Kerstperiode racing

Even for a cyclocross obsessed nation like Belgium, it is excessive. Six elite races in eight days between Boxing Day and Jan 2nd. Welcome to the kerstperiode.

Opportunities to race to that degree in the UK simply aren't available, but undeterred I set about trying to complete a mini version of my own, to enter into the festive 'cross spirit, so to speak. Actually many committed riders have done something similar for years, travelling around to races and honing form for our early January National Championships with regular Xmas and New Year racing.

No Nationals for me this year, but instead an opportunity to pack in a week of racing, aided and abetted by some fortuitous race dates and a trip to London to see relatives. The scheduling of the classic old-school mudder Todmorden Cyclocross, an exciting new promotion at a Yorkshire stately home and a conveniently falling London League race gave me my 3 part kerstperiode spread over a week. Whilst I love my 'cross as much as the next obsessive, because of the cycling/family teeter-totter I tend to only race fortnightly, on average. Three races, some long distance travelling and all the festive socialising were definitely going to stretch me.

It turned out that my trio of races each highlighted an important lesson in the art of 'cross. The process of racing is demanding on equipment and rider and like many things, 'cross is simple in concept but infinitely nuanced in execution. Todmorden was first up and I tend to view Todmorden as my personal 'nationals'. It's local, the course is traditional to say the least being centred around a big cobbled climb and ensuing woodland descent and it is always stupidly muddy. In other words it suits me down to the ground.

Tod Mud (Pic: Dave Haygarth)

My pit monkey, Mark (Pic: Dave Haygarth)

I had probably my best race since returning to 'cross a few years ago. Conditions on the Sunday on the course were heavy, Todmorden heavy. This necessitated careful consideration of when to ride and when to run. This also meant that momentum was critical too. I'm strongest when there are on/off the bike sections, or at least decisions to made about whether to be on or off the bike. On that day, there were many riders stronger than me who were racing, but few had better technique and so were losing time constantly, getting bogged down or being slow on and off the bike. I started well, kept plugging away and moved up the field all race to what was for me, a hugely satisfying 8th in the Veterans and Womens race. A big part of this standout result for me was down to clean, effective technique - committing early to the running parts and executing the transitions quickly and efficiently. What I lacked in overall speed and fitness, I more than compensated for with flawless technique. It was hugely satisfying.

Two days to recover, wash kit and fettle bikes and on New Years Day I travelled to the inaugural Ripley Castle Cross, also in Yorkshire. There was also going to be more mud here, lots of it, but unlike the heavy conditions at Tod, the shocking forecast of low single digit temps, constant heavy rain and gale force winds meant a different challenge. All the more so as I'd identified this as a promising day out for the family. Faffing around worrying about my wife and children's comfort in the horrible conditions, I contrived to be late to the start and was still stripping off clothing and trying to find super-soigneur Jo Allen with the 'one minute to go' call. No panic then. The course was as superb as the weather was atrocious. I'm told people started dropping out fairly early on, succumbing to low temps and driving rain. In my panic I'd left a buff round my neck and my head fully covered under my helmet. As things got colder and wetter I was more than glad of that. 'Cross is a winter sport, and this went ahead in bad winter conditions. It was startling, like it had been at the 2012 3 Peaks Cyclocross, how some folk had failed to take this into account when they dressed for the event. I had a reasonable race, not as successful as Todmorden had promised but workmanlike nonetheless, after a ropey start. The lesson in dressing for the conditions continued as I rolled over the line - Jo shouted me immediately and I had warm clothes, hat and leg covering withing 30 secs. In the aftermath of the race, I saw many others wandering around, wet through, shivering and looking suitably miserable.

