the flat but I bet you really loved hammering it round passing people all the time.

As a side question do any of you guys who race cross use slime tubes or think it is worth doing so? Extra weight and greater rolling resistance but would provide puncture security. Are punctures that common or so rare with decent tyres that it's not worth it?

[Sylv]

On my full-sus mtb I use DYI tubeless ie normal tires with no tubes, and liquid latex inside (about 100ml) - it eradicates pinch flats and will also fill small holes like from thorns. Only times I've punctured in about a year was due to tear in the sidewall by rocks.

I haven't bothered with the bike I use for cx though.

[George]

I think I was just unlucky as this is my 7th race and only puncture.

[quote]I remembered the course once Aodan tried to describe it to me on Friday night - then I knew I didn't want to go back

[higg]

The course was much better than last time round, the mud slowed the fast tracks down and two sections of wooded single track and a few inteesting ditch crossings were added.

After remembering what happen in the rain in Deer Leap a few weeks ago I added a front mudguard just before the race which meant I could see through my glasses most of the time. Probably worth a few places on one dowhill track section where others were slowing down to reduce the spray from the front wheel.

Bad luck with the puncture George as this course and the weather would really have suited you.

[Michelle]

Bad luck George, I hope the blood donor session on Wednesday had nothing to do with it

[Alan M]

What a pity George - glad you had a great time though. Was talking to a couple of ex Cross pros today, one of whom was in your race and in the mid field. They both said 'in their day' there was money to be made on the circuit and that the crowds watching were substantial by comparison to now.

[Sylv]

George is currently sitting on top of the London League, 140+ riders