First race of the winter and I'm lining up with fellow Belgians Nick W and @crossjunkie nervously wondering if I can remember how to do this CX racing lark. Everyone's favourite perennially faux grumpy Yorkshireman Nick E joined us in a very big field (103) of vets and women. Oakbank is one of those classic school playing field grass crits with a bit of added interest. The lack of technical sections suited my lack of technical ability but also punished any mistakes as you had to ride consistently. I got on a good wheel at the start and after the usual shock to the system managed to settle into a steady ride with just one silly mistake. Taptiming's results system allows geeky post race analysis so ignoring the opening 'spread the field' lap can you spot the lap where I wiped out?
Lap 1 : 00:11:50.8
Lap 2 : 00:06:21.7
Lap 3 : 00:06:22.1
Lap 4 : 00:06:23.7
Lap 5 : 00:06:55.7
Lap 6 : 00:06:28.3
Lap 7 : 00:06:28.2
Now if I can just drop about 25 seconds a lap I might be getting somewhere too ;-)
Prior to the Vets race the youngsters of team crossjunkie were in action with Ella wining herself a nice bottle but Jack unfortunately succumbing to a mechanical which surely can be blamed on dad's spannering, 50X34 chainrings on a CX bike come on dad! The rest of the machine is a beauty so don't be too hard on him Jack. Quote of the day goes to Ella when I suggested that she would be the next Marianne Vos resplendent in orange kit and on an orange bike "What's a Marianne Vos?" Answers on a postcard please.
Thanks to Hanglebad for the photos and Nick, Sarah and Max for the tea and scooter biking. See you all for round two?
Poorly adjusted rear mech stuffed chain into chainstay. Problem solved. Chainrings changed, Am I absolved now?
ReplyDeleteClean Jack's bike for the next three races and a couple of hail Marys and you can consider yourself absolved - my son ;->
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