Ripley Castle (Pic: Jo Allen)

Wet (Pic: Jo Allen)

More frantic kit and bike washing and I was off next day to London. The promise of a visit to the London League scene, the first in many, many years saw me toe the line at Royal Bethlem Hospital, a week after Todmorden. Except I nearly didn't make it all. Racing 'cross is kit intensive. Racing 'cross in mid winter is really kit intensive. I'm normally pretty organised, trained up and routined thanks to the experienced Dave Haygarth tutoring me on our previous National Trophy forays in years gone by. But not being at home, and with the distractions of a stay at my parents I got it wrong. Wrong as in no shoes, wrong, left behind in the airing cupboard, drying. I'm not really gung ho enough to ride round on small SPD pedals in a mudbath, wearing trainers so resigned myself to an early drive back North with the kids. But, friend and Captain Cross stalwart, Konrad magicked some shoes and unfamiliar pedals up for me and it was game on. Another great course, more great mud, very friendly folk and a fun race starting at the back (no gridding) and working my way toward the front part of the race. And then a 6 hour drive home.

Moonlighting in the London League (Pic: Dave Hayward)

For several days after my kerstperiode I've been knackered. Racing in bad weather, challenging conditions, lots of travel have all contributed to tax this average punter's constitution. I have no idea what it must be like for the European pros, racing so often in such a short period of time. Sure they have teams around them to help, but still, it has merely increased my respect for those at the top of the sport. Fijne Kerst and veel success for your cyclocross in 2014.

More pics:

Tod cobbles. Pic Dave Haygarth

Pic with thanks from SportSunday

Tod running. Pic Dave Haygarth

Pic Dave Haygarth

Wasted. Pic Dave Haygarth

Pic Dave Haygarth

Flyover! Pic Jo Allen

Jough + umbrella. Pic Jo Allen

Bethlem. Pic Dave Hayward

Pic Jo Allen

Bike change. Pic Jo Allen

Rapha Super Cross - Broughton Hall

Pic: Ed Rollason

The Rapha Super Cross series has been in many ways a game changer for UK cyclocross. My first introduction to ‘cross was in the fields outside a windswept farm near Macclesfield in the 90s and the course, facilities and atmosphere were consequently somewhat agricultural. To be fair, my next race was held in some slightly more salubrious Northern parkland but the concept of small, facility-lite, muddy races around non-descript bits of grassland and watched under (usually) leaden winter skies by a faithful band of willing and more likely, un-willing spouses and kids was pretty much what you got in standard League ‘cross. They call ‘cross ‘Veldrijden’ in Flanders – field riding’ – and this is where most UK ‘cross seemed stuck (even at National Level where it wasn’t much more exciting either).

Except in Belgium and Holland it’s different despite the field riding origins. Frenzied crowds of 20,000 are common at big races especially over Christmas, beer tents are everywhere along with ubiquitous frites vans and there’s a pumping euro-techno soundtrack much of the time. ‘Cross is big business there. And so, with a nod to the Euro scene, some of the elements for the Super Cross series were born, adapted subtlely for the slightly less rabid UK ‘cross fan.

This year’s Northern Super Cross weekend was hosted at stately home Broughton Hall, nr Skipton and the following day, within sight of the Velodrome in Manchester. A series finale is next weekend in Alexandra Palace, London. On offer this year was racing for regular weekend warriors, followed by the UK’s finest riders slogging it out in teams for the Eilte race, the usual beer/frites combo, a Spiral of Doom, bands of various description, and a foam wall over the course and the ever-popular tequila shortcut for the fun race. And lots of atmosphere with plenty of spectators coming simply to watch and not participate.

I opted to ride the Broughton Hall round on the Saturday (heading to spectate at the Manchester round on the Sunday) and my front row gridding for the Vets race ensured that maximum effort would be required at the start on the rolling but tough course in the grounds of the Hall. What it lacked in technicality it made up for in off-camber, greasy corners. Low tyre pressures would be critical to avoid being dumped on the outside reaches of many of the bends. Seeking out alternative lines became important later in the race as the course cut up and muddied significantly – it’s always good to remember to look for how the course evolves over your race, especially if you are one of the early races on the day. A quick bike change toward the end and I rolled over the line in a reasonable 16^th. Normally a swig of water suffices at this point, but this being Super Cross it was a treat to have a large glass of Belgian beer thrust into my hand, obtained from the beer tent we had just been racing through.

Not all ‘cross races are like Super Cross and nor should they be. Grassroots ‘cross is still about volunteers putting on great races in local venues, on a shoestring budget. But for a couple of weekends a year, a little taste of Belgian ‘cross really does the trick.

