XRT - Elmy Cycles Supercross

Having been feel rather under the weather over Christmas (like most people) it was a last minute decision to go and race the Elmy Cycles cross at Ipswich on 2nd January. This was a bit of a baptism of fire since I'd not ridden a bike for a few weeks but hell there is only 2 weeks until the Rutland National Trophy so I knew it was my last chance for a warm up race.

The course was good, a mix of wooded twisty sections and an open out and back. I was happily able to ride a downhill off camber corner that others were struggling with but for some reason not able to get over what in retrospect was a small log! There was something funny going on with the gridding and I ended up quite far back with one of the best riders I know Corrine Hall ungridded completely. When the gun went we had to content with the varying vet riders. I decided to save my energies for later but Corrine did an amazing job of zipping past all of us and evenually making it into the top 10 overall. I could see Anna Buick just ahead so knew I wasn't in a terrible position! The rest of the race was pretty fun, I definitely lost time on the log and even though I was initially able to ride the nightmare corner it cut up too much and I took a couple of falls on it. In retrospect I should have run it - would have been faster. In the end I finished 4th woman a minute back from Anna. Not amazing, not terrible but has given me a few things to think about before Rutland on the 16th.

Riding the nightmare corner

MegaCross

Not a reflection of my mood but a cyclocross event and my first race in the new team kit.

It’s not very often that an off-road bike race happens close to my mum and dad’s house, so when I spotted the MegaCross at Top Barn Farm near Worcester I put it in the diary. Turns out I wanted to get back to the homestead that weekend anyway so it worked out perfectly. After an inordinate amount of food at the AW Cycles Team Christmas dinner in Reading, Chris and I headed north. We arrived just in the nick of time and I quickly donned my new kit and jumped on the old faithful cross bike. I spotted my mate Tracey on the start line too - an unexpected bonus!

As the whistle blew we headed out onto a rather a dull course. Once round a lake, up and down a bank – the only real section which rewarded any technical skill, and over a rather badly constructed “BMX track”.  Although apparently not a very tricky course, one of my fellow competitors in an act of amazing health and safety irony went smack bang into a buoyancy aid holder which nearly saw him end up in the frozen water and in need of the float he had just dislodged! Tracey had a blinder of a start but I got her back in the first half lap and there was only one lady out front. She unfortunately seemed to enjoy the flat course and edged away to take the win, with me coming in second and Tracey 3^rd. Not a bad result in my first ride for the team – it’s not every day you beat a world champion. 

Women:              1^st Ruth Eyles (Beacon Roads CC)

                                2^nd Rachel Fenton (AW Cycles)

                                3^rd Tracey Moseley (Trek World Racing)

Negotiating the barriers

 Chris also had a good ride finishing 9th in freezing conditions. I'm now working towards the January 16th National Trophy at Rutland Water. Although currently rather unwell so training will have to wait until I can stop sneezing.

New year, new team, new bike, new blog, new life

Possibly the title for this post sounds a little over the top but I'm embarking on a bit of an adventure in January and it feels BIG. We're moving to Scotland after 10 years in the flatlands of Cambridgshire (how I took up mountain biking living here I will neve quite know). This I am sure will be fab, a new racing scene a new bunch of cyclists to get to know and a new area to explore on two wheels. However as yet I'm without a job so its going to be a bit tight financially to start with. On the plus side my new team awcycles.co.uk have been massively helpful providing lovely Giant Anthems for Chris and I to ride and all sorts of other bits and pieces that I'll post about as and when they arrive.

In honour of all of this I decided it would be much easier to write a pesonal blog rather than hop between team oriented ones (although my race reports can be seen on www.teamawcycles.co.uk) so here it is - 1 post down, many to come!