Hurt at the Haigh

Hurt at the Haigh did exactly what it said on the tin I guess - it was at Haigh Hall, Wigan, and it hurt a bit!

Following news of the demise of the excellent Hit the North, I think everyone was looking for an alternative, so when word spread of a new race of a similar 2hr format MTB/CX format - called Hurt at the Haigh - many jumped at the chance.  It soon filled to capacity once entry was on-line, as the urge to fill the mid winter no racing void was obviously a little too much for many people.  170 entrants apparently.  I'm not quite sure all those tuned up on the day but there was still a bumper line up.  

HtN had built a reputation and delivered a real festival of cycling.  Not sure Hurt at the Haigh was quite there in that department, but it's early days, and the well run event will go from strength to strength year on year I'm sure.

The 4 mile long Hurt at the Haigh lap meandered it's way through the mainly wooded park land of Haigh Hall, and was tough going on CX I thought, and perhaps slightly better suited to MTB.  Indeed the winner, Nick Craig, did his winning on a MTB - I know I got to see him lap me three times!  It comprised mainly loamy soils with some muddy grass and metalled tracks.  It proved a test for many bikes, and some dérailleur groaning and gnashing could be heard towards the end!  Mine thankfully survived!  In fact the X-wing was faultless.

I plodded round in my now time honoured fashion and delivered a top 100 finish and solidly within a group of 3 lappers (approx. 15% of the field) so was reasonably content.  HCtB finishing positions:

Paul Nutton        28th

Emma Osenton   64th

Ali Mills              76th

Ben Parkinson    85th

John Parkinson   91st

Steve Cooper     98th (Mechanical)

(I think that is all....)

A glimmer of a more aggressive attacking me did rear its head at one point during the race.  I got stuck in a group and behind some bloke with his bum crack showing through a bizarre mesh panel in the back of their shorts - quite odd and rather alarming!  It was quickly apparent I was not going to be able to spent much time at all sitting staring at a kinky almost fish net tight clad batty crack - as hypnotic as it was - and summoned the last gasps of air from the bowls of my lungs and elbowed my way by!  Much better - and my reward?  A fully lycra'ed backside.

HCTB Kit Order - Autumn Winter 2013

Seems like its time for another kit order :-) If you have ordered before using Champion systems CS-Direct the procedure is the same as before. Please check your sizing here and if possible borrow a jersey to check from one of our amiable team members at a race, shorts and skinsuits are trickier depending on your chamois fastidiousness;-> If it's your first time then you need to contact me (otleyrich) via the Facebook page and I'll DM you a login. If you are a Facebook abstainer then leave a comment below and we'll work something out.

Currently there is an issue with the Bibb-Tights order button as it seems to go to the Bibb Shorts option so don't order those yet! Orders close on the 09/09/2013. (See work around in the comments below 29/8/13)

Otley Dirtwheels CX

A new event organised by the loveably grumpy (its all an act I'm sure) Nick Elder and the Dirtwheels team in my hometown of Otley. I'd had a little sneak preview way back in September when Nick, Marie, Delia, Terry and myself went out for a 3 Peaks training ride and Nick took us round the course he was envisioning. I must confess I thought it only looked 'OK' back then but there again we couldn't ride the sections through the wooded banking and it can be difficult to grasp someones else's mental picture of a course. Come race day and what a difference!

Laura powers the steep climb

What makes a good cross course? I'm not sure that I could describe it but there are certain elements that help. Firstly a variety of terrain and ground conditions with hills, banking, off-camber corners and mud in as many varieties as possible. There also needs to be a selection of obstacles that have the potential to force you off the bike, barriers, deep mud, steep hills, sand and so on. The layout needs to be spectator friendly, you should be able to easily access several vantage points to witness rider's skills or distress. Add to all this a slick organisation and a PA playing a bit of Punk for us over 40s and you have the perfect set up.

