Yorkshire Summer Cross Round Up

Malsis School, Keighley

My thoughts on the opening round at Malsis School can be seen here.

Wharfe Meadows, Otley

It's a good little course at Otley.  It's essentially around a split level playing field - providing some short but steep little climbs/descents - with a small wooded section to one end.  A dry and warm period of weather ensured the track was hard and fast.  However, a little shower towards the end of the race turned the grass to glass, and spills and thrills ensued.  There was a great Team Here Come the Belgians presence and the evening was was great fun.  Another massive field (127 finishers!) meant no points for John Boy again!  But it's the taking part at the end of the day that counts isn't it?

Still smiling post race.  With Ali, Carl, Rich, John (me), Nick and Adam.  

Brigshaw School, Kippax

Photo courtesy of Neil Hendry

I've raced at Brigshaw a good few times now over my 3yr cyclocross racing career, but always in the clockwise guise.  The latest summer cross round was run - wait for it - anticlockwise!  I can sense the  anticipation and general edge of seat sitting....

To cut a long story short, it was great - just as great as normal.  The additional stair climb was a nice touch, and the sand pit - which is normally approached on the flat - was at the bottom of a slight decent, so was hit with a little more pace!  Squirmy squrimy.

Warm and dry again - yes it has been a lovely summer hasn't it - equals fast, hard cornering and being on the ragged edge for much of the race.  Also, the more modest field of 100 finishers produced some points.  8 in fact!  And, as it turns out, my only points of the season.  A bit of a poor do, but at least I made it on the leader board - I was getting worried.

Killing Hall Moor, Harrogate

The final round of my Yorkshire Summer Cross campaign was fought at Harrogate.

Similar warm, dry, hard and fast racing conditions presented themselves at Harrogate, as per many of the rounds this years Summer Cross.

Harrogate is a fairly flat and open course, with a longish lap.  A couple of techy sections are added but nothing too heavy.  As such, it's another quickie.  I thought I felt pretty good and was fairly motoring along, and tussling with the usual crowd, but finished pretty low down in other bumper field of entrants, so was out of the points!

However, the biggest talking point of the race, perhaps, was the testing of the new electronic timing system, which is to be used, for the first time I understand, during the Winter Points Series starting in September.  A little transponder attached to the ankle gives a little bleep on crossing the timing mat - and that was it - full individual lap times etc.  Pretty groovy, but it did highlight my short comings even more, and showed I was lapped, about four times I think it was, by the winners!

Onwards and upwards I guess....

Malsis School Yorkshire Summer Cross

Photo Courtesy of Neil Hendry

Summer Cross is Back.  Whooo Hoooo!

So it's back to fortnightly exploration of my place in the space between pleasure and pain we like to call cyclocross.  And Summer Cross is back with a bang too.  New venue you see - Malsis School - and it a stonker.

Malsis School offered a very varied course.  Something - in lieu of mud - which is sometimes left wanting with Summer Cross.  The course comprised mainly leg sapping grassy slogs and some fast gravel paths - with the sections of the gravel being more akin to low grade MTB tail center stuff than CX!  Oh and also some 'north shore'...  well a little section of wooden duck boards!  Still, made a decent little jump every lap.  Also, some twisty turny bits and a nice narrow section by a pond.  And a log jump and barriers!  Phew!  Plenty of sight seeing could be had per lap to take your mind of the thumping heart, gasping lungs and useless legs.

With the massive field of entrants, I finished outside the points, but there is always next time... Bring on the cobbles... Bring on Tod. 

Summer Cross 2012 Round Up

Yorkshire Summer Cross is now over for another year – Boooo!  But because I have been so slack with my blogging, Yorkshire Winter Cross has already started – Hurraaayyy!

Alas, my Summer Cross exploits this term have not been quite as fruitful as last, and I have suffered on many occasions!  I thought rather than post another moaning whinge, I thought I would simply present a few sexy photos…

Belgian Steve Cooper and Belgian me push for the line at Brighouse School

Carving one of the descents at the first of the Kippax Rounds

Hitting the sand pit at pace at the final warm Newsome School  Round

Looking forward to the winter series, and hoping for more success.

It’s all About the Fake Tan



Tanned Shins



After what I considered a rather poor opening Summer Cross Round One at Keighley, I rolled up at Tod - for already the second time this year - a little deflated.  By now, all the anger and frustrations from the other week had ebbed, and the promises I had made myself had gone by the by… However, I had managed to fake tan my shins.



Being an amply proportioned gentleman in a bicycle racing environment, populated by super skinny fit wheeled gazelle like creatures, who effortlessly pedal/run rapidly up hill and down dale… seemingly all day long, I usually spend most of my time riddled with paranoia! 



