Cross is BACK and I am all here for it!
At the start of September, I had some time off the bike after a long XC season which finished with the World Championships. I then squeezed in one cyclocross training session before we were quickly into the 4-races-in-a-week-grab-some-UCI-points Hope Supercross Series. But my form was not going to be great after some illness, tapering for the World Champs, and then time off.
The first three rounds were at Wyke Sports Center, and the final round was at Hunsworth Showground, where I had not been since Covid return-to-racing days in 2020.
The first race was dry and punchy, mostly consisting of tight corners, hard accelerations, off cambers and some stairs. I was gridded second but wasn't quite ready for the hard and manic start of a cross race meaning I got shuffled back and lost some positions. I chased hard but frustratingly I crashed on the second last lap on the hurdles causing me to lose another position. I held on to finish in 7th, while not quite the position I was hoping for I was pleased with how I managed to fight back.
Race two was forecast for some light mist in the morning, which made the course a little slicker. The course was different to the previous day with some longer straights and some sections reversed. Towards the end of practice and for the start of the race it started to rain properly. I got a much better start managing to get into the lead group, however the course started to deteriorate more than I expected leaving me without enough grip. This caused me to crash and lose touch with the front group. I kept chasing and held on for 4th, a nice improvement but still not quite where I wanted to be.
The third race was still at Wyke with yet another setup. Despite getting a good start being in the 2nd group, my legs just were not there, causing me to give up a little and drop from the group. I was then caught by the third group, and I started rallying a bit. However, my bars slipped while hopping the hurdles which lost me more time. I held off the next group for the last lap to finish in a frustrating and disappointing 11th.
For the final round at Hunsworth, I was determined to improve after my lackluster previous performance. The course was hillier with more descending corners, some challenging off-cambers as well as a short set of steps.
At the final round I got a decent start and after a bit of barging with some foreign riders I was just behind the lead group. I caught the group, however, just as I caught them my front wheel loosened throwing off my bike handling for a lap before I managed to tighten it while running the stairs. By this time, I had dropped from the group ahead and despite my best efforts chasing I finished in another acceptable 7th. Back in the UCI points and an improvement from the previous race meant I was fairly pleased with my result.
Overall, the results are not at the level I would like to be but were ok considering the loss of form, some mechanical issues, and some cross rustiness. Overall, it was a great training block and it was good to get some early season UCI points in the bag. I am now looking forward to the National Trophy series and heading over to Europe for some races.
As always, a massive thanks to my wonderful parents and Pedal Potential and Braveheart Fund for supporting me.
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