Nick pre puncture

Nick's course had all this, well apart from the sand and I'm sure he can sort that for next year, perhaps a flyover and steps too? I've seen his decking he's right handy with that wood and nails business. My favourite part of the course was at the far (eastern) end where there was some proper @crossjunkie Grade 7 Glop (gloop?) where you could power through the mud letting the bike find its own line euro cross style. Everyone I spoke to loved the course (not sure about one or two of the seniors who lost rear mechs!) and it definitely ranks up there as one of the best Yorkshire courses. It was noticeable after the vets race the number of people who stayed around for the seniors which is a good indicator that people were enjoying it - the sunshine doubtless helped a bit. So well done again Nick and team.

Must. Learn. To. Bunny-hop

As for the race Wayne and I made a bit of a schoolboy error at the start by not checking out the ground and ended up on the right with the 'soft' going. When the siren went the left hand riders seemed to have an extra 100W of power and we were pedalling through treacle! By the end of the second lap I'd managed to regain the lost places and finished a pleasing 7th. I'll update all 'Belgian results when they go up, Nick unfortunately had a puncture induced DNF and Laura got the better of John but beyond that we'll have to wait. BTW Laura, leg warmers  for a race - what would your mother say have you not heard of 'Belgian Knee Warmers' - break out the embrocation?! No photos from Jo as she was off down to Bristol  but I've pinched a few from Jonathan (thanks Jonathan J).

Addendum John finished 69th and Laura 62nd and 4th lady - a return to form. It has also been brought to my attention that Laura didn't wear legwarmers to race in as the opening photo is from a warm up lap so I'll just re-direct the fashion faux pas advice to John who most definitely did wear knee warmers but given the state of his arm warmers he's probably beyond hope ;-)

John on a slick and trick-some corner

CX Training Sessions

Hi everyone

Just a quickie to let you all know that, for the next few weeks at least, whilst we have the light, there are going to be a series of Wednesday evening CX Training Sessions on Otley Chevin.  Meet at the big big car park on East Chevin Road, opposite the Cheerful Chilli, at 18:00.  Hope to see you there.

PS - Don't worry everyone - being lost in the woods with Otleyrich and Waggo isn't as scary as it sounds!

Gin & Trombones

I've been racing since the Three Peaks on a 2012 Gin and Trombones frame set Van Dessel (the USA based company of former Belgian pro Edwin Bull) which has been kindly supplied at a nice discount by 'The Bearded Man' - an offer he extended to all Here Come The Belgians riders via Duncan. The bike has a definite 'Flandrian' flavour with its black and yellow paint job and Leeuw van Vlaanderen top tube decal. What follows are my impressions of the frame and forks so far and a few mechanical musings thrown in for good measure. I'd count myself as an experienced cyclist - I met @crossjunkie back in the late 80s at an MTB event whilst I was working as a bike courier in Manchester and I've been riding bikes fairly seriously ever since. I'm not an expert (but I do spend my own brass so I'm fairly honest) - I don't get to ride multiple bikes to make direct comparisons so please bear that in mind, other online reviews such as CX Magazines review may be more appropriate if you're after that sort of expertise.

Van Dessel Gin and Trombones

First off from the home mechanics view point the frame built up fairly easily straight out of the box. Two new technologies BB30 and a 1.125 - 1.5" integrated headset meant the purchase of some new tools but the assembly was trouble free. As I had existing 24mm spindle (external BB) cranks I used a Wheels Manufacturing adapter to fit them to the BB30 bottom bracket. I purchased the Park Tool BBT 30.3  tool and used my existing headset press to do this - check out the Park Tools site for more info. I'm not a massive believer in all the new BB technology, yes it does allow lighter stiffer cranksets but some of the arguments are a bit lame for mortals, don't forget that at the last Olympics most of the British track riders including Hoy were still on square taper, if they didn't need the stiffness I'm quite sure I don't! Having said that press fitting the bearings was simplicity itself and they certainly spin freely and replacement will be cheap and easy. The headset required a new, massive, crown race setter and I was a little nervous as I slammed it down on the full carbon fork but there was no need to worry as it seated perfectly. Just pushing the bearings into the frame by hand without cups or a headset press seemed weird to my old school mechanic's senses. Integrated headsets are becoming the norm but I must admit I'm not convinced - there are some serious forces at work there and the fit of the bearings is not 'precision', very easy to replace but I feel they will wear more rapidly (hard steel race soft aluminium frame) and on the supplied headset there is no real sealing which may exacerbate wear in CX conditions. In the end this will mean the frame doesn't last as long, but for a CX frame that will probably be replaced in five years or less it's probably not a huge problem. OK thats the grumpy old git bit out the way. The Seatpin was 27.2, front mech 31.8, all fairly standard and straight swap across for my kit. The frame set was supplied with a neat FSA CX headset, carbon steerer tube bung, seat collar, BB cable guide, spare rear mech hanger, touch up paint and some plastic blanks to use if you remove the canti studs and opt for discs.