Morvelo City Cross

They think it's all over.....well it is now. Just when they thought the winter cross season was put to bed, up pops an unruly upstart of a race to eke out a little more mud and fun before the long summer months draw in and us crossers long wistfully for cold wet December days once more.

Originally scheduled for a suitably grim-up-North derelict mill in Halifax (see this vid), by a convoluted and presumably somewhat stressful twist of fate, the whole event ended up at nearby location evocatively named Shroggs Tip. Not being known as one of Halifax's beauty spots meant Shroggs was perfect for this gritty urban evolution of UK 'cross racing. Think short and very sharp course, 20 minute heats or motos, scaffolding flyovers, a sand pit, cowbells, jumps, uber steep run ups and best of all a corner with cabbage-throwing kids lurking and heckling and you have the correct recipe for 'cross mayhem. With Planet X/On-One's very own Brant djing everything from Guru Josh to the 'Jim'll Fix It' theme tune from a custom Red Bull sound-truck, there was certainly an atmosphere across the Tip for the large number of spectators watching.

Local and recent 'cross convert Emma Osenton (I've taught her at least a quarter of what she knows...) worked like a trojan with her team of helpers to put on a unique event that was as hard on the legs as it was fun to ride. Not wishing to seem too keen and suffering from a severe case of 'my season is over you think I want to race?' blues, I tried to make sure it was debatable as to whether I would qualify for the final whilst extracting maximum fun. Unfortunately I miscalculated and found my name on the riders list for said final. With an hour to kill, the best option was to scoff a load of fresh wood-fired pizza from one of the many great food stalls, and man up for a proper race. For 20 mins. Which hurts I can promise you, as it became like the start of a cross race that never really settled down and just carried on at the same breakneck pace, with no rest between the many obstacles on the course.

Pic: Jo Hanglebads

Honour was sort of saved, I smiled for the hecklers and enjoyed the whoops and berms, and as ever the perversely steep run ups. So did everybody else I gather, revelling in the new format and new style of racing. I still want to carry on with good old fashioned 'cross races round a muddy field with a few hardy souls watching out of a sense of duty - that is the heart of cross for me - but City Cross has just won a place in my heart too as an alternative to the seriousness and geekery of full-on 'cross as it was just bloody good fun.

National Cyclocross Championships Bradford

The blue flowers of the Planet X 'Veldrijden' team were highly visible at Peel Park, Bradford at the recent National 'Cross Champs thanks to our crack team of photographers - Jo 'Hanglebads' Allen, Phil Haygarth and Dave Haygarth.

Kit:

Warm up:

Dave racing:

Alan racing:

Cyclocross: all of the faff

Here's a little film from Dave Haygarth featuring the two of us faffing. A lot...

It’s the National Championships at the weekend, and time to reflect as the season approaches its finale.

Cyclocross is a strange sport. It breeds and harbours obsessives. For a discipline that involves belting around muddy fields, there is an inordinate amount of fine-tuning, preparation and finesse… from the meticulously exact tyre pressures for the conditions in the correct tubulars with the correct tread, to the perfecting of the right line on the course recce at 8am in -2°C. The right clothes, the right food, just enough sleep, the right warm-up… the training, the bike fettling, and even the Dirt Bags to make sure we clean off properly after a play in the mud.

This short road movie is about all of the faff of cyclocross for team mate Alan Dorrington and I as we covered the northern half of England in the final three rounds of British Cycling’s National Trophy series.

Yeah, we raced, too. But that was just for a few minutes every fortnight.

La tempête

I had a little cry to myself as I headed toward the finish at Helwith Bridge. I usually feel a wave of emotion once down off the Penyghent track and heading for home on the last road section, but at the end of this year's Peaks my 'wobble' was particularly intense....

Part relief at being able to finish after all the preparation, part relaxation after several hours of deep concentration, and part a recognition of the almost primal feeling of having survived something quite threatening and at times deeply unpleasant.

Neil Welsh captured a pensive yours truly at the start

I know the Peaks well enough to know what I have to do to put together a successful ride. Even after some experience it still takes a bit of effort and luck to get through unscathed and enjoy the eclectic commentary as you ride up the finish funnel. This year was different though. The wind, the rain, the course conditions were as many observed, the worst they could remember and those with longer memories agreed that they were the worst in 30 or so years.

