By Ed.
This was a big race for me, perhaps the biggest of the season. It was on home turf (this is where I train for both road and ‘cross racing), with a course that would not look out of place on a world cup event.
We are now fully into the ‘cross season proper, with leaden skies and mud on the ground. Tyre pressure becomes paramount and I spent an hour first thing in the morning sessioning every section of the course, altering the amount of air in both tyres until I found the right balance between traction and impact resistance. Asked what pressures I was running I replied “squishy front, bouncy back” so prob about 20psi front/26psi back.
The race started up the tarmac road circuit and knowing the track well I held fire until the right moment then gunned it up the side from around 20th to 3rd position as we entered the ‘Spiral of Doom’!
From then on it was a full on test of strength, skill, exhaustion and excitement. Many things happened and I won’t bore you with them all, but by goodness it was a bloomin marvellous race and I was ecstatic to cross the finish line in 3rd place.
Main photo is the big hill, one of 4 forced dismounts we had to do each lap. There were 6 laps in total and this baby really took it’s toll on all the competitors.
Great day, and thanks to Paul for coming along to shout encouragement. It really helps so thanks mate, and a big thanks to Huw Williams and his team for dreaming up then building this outstanding course.
Next race is the regional champs at Hog Hill this coming Sunday. Races arriving like bullets at the moment; you just get up from one and the next one is already in your face.
The spiral of Doom 3 days after the race by Huw Williams
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