What is it like to ride? Light, lively, superb! My previous CX bikes are Planet X Uncle Johns and they are very good bikes - a little weighty maybe but rock solid and great handling - fantastic Three Peaks Bikes. The Gin and Trombones is a LOT lighter. I reckon it saves 750g over the Uncle John, partly down to the full carbon fork but the frame is a good 400g lighter itself. On my inexact scales with a fairly normal 'build' it registers around 18lbs (I'll get an accurate figure soon) In terms of geometry it has a steeper seat tube, shorter chain stays and a lower bottom bracket. The massive BB area also means it is laterally stiffer (yeah yeah laterally stiff and vertically compliant - I'm not going to say it!). Ride wise to me it feels 'snappier' a little more road bike like but still very stable and sure footed. The lower BB may help here but I'm not convinced I can really tell the difference as I could just be imagining it - the new kit placebo effect if you will. I do notice that the bike is marginally easier to remount. To be honest I've not been able to detect any negatives as far as the handling goes, in my view it's all good and that massive head tube really stiffens up the steering adding precision. I have caught a pedal once accelerating out of a corner but whether that was because of the lower BB is moot - it may well just be incompetence or the fact that the planted feeling of the bike allowed me to lean over more. At Brockhole the technical root rocky decent from the house proved no problem for the lower BB so short of full on MTB terrain I can't see an issue. One of the more important selling points for me a are the frame clearances, they are massive. If you're an enthusiastic weekend warrior it is unlikely that you have a dedicated pit crew. In muddy races you'll either be riding the same bike or swapping once (no one will be there to clean the pitted bike). You NEED decent clearances. The clearances on the G & T are fantastic both around the rear wheel (infront of especially and to the sides of the tub) and the fork. At Brockhole on day one of the Rapha Super Cross I didn't need to pit - others suffered severely clogged bikes (Waggey actually quit in frustration on his Focus) or had to swap bikes. The G & T was unaffected. Another muddy selling point to me was the full shifter housing run down the seat stays. I've actually drilled the stops out on my previous bikes to achieve this but the G & T came ready fixed - a sign of a design team that understands muddy cross! Gore cables may be excellent but they're pricey and a fiddle to fit, full cable housing runs at the rear are virtually as good - I used this system all last year never suffering a single cable related problem with shifting. The front shifter cable is routed along the down tube, again my favourite choice. Is it me or does it make little sense to route the front mech cable along the top tube, down the seat tube to a pulley (that can clog) then up the seat tube to the mech? Certainly with Campag the front mech doesn't need the precision shift you need at the rear. As of this year the frame is also disc ready but I'm still on Cantis so can't give any feedback on that front.

In conclusion the Gin and Trombones provides a responsive, snappy yet stable ride, with massive clearances for North of England mud and a cable routing set up that should ensure a reliable ride. Did I mention the gorgeous 'Flandrian Yellow' paint job? The only weak point I can think of is the integrated headset's durability and this is really a reflection current 'fashion' in the bicycle trade. The bottom line is that I intend to spend my own brass and get a another so I can again pretend to look pro with matching bikes!  Any Belgians in the Yorkshire area who get a G&T and want to pop over to use the tools just drop me a line. Please feel free to play 'bike review buzzword bingo' in the comment section below

Round 4 Yorkshire Points : Temple Newsam

With a mixture of grassland, woods and a beautiful Tudor-Jacobean house the Temple Newsam CX has a fantastic backdrop for the racing. This year the weather was in stark contrast to 2010 when the car park was flooded and the course absolutely sodden. I'd enjoyed a good result there in the adverse conditions but todays event promised fast racing and a patina of dust rather than oozing mud.

