National Championships & National Trophy 2015-16

[Neil]

We did. 17th and 20th. My half lap changes making the difference.

[WillBeresford]

Woah Neil, awesome result! Seriously.

Guessing this didn't happen to you?
https://instagram.com/p/BAo-jfohavm/

[PatHayes]

Dire performance today apologies . Kept pace with Neil early on but then chain bounced off the XFire getting so tightly wedged is still stuck and will require cassette coming off. This lead to a run and the loss of several places after that panicked trying to catch back up and had a number of heavy falls which kept leading to loss of places had recovered after that just couldn't summon up the mental drive to catch the three in front of me .

Not sure the Fango on the front of the Xride helped either

Course was evil mix of mud and snow which balled in SPDs and was really slippery .

Got lapped by Rob Jebb and no idea where I came and don't really want to look

[PatHayes]

Should say Neil looked like he was having a good one

[Damian Robertson]

Least you got out there Pat! Well done! Cx doesnt come without its mishaps! And great stuff Neil!

[PatHayes]

Apparently was actually 20th ( according to Mr Van Der Drew who saw it on Sporza!)

Obviously some of guys between me and Neil were dropped V40s . If that's right actually pleased with that result on effectively one rather under tyred bike

[PatHayes]

Connie 11th ( out of 12 though a lot of no shows and a couple of DNS after looking at the course ) in her last youth trophy race next year due to crazy age categories and general sexism of dear old BC she will be "racing" against Whyman and Harris despite only being 15. Should give junior girls own race and or option to ride with vet women .

[MaxReuter]

Well done, everyone!

Interesting day for us, too. As Pat said, the conditions were challenging, lots of uphills to run, lots of slopes to slide down, all in a mixture of snow and mud and only very occasionally clipped in. I started OK, but then started to lose ground a bit. This wasn't helped by a spoke snapping with two to go, which meant a long run to the pits as the wheel was so warped it wouldn't turn. I finished 27th in the end, which might have been honourable in a field of 55 (and having been gridded 39th), but looking at the results only 37 bothered to turn up.

Caroline did not fare much better. She started very well, taking the holeshot in the field of ten elderly ladies, but then had a problem with her chain and everybody went past. A long run to the pits took its toll and she finished eighth in the end.

An interesting experience overall, but it's obvious we're lacking a proper race-day routine and everything ends up a bit too hectic. Also, two turbo sessions in the week before the race just might not be enough training to do well...

[PatHayes]

Feeling progressively better about the race , apparently Tim Gould fell off five times as well ( though going rather faster ).

C says his daughter who was 4th in under 14s was utterly fearless going don't the nasty descent without touching the brakes so probably one to watch and a rather superior dad and daughter combination

[StevenDrew]

Well done, all. Conditions were bad enough on Saturday so heaven knows what it must've been like yesterday. Great results from everyone as well.

Max - I don't know if you've seen this but someone posted a video on Twitter of the descent down the muddy bank.

https://twitter.com/velouk/status/688668448206008320

Great job keeping it together! Mr J Polak doesn't fare quite so well...

[MaxReuter]

Max - I don't know if you've seen this but someone posted a video on Twitter of the descent down the muddy bank.

Thanks, Steven, I hadn't seen that, I am yet to arrive in the 21st century...

There certainly was some comedy racing on show yesterday! Luckily, I managed to stay upright almost throughout, my only fall coming when Ben Lewis rode into me from behind. But maybe that's simply an indication that I wasn't going fast enough.