A quiet, grim mood seemed to grip all as the field hit the saturated bogs of the lower slopes of Simon Fell. There was almost no joking and chatting like in previous years - mostly an eerie silence among the riders. This soon gave way to greater anxiety as little tasters of the wind arrived from the left before morphing into a feeling of full survival mode by the top as the 50mph plus winds threatened to tear everyone's bike from their grasp, and throw any stumbling bodies after them for good measure. It was the same for all, though I claim a little special place in the insanity for riding with deep section wheels that turned my bike into even more of a sail. Muppet.

And so it continued. Wild, sometimes slow-motion but still careering descending in the howling gale down to Cold Cotes, a bike swap to get ride of the carbon sails, I mean wheels and then the relative aural calm of a howling tailwind to Bruntscar. A vicious two wheel slide over the cattle grid on the farm track to wake me up and then a repeat of the process as the wind wound up to maximum speed over the top of Whernside, again from the left but this time with a precipitous drop to right to punish a wobble on the narrow track.

I tried and failed to make the Whernside descent flow, it again proving to be my nemesis during the race. Got some of it right, lots of it not right. Must try harder next year.

Onto to Penyghent Lane in the now cold and heavy rain after a morale boosting cheer from the Cycle Sport Pendle gazebo crowd at Ribblehead, fretting about chilling down and becoming too cold to ride later in the race.

Luckily it eased for a bit, and the Lane passed in it's usual blur of pain with the brief excitement of 'The Puddle' which was indeed rideable down it's centre despite being almost up to my knees. Of course the weather worsened the higher I got as the wind returned for its final mad turn. Back down, praying I didn't make a mistake and puncture or worse, crash and then that slightly surreal feeling of tarmac again. And tears...

In amongst the wind, the bogs, the eye-stinging rain and the wrecked paths the only thing missing was cramp. And for that I am truly grateful. As grateful as to Mark my faithful support crew who turned up where I needed and expected him, without fail and was probably as wet and cold as me at times during the day.

I posted a time of 4:31 - over half an hour outside my recent best, and adrift of some of the riders I would normally measure myself against. Disappointing? A little, but underpinned by a deep sense of satisfaction as to having completed the race on a day that was too much for many folk. The Dirty Disco and the Planet X Ti were simply incredible on a day that tested equipment to the absolute limit. Almost no images of my ride seem to exist as evidence but the memories will be vivid for a long time to come.

T-363 till the next Peaks.

Criterium

It's an evocative enough word - Gallic in tone, though as ever Greek in origin. But one with a relatively short history, first having been coined in the 1970's.

And within that simple word, lies a whole world of intrigue, technical demands and, this being cycle racing, pain. Short and hard, sometimes technically demanding, the crit is not a million miles away from a cross race. Except where cross races don't usually deliver in speed terms, crits produce a speed element more akin to track racing. That speed, over a short course, turns out to be great training for cross and so crits have often been the staple summer diet for cross enthusiasts and specialists. Except this one.

I'd always eschewed crits - part fear, part dislike of a road scene that perhaps unfairly I'd felt to be cliquey and elitist. Either way, far removed from the experience of cross. But, peer pressure is a wonderful thing, and the sight of friend Mark riding his first crit at Preston on a Thursday night convinced me to dip a toe in.

Immediately addictive, it was of course nowhere near as bad as I had imagined. I've done a few now, getting better as I go. Or rather getting dropped less rapidly by the Elite/1/2 riders, getting in some good workouts and improving speed and confidence all the while.

Pic: Neville Llewellyn

Perhaps the most fun was a closed road crit round the lumps and bumps and copious cobbles of Lancaster City Centre. Add in the worst storm/rain event in many years and it was immediately a classic. All the more so as team mate Dave H got 2nd in what was a tailor made course for his skill and power.

I can feel a few more crits coming on before the summer is up - a perfect distraction before the real racing starts in September...........

Hit the North - where it hurts

All pics: Jo Allen

Hit the North isn't any particular type of event, cross, mtb, enduro - it's just Hit the North. That's it.