This race also saw the debut of the new Gin and Trombones frame from Van Dessel and The Bearded Man, I'll be writing a review of the frame in a few weeks after its been raced a bit more but suffice to say that it put a big smile on my face at Temple Newsam on its first outing. The Belgian 'Flanders black with yellow' colour scheme and De Leeuw van Vlaanderen on the top tube were approved by Vlaanderen Nicole (and John) who were there taking high risk photos at the bottom of one of the single track descents.

The vets race saw (what I think is) a record field with 105 riders which made for a 'busy' opening lap. I had a reasonable start but then nearly got taken out as we entered the first taped section (along with several other riders) as people squeezed in or misjudged the room etc. Some emergency braking and dodging avoided collisions but also lost a bunch of places. I get the feeling that with such big fields there is going to be a need to have longer 'spread the field' sections at the start of the vets events. If you're faster enough to get the hole shot then its a non-issue but further back there are some initially very fast riders who get a bit 'lost' after 400m. The rest of the race was lovely with good woody single track and fast open grass as well as a nice off-camber 180 which was later to do for Paperthin Ben's front tub in the senior race!

I gradually made up places passing a fair few riders and as far as I recall not getting passed (a sign of a slow start), never managed to catch up to Wayne (York Cycle Works) though. I eventually finished in 17th which I'm happy enough with on a new build bike and post 3 Peaks. Waggey had a good race with a PB placing of 38th which is excellent post 3 Peaks. John was creeping up the order too (79th) and it was good to see Tim (Velocake) racing in the seniors and Tom spectating (Velocake & HCtB) recovering from an unfortunate broken finger. SportsSunday were there taking pics along with Jo @Hanglebads so photographic coverage was pretty much sewn up - though I reckon my pic of Ben gets the "un moment decisif".

Round 3 Yorkshire Points: Tong

After a somewhat deflating race last weekend Tong proved to be the perfect antidote. Held at Home Farm the course had a great mix of fast grass and technical woodland. Added to this I had new toys to play with as my Major Tom wheelset from Strada Wheels had arrived earlier in the week and a Typhoon/SSC combo had been glued up ready to roll (review to follow after a few more races) but a word to the wise don't use Fabsil Seam Sealant to 'proof' your tub side walls it flakes off like sunburnt skin :-/

After last weeks debacle I wasn't sure where I stood and apparently missed the call up to the gridded start, later being told I was 20th 'last' to be called. A slowish start from about third row was not a huge problem as the course allowed plenty of room to make up places either through fitness or technique. I found I was making time up through the barriers and through the steep wooded section, @greatrock's skills lessons paying off 'chin up'! On the fast grass sections I definitely lacked true CX speed - time for some short sharp intervals after the Three Peaks. A botched dismount with a foot sticking in the pedal coming into the barriers cost places and time especially as I couldn't immediately see the problem jamming the rear wheel (QR had slipped) but other than that it was a trouble free race.

Mr Wagget had a less succesfull time and a couple of dropped chain incidents let Nick E riding in Dirt Wheels colours (splitter! ;-) get ahead of him this time. John P was looking after daughter Izzy and doing sterling supporter duty whilst @Hanglebad and sister Clunis scurried about supporting and getting the photos. Jo apparently heard the event organiser saying "never again" which would be a great shame as it was a great course and event. As we finished we met @FingersK looking resplendent in his new Velocake skinsuit but we had to leave before the senior race and could only imagine the fun that the torrential downpour visited upon them! We experienced it in the warm and dry of the car driving back through Shiply ;-> All photos are now up on Flickr (see sidebar) and I'm just waiting for the results to see if things truely did improve on last week...

Round 1 Yorkshire Points: Oakbank

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?