2018/19 cross season

ShutupJens
ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
edited September 2018 in Cyclocross
It's crossmass eve here in Yorkshire, thought I'd start a new thread for you to share your experiences of races, events this season.

I won't be racing, temporarily retired until I can get certain health issues under control, but I will be at Yorkshire Points 1 in Leeds with my camera for the majority of the day tomorrow. Dead excited!

Comments

  • roastie_cyclocross
    roastie_cyclocross Posts: 41
    I've got my first race of the season this Saturday, Eastern League race at Langdon Hills. Anyone else racing there? Looks to be threatening rain now, just hope it's not as muddy as last year, that was a real eye opener as a first real CX race :shock:

    Could have raced in the Maldon Summer CX tonight, but decided to hold out until Saturday so I have nice fresh legs :lol:
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    Roastie_Cyclocross wrote:
    Could have raced in the Maldon Summer CX tonight, but decided to hold out until Saturday so I have nice fresh legs :lol:
    Good call! I've been tapering since January, so I should be flying when we start racing...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • devhads
    devhads Posts: 236
    TGOTB wrote:
    Roastie_Cyclocross wrote:
    Could have raced in the Maldon Summer CX tonight, but decided to hold out until Saturday so I have nice fresh legs :lol:
    Good call! I've been tapering since January, so I should be flying when we start racing...


    :lol:

    I am at Langdon Hills. A tough course, with the clue in the name. Last year's mud was it's only redeeming feature in my book.

    Should be good test for the 3 Peaks in a few weeks time which is my main focus at the moment. The first 3 races of the season are just the hors d'oeuvres.
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    devhads wrote:
    Should be good test for the 3 Peaks in a few weeks time which is my main focus at the moment. The first 3 races of the season are just the hors d'oeuvres.
    Good luck, and enjoy it! I didn't get an entry again (success rate now 20%).
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    I agree about the first 3 races, sort of like a sharpener but basically still summer cross. It was 27 degrees when they were racing in Leeds on Sunday! I was there but no longer race, still hang around taking photos/doing bottle handups and will probably end up in the pits as well sometime this year
  • cyclingsheep
    cyclingsheep Posts: 640
    Whoop whoop, first race this weekend due to getting an unexpected pass. MK Bowl here we come.
  • AllezAllezAllez
    AllezAllezAllez Posts: 207
    3rd Race of the Yorkshire Season this coming Sunday :D . After the shock of Leeds and zero training I'm starting to get into it again. I'm loving the last bit of Summer and evening training rides. :D
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,531
    The London League returns to Crystal Palace this weekend, home of the 1973 CX Worlds. Looking forward to it, it's basically a home fixture for me as I do quite a bit of my cross training there.
  • proto
    proto Posts: 1,483
    I've just ridden my first CX race for 49 years (might be 50, not sure, memory gone). Last one was the Marsh and Baxter Pork Chop Grand Prix near Bromsgrove (I think), something like 1967/68/69. Pretty sure Mick Ives won the Senior event and I crashed in the schoolboy race, broke my bike (Simplex gears snapped off) and vowed never again.

    Peer group pressure forced me into the 60+ race on Saturday, Central League Rd 1, MK Bowl. Dreading it, but I survived. Just. I wasn't last (but it was close!) :)

    BTW 85 started the 50+/60+ race. Including two recent Vets/Masters World Champions. Huge field.
  • wallace_and_gromit
    wallace_and_gromit Posts: 3,530
    Nice one, Proto! I am in awe of the over 60s as a 'cross race is no place for the faint hearted!

    I've raced the last two weekends in the Yorkshire winter series (Bedale and Temple Treeroots). Great fun, even though the pecking order in the over 50s category has not been disturbed by my arrival in the category.

    Didn't particularly enjoy Bedale as very rough and rutted, which shook my dodgy back into a very sorry condition. Very windy too. I'd be surprised if I beat any seasoned riders in my category in this race.

    Temple Newsam was much more fun. The hilly course suits me better than a flat one. I'm not great at hills, but they do allow for a bit of recovery on the downhill bits! Legs definitely benefitted from an outing the previous weekend. Very please to manage all the tree-roots without much bother and dug the bunny hop out of the late 90s MTB locker to gain a few places on the planks. More than a few seasoned riders behind me in this one, as I finished approx. 50 out of 70. Aim for the season is to finish in the top half. Give me an extra leg or lung and I might just manage it!

    Another measure of progress is how long it takes me to get caught by the leading lady rider (who was the same whippet-thin youngster both weeks.) Last week it was 12:00. This week it was 16:20.

    Now I've got back into things, I might be a bit more forceful in bagging an advanced start position and go for it a bit more on the run to the first pinch point. So far, I've started right at the back so as to ease my way into the race. This backfired yesterday as the first quarter lap was so congested that the heart rate dropped from its customary 160 level to below 145. Unheard of in a 'cross race!
  • BurntHoosier18
    BurntHoosier18 Posts: 27
    If anybody’s team is low on numbers this year, I hear Wout Van Aert is looking for a team :wink:
  • proto
    proto Posts: 1,483
    @Wallace @nd Gromit, I understand about heart rate, it’s the only data field showing on my Garmin. I averaged 155bpm and hit a high of 167 :shock

    Rode again last weekend, Central League, this time 98/108, which looks better, but it includes a few DNF and a mechanical, so not really much of an improvement. Conditions poorer, rain and some mud. Going to give another go on Sunday, Wessex League. Possibly!

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