Sometimes cyclocross can just go all wrong, and today’s race in Derby had all the ingredients of a classic national trophy race – a well designed course, quirky weather conditions, and a good field, with a mix of international riders.
For me, however, it was just a plainly dreadful day out, and one I want to remember. From the start, where I was gridded in a pretty dreadful position (my fault – for not riding the first round in Exeter to get the necessary points), I was held up by a crash in front of me, then chased stupidly and made mistakes on corners, eventually coming unceremoniously unstuck on one corner and rolling my tub off the rim. After running to the pits with my bike, I was practically in last place. From there it got worse before getting better – I’d made a bad decision about the tyres on my spare bike and they were too soft and slopping all over the place in the corners. I had to change bikes again half a lap later, so almost three laps into the hour long race, I finally got going.
All these were my mistakes – cost me dearly and I finished the lowest I’ve ever been in a national event – 50th. I can’t blame anyone or anything, as I’m my own coach and mechanic – but I’ve got to get my acto together quickly and hope it’ll rain hard in Ipswich for the next fortnight before round3, where I might fall back on my old friend the mud.
Results and report here on the British Cycling site.
