A 2022/23 Cross Compendium!!!

F**king hell this season’s gone well!

To sum up the season it started great, it got better, and it ended the best. The season started with an array of wins at regional races testing my form and a third at the Derby National Trophy. It got better with win on the amazing course at Falkirk National Trophy followed by a disappointing eighth at South Shields influenced by a chain off. An unexpected win was next on a flat muddy course at Torbay NT and I salvaged a third at Barnoldswick when I was ill. Winning the Scottish National Cyclocross Championships topped off the year.

The Trophy series finished at Cyclopark where I came a disappointing fourth. As a rider, one race can change your season from being the dream season to the worst of your life. I had one of those moments, despite me knowing deep down that I was being unfair to myself. Coming from a who-wins-takes-it-all scenario where I lost first place in the National Series to Oscar Amey, i felt like a failure.

To anyone else this season looked incredible, two wins and two thirds in Nationals should have had me buzzing. If I had been told even just these results at the start of the season I would have been delighted, yet as always expectations adjust and you somehow end up disappointed with even the best results. Despite all this I leant from that weekend and used it to win the best race of my life the next weekend.

And so, it came, my season target, the biggest race of the season, the British National Cyclocross Championships. Coming into this race, I had only one goal, to win and I knew exactly how I was going to do it. Before the race I decided to go hard or go home, i decided to attack from the start of the race and cause the selection early on, and it worked. After a poor start from other favourites, Leon Atkins and I got away and battled for three laps until a mistake on his part let me get away, grow the gap, and go on to win the race.

I cannot describe how happy I am with this season, I learnt loads and won nearly as much. I am so thankful.