It defies categorisation really. You can have an entertaining little 'which is faster - cx or mtb?' argument, though to be fair it is almost always won by cross bikes. Dave H set up a carefully calibrated scientific experiment between On One Dirty Disco crossbike and Planet X Dirty Harry 29er mtb to settle this score for once and all - read further if you wish to find out the results.

Either way it lumbers on, this entertaining off-the-wall, hors-categorie of an event. Mint balls, brass and samba bands,a  horizontally laidback atmosphere and a constantly entertaining course - it's got it all. Brant from On One even brought his inflatable Inbred man to stand and menace the brass band in the sub-zero temperatures.

The racing was fast and furious in the frozen conditions with a bigger than ever field of varied athletic types and not-so-athletic types. Favourite memory? Piling into the base of a particularly steep and hard run up, and having to navigate around a large group of fellow competitors, off their (mountain) bikes and having a right good natter. Mid race. But that's the point - whilst I was there to race, they were there to ride. Each getting exactly what they wanted from the occasion.

Of course, in true Hit the North tradition, we weren't going to get away with just minimal mud and fast conditions....  It started snowing on the last lap, slickening up the course a little prior to a mad mass scramble to exit as rapidly as possible from a by then fully snowed up car park and approach road. Which was a real shame, as half the fun of the event is the apres-race stuff - food, chat, eclectic prizegiving and tall story telling...

Todmorden Cross

Some fixtures on the calendar just stand out. At National level, Bradford and Sutton Park stand head and shoulders above the rest for course quality, atmosphere and simply creating a buzz. A step down from that rarified level, and moving into local League territory, the Todmorden Cross has carved it's own legendary position. After just 3 years in the running.

That said, cross is not new to Todmorden's Centre Vale Park but it had long been absent on the cross calendar till mountainbiker and editor of Single Track magazine, Chipps Chippendale set about restoring that iconic cobbled climb to it's former legendary status as part of the tough Yorkshire Points League. Add in some vertiginous terrain, big knowledgeable holiday crowds and a dose of Belgian-cross fairy dust in the form of free Duvel beer for finishers and voila - there's Tod Cross in a nutshell.

Dave cleaned the cobbled climb each lap. Strong. Pic: Christine Balshaw

Previous editions have been reasonably muddy, or iced solid depending on the winter, but torrential rain for days beforehand meant only one thing - a real mudder. A Planet X trio of last year's Vets winner Dan Cook, last year's 3rd place finisher Dave Haygarth and myself lined up for a (predictably) 120+ strong Vets field. Dan and Dave set about tearing off the line and getting themselves onto the podium again while I made a bit of a schoolboy error and picked the boggiest part of the starting line to make my spectacular starting effort, involving much wheelspinning and little forward momentum.

Dan grits his teeth on the big climb. Pic: Chistine Balshaw

Luckily Tod is a course where you can recover from a bad start to a large degree, it consisting of a couple of huge efforts, including the infamous cobbled climb, and some wide tracks for overtaking and descending whilst you recover.

When the mud is as thick as it was, the racing becomes dominated by momentum - gliding from one bog to the next, and finding subtle lines of least resistance or the perfect place to run rather than ride. I positively enjoy the on-off nature of a real mudder and opted to run many short, and even longer sections where others struggled for grip and momentum. As a result, I moved up from somewhere in the 60s to 22nd by the finish, whilst Dave stormed through to 3rd again with Dan pushing hard behind for 5th.

Probably best to keep your mouth shut when the mud is flying.... Pic: Christine Balshaw

And on a course that contains more vertical height gain per lap than some courses have per race, the disc advantage of the Dirty Discos was abundantly clear. Tod has some fast and swoopy descents and it gave me great satisfaction, and provided some amusement for me, to hear others braking long before I even considered reaching for the levers, diving through under braking to take another place. One fellow rider even shouted 'easy when you've got bloody discs' as I shot past him into a particularly slippy bend. The Discos didn't present a clogging issue at all either despite the thick mud - Dave riding his starting bike all race without changing, and me only changing once to keep my pit crew amused.....