Tanned Shins in Action



Slow…  Unfit…  Beer belly…  Muffin top…  Too short…  Too tall…  Too hairy…  Not hairy enough??  The list goes on.  But it’s my pasty shins that cause me the most misery.  So, fake tanned up to the max I rallied myself to the line and got ready for the cobbles.

What can I say but the fake tan worked.  I was 4% better!  My contemporaries must have been dazzled to the point of apathy by my bristling freshly bronzed shins!!  I’ll never go un-fake tanned ever again.

Another day… Another lesson learned.

Oakbank Summer CX

We’re off again!  Summer CX is back!

Therefore, more of my meandering, fortnightly drivelling's for you to endure I’m afraid….  So, with no further ado, here goes…



      Photo courtesy of Dirtwheels Cycles



There is simply no rest for the wicked – not in Yorkshire any road.  No sooner do I seem to have hung up my tubs for a well deserved rest, they’re back out again, re-glued, given a few puffs of air and re-attached the whip.

In addition to the sneakiness of the start of the summer ‘cross this year, Oakbank also marked the one year anniversary me being a Team Here Come the Belgians member.  This is a quite a milestone to say the least.  So how did I fair at Oakbank this time around, and a year on?

Well, this time last year I seem to remember an early summer, and a pleasantly warm evening, with a fast bone dry course.  There could not be more of a contrast to the conditions that greeted me this time round!!  The wettest April on record had saturated the course, and made a good third impassable by bike by someone of my ability.

It seemed to hurt quite a lot in general!!  I’m not quite sure why but I just didn’t seem at the races?  One of the smallest competitor fields I’ve seen at an YCX event for a while (about 80 I understand), was strong and punished me from the off.  Perhaps my year as a Belgian has made me a touch blasé?  I seemed ill prepared and slow?  I just couldn’t catch people in front and was upset not to replicate the strong(er) finishes as per the last couple of winter ‘cross races I competed in.

Frustrated – do I feel I’ve gone backwards?  No, I don’t think so.  I still feel I’m better overall than I was a year ago – just – and hopefully this first summer cross outing was just a shock to my system.  I’ll get a few training rides in, (try to) get back on the diet, and come back fighting stronger next time.

Todmoden - and the fearsome cobbles – bring it on...

Summer Cross Rounds 7, 9 and 10

I assume Summer Cross to be a dim and distant memory for most people by now, for whom prep’ing for the ‘cross season proper, and 3PCX etc. are probably main foci. However, for the sake of closure, please allow me the indulgence of posting brief résumés of the final three rounds I competed in.

Round 7 – Brooksbank School, Elland

On arrival to site, Belgians Rich and Nick were already in the throes of warming up, but, before even saying hello, the first thing that struck me was the ruddy great hill in the corner! I could see the tiger tape snaking its way across the hillside, suggesting a succession of gruellingly tightly packed ups and downs. The athletic duo assured me that once on the slope, the climbs were not too bad. I hoped they were right, and nodded anxiously in acknowledgement of their recently acquired practice lap knowledge. Although fully trusting their judgment, I felt sure that their experiences of powering a ‘full figured’ gentleman, such as me, around a cyclocross course, maybe somewhat limited?

Anyway, it’s not supposed to be easy, and I soon came to terms with the fact I was going to get a little out of breath on this one?? The course comprised grass playing fields, with the only respite from this surface covering being the thin white lines around the athletics track. Here the lime had scorched the grass and hardened the topsoil, allowing some speed to be achieved, and breath to be caught. Oh how I long for a bit of mud…..

Another massive field of competitors soon filled the course, with the open nature of the lap allowing plenty of room for everyone to go about their business unhindered. I rolled in 91^st place – last on the course, due to the cruel trick of the bell, but with a big smile on my face.

Round 9 – Killinghall Moor Country Park, Harrogate

An excellent evening of pedalling about was on the cards. The sun came out, the venue was

picturesque, and the usual friendly crowd of likeminded individuals were amassed ready for some action.

“My kind of course” was my initial thought, after a quick scoot around prior to the start. The course was long, flattish, pretty easy going on the grass, and with some twisty rooty single track between trees to boot. “My forte – I’ll do well here” I muttered to myself on the start line!

However, for ‘my kind of course’ read ‘everybody’s kind of course’, and boy did I seem to suffer! The whistle went, and everyone buggered off! My usual duelling partners were nowhere to be

seen and, although I set to, attempting to reel them in, my lungs and legs were having none of it.

