By Ed.
New league, new venue, slightly smaller field but still containing half a dozen people who’d already beaten me this season.
The course was excellent. It’s theme was off-cambers which means riding along sloping banks rather than straight up or down them. When it is muddy (which it was) these features test nerve, skill and tyre grip to the max. About a third of the course was off-camber and required a delicate balance of power, weight distribution and decision whether it was quicker to ride or run the section. A classic ‘cross course.
I only put about 20psi in my tyres for maximum traction but this meant I had to nurse the bike round the tarmac corners, and over kurbs. A miss-timed bunny hop up and it’d have been game over. Bear in mind all of this finess had to be acheived whilst my heart rate was AVERAGING 184bpm for the whole 45 minute race. Got to love this sport!
Got the hole-shot (first person into where the course narrows after the start straight) which was neccesary as the start straight was incredibly short before an extreme chicane onto the mud. Apparently there was a pile up about mid pack.
Hole-shot albeit headless!
Stuart McGhee (bit of a legend, overal winner last year of the London League) passed me shortly after and pulled a 30 second gap which he maintained to the end. Jon Lyons also passed me but I wasn’t going to let him go as he only narrowly beat me last time we met.
He held me off for a couple of laps but I was snapping at his heels despite falling on my arse on one of the off-cambers. When the time came for the pass I used a running section to distance him and then worked a 30 second gap of my own which I maintained to the end.
So another 2nd place but more than happy with my hastily re-built bike and performance on the day.
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