The glow of the complimentary Duvel has long since faded, and my kit has just about come clean. But there's a little Tod Cross sized hole in my life now, waiting till Jan 2013 to be filled.

Check out this great little video from Benji Haworth too. Lovely


Todcross from Benjamin Haworth on Vimeo.

Friendship is........

...... a helping hand. Neighbour, training buddy and friend Mark Turner shoves me on the way to my/our only podium of the season - 3rd in the Xmas Madison Cross at Clayton, Manchester. Well done us.

Pic taken by SportSunday, regular supporters of NW cross. More on them soon.......

Rapha Super Cross events in October

"MUD. SWEAT. FRITES. COWBELLS.
Quite possibly the most entertaining three days of racing the UK has ever seen."


Bold claim indeed, but there's a buzz building about this race series with coverage on the Rapha website, Facebook and every cross riders favourite, twitter. 


Just another workmanlike cross race series, like a second tier National Trophy series? Err, no not really. At all. First off, Rapha are throwing a lot of resources, and influence behind this in a way I can't remember ever being done for cross racing before. Think pro racing, amateur racing, scenic courses, cowbells, Belgian beer, frites, a dj and sound system, marshmallow pelting and even a tequila shortcut.


In other words, a good deal like a proper Belgian cross with entertainment, refreshment (mostly liquid), a high degree of silliness and of course some excellent cross racing thrown in for good measure.


Why am I excited, nay giddy, about this? Mostly because it is unlike anything you will have ever seen at a UK cross race, and much closer to the vibrant US and Euro scenes which encourage spectating as much as racing, and therefore provide a much livelier atmosphere than the usual spartan muddy field/urban parkland/sportscentre venue. This for me is the missing link in UK cross - the chance to turn it from a diehard's niche form of cycle racing to something much bigger altogether. And more fun.


I'm also a bit giddy as I've been invited to help promote and hopefully, ride in the events, guesting in the candy striped colours of Rapha-Focus . More on that later as details emerge.


In the meantime, book the following in your diaries:

• Saturday October 15
  Lake Windermere, Cumbria
  Brockhole Visitors Centre 
• Sunday October 16
  Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
  Huddersfield New College 
• Sunday October 23
  Alexandra Palace, London

You don't have to be wanting to race - just come along and spectate as the whole thing promises to be, well, rather super.

Strada Handbuilt Wheels - Major Tom offroad test

Dedicated followers of cross wheelsets won't have failed to notice the arrival in the market of the Velocity Major Tom tub wheels, handbuilt by Strada, not least because I have been banging on about them via a number of channels. And very taken with them I have certainly been.

Whilst I have ridden and reviewed them in detail for road use, I had yet to comment on their ability in their true vocation on the course. Cue some gluing of brand new FMB Gripos and a handily scheduled Yorkshire Summer Cross series race for an ideal opportunity to look at their performance off road.

I've commented on the quality of the build in the previous review, but after some decent abuse, I mean riding (sorry Jonathon from Strada), on cobbles and the Dickensian potholed roads in my part of the world, the Toms remain absolutely true to the micron. I've never used wheels before that have remained that true after that type of use. Impressive.

Gluing wise, as suspected they are a dream for the wide, flat base tapes found on FMBs and Dugast cross tubs. Narrower carbon, as well as alloy rims can make it harder to seat the tub and get a solid gluing surface. Cheats like gluing base tape fillers in the centre to flatten the profile of a too concave rim profile never feel good and add extra faff to the gluing process.

No worries here, the tubs seat without any fuss and maximum security. The Major Tom rim profile will also work well for Vittorias and other similar tubs with a central seam bulge on the base tape as there is still a channel for this to sit in, whilst the important outer contact patches at the rim edge remain in close contact with the basetape of the tub.

And so to the ride off road......

The race I did was one of the Huddersfield rounds and came at the end of a pretty dry period. Hence the conditions were dry and fast. Not necessarily usual cross fare, and for a while I pondered whether it would have been more useful to try the wheels in normal, muddy conditions. on reflection, I think not. In then mud speeds are lower and what can reveal the most about a wheelset for cross is the way it performs in carving turns, and in the way it accelerates out of corners, not grinding through the mud. The course that evening had multiple 180 degree turns, fast cambered and off cambered turns, some very greasy and some bumpy sections where maintaining speed was crucial. It was in fact an ideal testing ground for the Toms.