Round 10 – Newsome High School, Huddersfield

A metaphorical level playing field, amongst Belgians at least, was the story of the final round of the Summer Series at Newsome High School….. Oh and a small splattering of rarely seen mud too to boot!!

Belgians Nick and I - John P - lined up on a windswept and rain battered hillside in ‘CleckHuddersFax’, which resembled, in appearance at least, a mid-winter meet rather than mid-August!! ‘Blowing a hooley’ I believe is the correct meteorological term.

Unlucky Nick punctured on the first lap!! And I understand this resulted in him begging spectators for track pumps on ever other lap – to his credit he persevered and finished.

So, ultimately, Nick, with a slow puncture, and having to stop three times in the race vs a fully fit John P, is a fairly closely matched race pairing…. Poxer still beat me though!!

Roll on the Winter……

Summer Cross Rounds 5 and 6

Round 5 – Brigshaw School, Kippax

Considering the afternoon’s torrential downpours that plagued the Leeds area, the blazingly hot sunny evening that greeted Belgians Rich, Waggo and me John P, was actually a pleasant surprise. In addition, the excellent course, which I thought was a return to form, comprised fast open stretches of playing field, some single track through a small wooded embankment, a step climb, and a sandpit, had not suffered from the rain, and remained essentially intact and fast. My race consisted of the now familiar fortnightly tussle for the lower ranked positions – but a good enjoyable race was had across the varied course - finishing 68th - and also within a sizable group of 8 lappers. So overall fairly pleased - but boy was it hot!!

Round 6 – New College, New Hey Road, Huddersfield

How long is New Hey Road? It’s a chuffing long I can tell you. Having spent half an hour asking for directions and doing countless u-turns, I realised that simply setting the Tom Tom to ‘New Hey Road, Huddersfield’, thinking “That’ll get me near enough”, wasn’t going to get me anywhere ‘near enough’. A quick phone call to the Mrs, who found the proper post code for me, confirmed this. A frenziedly mad last minute dash across the outskirts of Huddersfield followed and, thankfully you’ll be pleased to read I’m sure, I made it. I managed a 5min warm up too. The massive 100 competitor field encompassed Belgians Alan, Dave, Rich and me, and also included, for good measure, the Nick Craig’s and Renee Saxton’s of this world. Continued, essentially dry weather resulted in another hard and fast course, and with no dismounts, running sections or hurdles etc. engineered into the lap, the relentless pedalling commenced straight from the hooter. An early entanglement with another rider resulted in a couple of bent spokes and buckled front wheel – which, in all fairness, didn’t really hinder my stately progress all that much, and I rolled in in 89th position. However, who knows, with a fully functioning bike, I may have been able to give Nick Craig more of a run for his money! Next time……

Thanks to Jo Hanglebads for the Photos.

Summer Cross Rounds 3 and 4

Round 3 - Colne Valley

Well, having hardly ridden my bike since Round 1, and just getting back from a weeks holiday in Italy, where much pizza, pasta and gelato were eaten, and much wine and Aperol Spritz were drank, I lined up with fellow Belgians Crossjunkie, Dave, Mark and Nick, feeling less than on tip top form. This worrying lack of form manifested itself in a 55min hellish wheeze around the rather heavy going in places course. However, I did have a good tussle with a rider throughout the race, and finally came in in 76th place.

Round 4 – Duncombe Park

Four days later and Belgians Ben, Nick, Rich, and I are back at it again – this time at Duncombe Park, Helmsley. The course was marked out on a shallowly sloping area of country parkland, and split into two distinct sections, linked by longish slogs across grass in one direction, and a concrete road in the other. The first section was the more interesting, as it wound its way through a small area of woodland, and included 3No. log jumps. The second section simply comprised a series of turns, in and out of each other, on grass land. Again, I had a good race with the people around me and came 63rd. This success, I thought, merited the large bottle of Belgian beer I had stowed in the boot of the car. The beer was shared out amongst the Belgians and made a fitting end to a great day.

Oakbank Summer CX

Well here we go – Round 1 of the Yorkshire CX Summer Series.

I was hoping my first blog as a Belgian would be an account of a storming race - where I dodged and weaved, and ducked and dived, and sped like a maniac, and finally succeeded in my own personal race of ‘not being last’.

Unfortunately, a bad accident on the first lap (not me) ended the race prematurely, and it was eventually abandoned. As an aside, the person in question is fine, by all accounts, and was released from hospital the following morning.

However, some positives can be taken from the evening. Firstly, I met a couple of my new team mates – Nick and Mark – good to meet you chaps. Secondly, it did feel like I was storming along, and a good finish, for me at least, was on the books I’m sure??

So, there we go – roll on Round 2…..

And remember, let’s keep safe out there.

John