Did my first novice race today

rodgers73

Was a bit uncertain but enjoyed it once I got going. 30 minutes race but ended up around 40 minutes once the last lap had been finished. Not sure I'd be much use in a seniors race just yet but enjoyed the technique required to stay upright (lost it once so my hip is a bit bruised now).

Used my Boardman Comp Hybrid with cable disk brakes which were rubbish (they must need adjusting as they've been great on the road) and SPD pedals that are single sided (bit annoying when I was remounting!).

Looking forward to my next one!

Silly Old Hector

Well done - always good to try something new.

Any photos or top tips ?

rodgers73

I think any photos will be on the Wakefield Tri Club site or maybe Yorkshire Cyclocross?

Top tips - not really, just have a go. I've been umming and ahhing about this for 2 years and found in the end it was a lot easier than all the magazines make it sound. Racing with the novices doesn't require the quick dismount moves etc. I guess those will come with time but you don't need them for your first attempt. All those articles made me think I was about to take on something much more tricky than I was.

ravey1981

Are you entering the race at Barnsley this weekend?, have just bought a bike and I am contemplating it (they have just added a novice category today) but I've not been on any bike for a few weeks and I'm a bit worried it would be too much....

rodgers73

I could be tempted! Do you know where its being run?

ravey1981

From YCCA facebook page:

A Novice adult race has been added to the schedule for next weekend's (9 Nov) Team Cystic Fibrosis Charity Cyclo-Cross
Wentworth Castle Gardens, Lowe Lane, Stainborough, Barnsley S75 3EN - the race line up now looks like this:
10:30 Youth Non-Ranking £7.00
10:32 Novice – 30 mins £7.00
11:30 Under-12 Go-Cross £2.00
13:00 Senior/Junior/Veteran/Women Non-Ranking £12.00

https://www.facebook.com/yorkshirecyclocross?fref=ts

Chris James

I was racing at Thornes Park too. If you managed to stay mostly upright then you were doing well as it was pretty slippy.

I stacked it on the first descent near the green container, got back on, and then the bloke in front of me went down too. I ran that section afterwards. This worked well as the guy in front of me fell on the last lap so I gained a place there!

I think it was pretty claggy for the novices race, but got a lot worse as the day went on and the course churned up.

The seniors would be a lot faster than the novice race, but usually after a lap or so the field has spread out and it is a bit less chaotic. You rapidly learn how to get out of the way when the elites lap you!

To ravey1981, I wouldn't worry about entering the novice race. The faster youths are very quick, but the novices set off 2 minutes later to spread the field and plenty of the riders in that race will be quite steady.

Wentworth Castle Gardens should be good fun, easy to get to from the motorway and is for a good cause.

By the way rodgers73, check out Clare Crabtree's flickr account as she usually photographs most Yorkshire cross races. You might find yourself there.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/88966689@N05/

rodgers73

ravey1981 wrote:

From YCCA facebook page:

A Novice adult race has been added to the schedule for next weekend's (9 Nov) Team Cystic Fibrosis Charity Cyclo-Cross
Wentworth Castle Gardens, Lowe Lane, Stainborough, Barnsley S75 3EN - the race line up now looks like this:
10:30 Youth Non-Ranking £7.00
10:32 Novice – 30 mins £7.00
11:30 Under-12 Go-Cross £2.00
13:00 Senior/Junior/Veteran/Women Non-Ranking £12.00

https://www.facebook.com/yorkshirecyclocross?fref=ts

Thanks for that - see you there! I'm on the white Boardman hybrid if you come along

Tom

rodgers73

No joy on the photos!

Managed one off during practice and one in the race, mainly due to overdoing it on the corners. Managed that steep bank ok but nearly ploughed into a guy who went down ahead of me. Lots of fun on the whole though!

Chris James

Yeah, Clare didn't photograph me either this week

It was particularly disappointing as my wife forgot to take any photos of me, and I forgot to take any of my kids!

There is a nice one of a crash on the bank (first lap?) with a couple of my club mates on it. At least crashing doesn't hurt too much in cross. In fact you could argue it is better to crash on the first lap so you don't spend the rest of the race going like a snail worrying about coming off. Although picking lumps of turf out of STI mechanicals isn't great.

It was less off a crash fest than at Tong. A guy in front of me hit a tree first lap and I ended up going over my handlebars.

rodgers73

No joy on the soft landing - the off I had in the race was on that tiny strip of tarmac path we rode over. I fell right onto it! Talk about bad luck...