They were simply flawless. As they are light and very stiff, I found them spinning up really quickly out of the many tight turns and switchback sections. They may even have flattered my far-from-race-honed form too - it certainly felt like it. The stiffness was also on show in the slow turns in these sections. Breaking hard from speed into these 180 degree momentum sappers was controlled and predictable - the braking surface is generous and well milled and contributed to plenty of power from the TRPs I was using. Into the turn and the stiffness allowed a good amount of lean and pushing of the front wheel through the turn for grip.

I am not a particularly technical rider, and have always struggled on this kind of tight turn, blaming my lankiness and high centre of gravity for poor performance (ahem). That night, however, I was losing very little if any time to riders around me and enjoyed pushing for more speed through them each lap. I firmly believe the Toms were helping me on that count.

Finally, a superb section of downhill right and left through changing cambers allowed me to establish that they work well at speed too. Flicking the bike rapidly from side to side through this section was a joy and it felt so stable at the front and the back as the wheels did their thing.

There are a reasonable amount of alloy tubular wheelsets out there in the market and the Major Toms are perhaps a little more expensive than some of these offerings (though not all). They do however have one clear advantage for me - their handbuilt quality - and this makes them a winner and worth paying a little more for. Their performance is spot on for the weekend cross warrior and will not leave you wanting more. Their overall quality really shines through and will reward you for many seasons and because of this I'm confidently recommending them to lots of friends and fellow cross riders who are looking for a new wheelset.

RCS at the Lincoln GP - an Andy Waterman film

Andy Waterman came up to ride and photograph the recent Ronde van Oost Lancashire and is fast forging a reputation as a great photographer and now film maker.

Follow the Rapha Condor Sharp team at the Lincoln GP in this cheekly little film with some stylish footage and behind the scenes action.

Warning: contains cobbles and stylish clothing! What's not to like?


Lincoln GP 2011 - Rapha Condor Sharp - Chasing the Team from Condor Cycles on Vimeo.

Hit the North 2.5

Image: Jo 'Hanglebad'


Don't read this - read these accounts..

Dave Powell aka twinkyldave

Dave Haygarth

Organiser Jason Miles aka Mr Terrahawk

Oh and a whole hard drives worth of photos from David and Laura at Sportsunday here and here.


For the record, I rode it, and it broke both me and my bike. And I loved every slick, rutted, rocky, boggy, out-of-control, greasy, cobbled, slurried moment of it.

Jason's unique race is now an institution. And a great example of how to do things challenging, competitive, social and just plain fun all in the one package.

derby nationals

All photos: Joolze Dymond (from British Cycling website)

It had been a while since I had ridden a Nationals - 19 years to be exact.

I placed 25th (if I remember rightly) in 1992 at Harlow - got a mention on Grandstand, live, from (Sir) Hughie Porter and then disappeared off the radar, not riding another again.

Until last Saturday. I won't bore you with an in depth account - grab me at a race and I'll happily do that face to face. Suffice to say, I had a superb day riding the National Veteran 40+ race, shaperoned and looked after by Dave Haygarth and those very nice people at Wheelbase Cycles. Being helped with bikes, preparation and pitting makes a big difference at any race, but particularly at a race of that standard.

I had a solid race, complete with minor mechanical and pitched up 35th out of a field of 90 or so. Season long colleagues at League level were behind me, including a couple of other riders whom I measure myself against. It was all in all, a brilliant way to round off a season, one in which I have made some big advances in technique and fitness, and consequently produced some much better results.




Lessons learnt?

Get a training partner for regular outdoor cross intervals - Dave is much quicker than me (he placed 12th at the Nationals), but shared lunchtime enthusiasm, skills and pain on our local circuits, in all weathers. Cue massive jump in fitness. Many thanks.

Practice your offroad skills - time and time again. Unless you are Nick Craig (Vets National Champ), but even he probably practices them from time to time.

