[Aussie accent on] Looking like another warm one mate [Aussie accent off]

Rapha booked sunshine. It’s amazing, the power of sponsorship these days…

Are Rapha catering for us plebs now then?

Apple ‘o’ gees if your not a pleb.

Rapha supercross next Sunday at AllyPally. Support races for mortals, invitational for main race.
Hopefully my thumb will have improved, and Muddy Hell won’t have been too complicated – the journey through south London after 8 hours at Herne Hill means getting home about midnight.

There’s a Rapha supercross at Huddersfield today too (vets/women just started, seniors 1.45).

Am working though and trying not to think envious thoughts. 👿

Oh yes and they have elite racers after the seniors.

(Back to work, muttering darkly… everyone in the valley is out riding today… and tomorrow the Met Office promises rain :?)

London X league was hot today and super sunny…

Really dusty to!

NW league was sunny and warm……with lashings of mud 😀

Was on slicks… Novel in October!! 😯

Flippin hard going today….don’t like that course 👿

I don’t mind it, lots of potential for falls though with off camber turns – I fell off 5 times on that course last year, my only falls of the season.

My race didn’t go great, got held up on the singletrack section on the first lap, so went hard to try to make up some ground, then suffered for the middle third. Finished strong though. Should have paced myself a bit better early on.

You had another team mate today I saw, he was next to me on the start line.

Actually, how much more technical was the course you had planned that didn’t go ahead than yesterday’s?

Had my first ever race today after collecting my new bike on Saturday.

Raced in the Wessex League and Basingstoke and it was very warm and sunny.

1st impressions of cyclocross is that you’re all right, it’s bloody hard work! 😀 I’ve never done anything that is so hard yet so enjoyable ever in my life.

Racing again tomorrow night and in the GWR league in Swindon and I can’t wait. Love it.

2 days of Raphas over the weekend. Dead on my feet today 🙁

hammerite. Hemels very techy, the singletrack reminds me more of XC than CX.
Our race would have been just like the Hitchin round, very fast like an off road Crit?

I had a bad day there as well, and I also got badly held up on the first lap. I got beaten to the first bit of singletrack only to find a whole bunch of riders ****ing themselves. And it’s so hard to claw it back.

I’d criticise some of the riders in our race, they perhaps should be in the novices. There were too many stopping and needing a full written report handing in on about how you were just about to overtake them?

It looks like RAF Halton might host the next round.

RAF base sounds like a cool place for Molli to play whilst I bust my lungs for an hour.

Ah OK. I got the impression that your course was more of a CX course, must’ve got mixed up.

I wasn’t the fastest mover on the singletrack section, but coped fine. The hold ups were from people getting off and pushing/carrying their bikes – it wasn’t that tricky! I found that section an opportunity for a short recovery, running through it would’ve just tired me out more.

Change of venue for Central league, this coming weekend.

Westminster Sports Centre
Oxford Brookes University
Harcourt Hill Campus
Botley
Oxford
OX2 9A

Raced there earlier in the year, part of the course was fine round a sports field, the other half was through a ditch and in/around some wooded trails (but wider than Hemel). The wooded section was ridiculously muddy then, I don’t expect it to be as bad this weekend.

Should be there.
Coughing up human ears at the mo though.
Still it’s a shame it’s not at Green Park, I liked that course.

I won’t be.

Jase, Hillingdon is further away and we race there twice.

Yeah, not going there either 🙂

I’ll only end up with 5 rounds now.

I was banking on not racing in Reading and one at Hillingdon, but Jnr missed the first race then DNF’d at Hemel so for him to get enough rounds in I think we’ll need to do all that’s left.

Hillingdon seemed like a bike killer last year. I was one of many who lost a rear mech due to long grass clogging everything up – I only lasted half a lap at the 2nd race.

Doesn’t sound like I’ll be missing much then!

My daughter’s not too impressed about missing this week.

I think that this year I shall manage to not ride any central league races.
Ho hum.

Looks like it’s going to be another warm and sunny round. I knew those Mud2’s would be worth every penny 🙄

Fast race yesterday. Not techie at all as they didn’t take us into the woods, so it was pretty much full on the whole way.

I didn’t go, set off but I was sweating in my car. Now I have man flu, not helped by driving a diesel all day that was exhausting straight into the cab 👿

Anyone at Hillingdon for the London/Central league race?

Big contrast to the mudfest of the corresponding fixture last year, bumpy would be an understatement. Thought my race went ok, good start, but then I think some quicker riders came through who had been held up on the first lap as I lost quite a few places on my 2nd lap. After that I seemed to pretty much hold my own.

Yet another mechanical at Hillingdon. This time I snapped a chain, but luckily it wasn’t until I was crossing the finish line (while sprinting to try and beat a clubmate 🙄 🙂 )

Jase Hammerite you both racing at Ickneild this weekend?

Coughs finally gone after two weeks, so time to resume.

I may be there, depends if I can be arsed to put up with Kel though, and it would appear that I have an ulnar collateral ligament injury.

Collateral damage?

Team of three today. Who’d have thunk it, the clubs only five months old.

Hammerite were you racing? We had two of the three racing. And Jase was hungover.

Yep I raced. Went reasonably well, I lose to much ground on corners though, I try to stay off the churned racing line thinking I’ll handle better yet everyone else seemed to cope fine.

Those little mounds were quite tricky weren’t they?

Thinking about it I gave you a shout, you were coming up to the start/finish line and I was heading in the other direction.

Decided to put some gears back on my bike and do the western league cyclo cross race in Bristol Yesterday. God that was hard!

Need to get some cx tyres on the mountain bike. Was losing ground on the muddy flat sections. Got used to dismounting after a few laps. Came 15th I think

A pro called Simon richardson won it who rode the tour of britain (and he was on a mountain bike)

This chap…. Simon Richardson he’s a bit useful!

Those little mounds were quite tricky weren’t they?

The old air raid shelters, I opted to ride them every lap then suffered with core problems and went backwards on the last lap.

Simon Richardson….who did he ride for, know the name?

Simon Richardson….who did he ride for, know the name?

Sigma specialized.

Can’t wait for the ashton court one where it will be more suited to mountain bikes