Eastern Cyclocross League 2014/15

[Damian Robertson]

Well done Chris! Upwards at every race! Bad luck Steven! I suffered a similar fate perhaps - in Bakewell. A good snowy course promised to make for an exciting race and I felt primed. From the whistle pedalled a few revolutions then over the start line before crunch, crunch nothing happening, no gears engaging. Looked down and saw a disengaged mech, game over. (Think it's just a snapped hanger however). Shouldered it as everyone pulled off to do what they'd been waiting all of Xmas for. Damn. After changing into warmer clothes realised I could've done the Seniors race on my second steed but by then had become keen to just regain warmth to my toes.. Oh well.

[Jane Dennyson]

Nice work Chris
Sorry about the crash Steve and bad luck Damian

[StevenDrew]

Yeah, that was a sh1t day out. But, a few scrapes and bruises aside, me and the bike are in one piece. Just hope Nick White from ELV is okay too. I really didn't enjoy the sight of him under a foil blanket taking oxygen.

[PatHayes]

Dire start and generally rubbish performance in a race with a strong field , may have been result of couple of weeks off .

Was a good course and lovely location so I suppose better than probably a far higher finish and shorter drive to Crayford.

At least C didn't acquire another horse though found the only WHW staff member on duty to have an equine chat to and then went riding as soon as we got in so I spent a further two hours at a riding centre .

[BruceMackie]

The start went well for me doing my usual slot in behind Ian Robson and hold on. managed to stay ahead of the chasing pack for a while in spite of trying to run him over on our first trip through the bomb hole. Then the inevitable happened and Dave Copeland closely followed by Richard Muchmore flew past, I held their wheel for a while but then messed up something somewhere, I think perhaps riding into a backmarker when they fell over in the bomb hole, and off they went along with Simon Hime. It was then pretty much a solo effort until I messed up riding through the bomb hole and hit my knee which took a while to recover from. By then I was being challenged by another rider which produced a few elbows and bar moments not least with the back markers being used for blocking tactics. After losing that battle it was a way back to the next rider though I still tried to further hamper my effort. When going past a pair of Chelmer riders one, decided to switch on a straight section which as I redirected my bike produced a strange lack of traction and I veered off and scored a direct hit on the post and rail fence. Next time at the bomb hole section I though sod trying to ineptly show off my skills and elected to run it all which saved a great deal of time, even without crashing, and brought me back up to the rider ahead but still couldn't make it stick.

Conditions seemed to get dryer and grippier through the day so where the early races featured a lot of delicate teetering around on very slippery ground later on speed increased and no problem with bikes jamming up with mud. It is a good course though starting into the sun may have been part of the issue with Steven being taken out and making the outside of the first corner post and rail seemed a bit risky too. Even with the relocated start of the seniors, due to the ambulance, there was still pile up in that race too. Perhaps everyone's practicing for the National Champs?

[StevenDrew]

Perhaps everyone's practicing for the National Champs?

Ah, yes... https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10 ... =2&theater

[StevenDrew]

Ipswich. We're in. Chris and Pat too plus the kids. Anyone else coming?

[PatHayes]

Really good day out at Ipswich weather was really kind to us as was traffic . Usual superb eastern organisation and a decent circuit at an excellent venue.

Had to work hard for 5th with two guys breathing down my neck on last lap necessitating some serious running to shake them off.

Back to unload car in daylight as well .

[PatHayes]

Well done to Stven and Chris in the youngsters race

[Chris Clague]

Odd race. I started on row 3 for the first time (slowly creeping up) - initial start was great, got alongside the guy in front and then failed 3 times to clip in. Not confident going shoulder to shoulder whilst unclipped I got a bit swamped by the pack and lost a load of places. Rest of the race settled into just a feeling of not really making any progress. Nothing to complain about, just not really on it today. Ended up for the last 3 laps with a couple of other guys who foolishly showed their hand with a lap to go by out sprinting me on the finish straight. Passed them again after and pulled a small gap but they still passed me on the remount after the climb. Felt like a lot of hard work, but squeezed past them both before the woods then sat up, waited a few secs and gunned past the backmarker on the way into the single track making a gap they were never going to close once they passed him. Figured I'd finished about 30th or something, not a good race. Very surprised to find I was 18th which equalled my best result to date. Ended my record of improving at every race by only equalling my last one, but I'll take bad days like that!

[StevenDrew]

Decent race today. Did my best to crash into Mike Bowen at the start but we managed to get away okay and I settled into about 5th place. Passed one rider and then had a decent battle with Mike for a couple of laps before we were caught by Vicious Velo’s “royal photographer” #punkrock

His highness went past but then crashed which held me up and allowed Mike to get away. After that, I lost a bit of momentum and the two of them got out of reach. So for the last two laps I had 2 riders 30 secs up the course and no one within 30 secs behind, thus having a fairly gentle spin round to secure 6th place.

Good day out. Fun course amongst fun people. Nice one.

[Damian Robertson]

Well done fellas! Had a lazy day today apart from a muddy run on the heath. Not quite the same. Are you returning to Trinity park next weekend?

[Chris Clague]

Yep. You coming?

[Damian Robertson]

Oh no, you've asked me that question again! Throwing me into a should I, should't I? Yesterday I perhaps should have! On sunday, well, we'll see. Got a mate's birthday drinks to attend on saturday.. If I were to go would you like a lift? I owe you that!

[BruceMackie]

I did the 2:30 Senior race with Cal due to a determination to make the most of stay at a so called resort and spa hotel the night before. Arrived late so timing was a bit tight and I didn't get to ride the course beforehand, or for that matter warm up. I looked at all the grass and decided to run file treads to try and get a bit of speed there and on the tarmac. Dave Copeland thought it would be fun to put me on the back row, thanks Dave. Comm seemed to be about to start the usual interminable Eastern lecture before thinking better of it and declaring the race would start on the whistle just as I was letting a bit of air out of my wheels. I quickly abandoned that idea having been caught out before and as the whistle blew some riders were still fiddling about so the charge down the tarmac was somewhat complicated gilets, jackets, bottles and leggings being chucked in all directions. I managed to make up a few places by fencing a few of the sharp corners and then producing the odd monster slide, as the the file treads had a tough time finding something to grip, which had the useful effect of making people back off a bit. I ran the monster mud session first time round as I'd no idea where it was going and it seemed to be what Mikey was doing. Turned out to be a mistake as the section wasn't wide enough to block so I lost places. As things settled down my choice of files seemed to be handy in carrying speed off the tarmac and by choosing odd bits of the course I was able to keep sufficient traction in most of the sections. Towards the end I started to catch a still somewhat unwell Cal who was only riding to complete his 11 counting rounds after missing races due to doing the Trophy and coach training. Unfortunately his final result was 2nd to James Jackson when he needed to win so next weekend he needs to win and James come 3rd if he's to win the Junior title. Steven was shouting encouragement for a Mackie showdown whilst Louise was giving a somewhat opposite requirement from her position in the pits. In the end Sean came up to lap us and keeping out of the way of the leading trio stopped that personal race from developing.

I think we'll be back next week so we can both do our 11th race and see where we end up. For me Richard already has the gold and Dave the silver so it's a small chance to get the bronze