Learn how to race - this is harder to explain, but in effect get the 'mindset'. Know when to relax, when to push, how to hold it together if you crash or bobble. No matter where you race within the field, ride with insight and self-knowledge and make the most of your skills, equipment and fitness.

Have fun - I had more fun, with less races, than ever before. I'm happy to finish the season on a high. It only makes the anticipation for a new season all the greater.

lessons learnt - part 2

It's fair to say I'm pretty cheesed off with myself after the Horwich CC Humdinger Cross yesterday in Bolton. Held on a beautiful but sub zero day, the course was the usual high standard that Leverhulme Park and the Horwich team offers.

It went something like this:

Warmed up, feeling good, opted for file treads as course was completely frozen and extremely fast. Kept nicely warm for the start.

Blinding start, snuck in behind the gridded front row, eyeing up Roy Hunt's wheel as a good one to follow.

It was, and I got the best start of all season, being much more aggressive after practising starts during the week.

Slotted in to the front file of riders as the course narrowed and kept on the wheels nicely through the technical sections. There was some aggressive overtaking at times by some riders, par for the course, the best (worst) one of which ended in a wild unsustianable dive up the inside by one guy, only to be brought to an abrupt halt by an unyielding bush. I almost laughed out loud...

Back into the race and I was flowing nicely, moving up to 13th and 3rd Vet as fast starters faded and one or two overcooked it on the slippy sections.

And so it was for the next few laps, not catching the group in front but not being caught either. Loving the fast and rutted nature of the course and feeling confident with tires and pressure.




And then after half distance I noticed the first slip from my file treads, just after lapping team mate Mark. Put it down to an overexuberant dive into the corner ahead of him. But it happened again and I began to notice little parts of the line and ground getting a sheen. Parts that I had ridden comfortably whilst others bobbled, caused me to bobble. A hundred riders, passing over the ground in minus 2 degrees were simply polishing the surface to a mirror like condition.

The black ice became more and more apparent, and I became more and more anxious. There had already been some heavy falls, including one nasty head injury, and all that flow and pressure to push on just began to evaporate. I tried to keep things smooth, and focus on maintaining momentum but just seemed to go slower and slower.

Riders I had passed started to appear behind and eventually all came past. It was the usual - once you lose your mojo in a cross race, it can be nigh on impossible to claim it back.

Result? A loss of ten places, and about 4 on the last lap.

Pissed off? How to snatch an average result from potentially my best of the season. Aargh.

Lessons learnt? Not sure really. I have no excuses, I don't think file tread was the wrong decision - ice is ice after all. I simply have to learn to relax more and be braver when courses are iced up.

Compensations? I stayed upright whilst many didn't and got to drive the kids home, in one piece and not bruised and battered.

And Dave Haygarth took some fab photos, above and below.

sp hamme zogge - another tough race

Hamme Zogge always produces tough races - think Belgian Champs Jan 2008 or the Superprestige later that year:



Sundays Superprestige race was no different and topped off a trio of wins for Sven Nys in really tough conditions. Had there been a womens race then you would have been a brave person to bet against Helen Wyman getting a parellel 3rd win too.



Click on the playing vid for full screen.

The 8 and a 1/4 minute lap contained nearly 40% running (time wise) - that's about 25minutes of running. In a bike race. A cross race more specifically.

Just saying.

niel jaarmarkt cross - oof

Another of those midweek Belgian horrorshows - storm + rain = monstrous mud conditions. And as it it is Belgium, thousands turned out on a Thursday in their wellies to watch some enthralling racing.

Sven got all Koppenberg on them again, but more importantly so did Helen Wyman:



Helen has clearly moved up a level this season, and is forging a reputation as nigh on unbeatable when the conditions get really bad.

Niels Albert battled hard and even with a pit mix up from Sven's crew, could not best the master of tough conditions. Click on the playing video to watch full screen - Tom Meusen gets blown off his feet coming into the pits carrying his bike at 0:57, and Sven takes a breather in the pits at 01:20. Epic stuff all round.



Pics used are by Kristof Ramon - superb.

Anybody still moaning that cross has gone soft with all the focus on fast UCI courses? I thought not - it's a winter sport with winter weather. More of the same please.