Hi Tom,

quite a few of the club now have cyclo cross bikes and i know one or two crazies who can prob be persuaded to have a go on a mountain bike. I agree, a race on our doorstop. we should try and support it. 

Lorainne… this has your name on it!

Some info about the race here. 

I'm pretty sure you can just turn up, pay your tenner, and race. That right, Tom? I didn't need a BC racing licence the one I did before, last summer. (I don't have a BC licence now either, so if I do need one for this one race, I probably won't be there.)

Cheers, Tom. I'm unlikely to do many cross races over the course of the year, and don't need a licene for TTing or (since I'm not bothered about points) for mountain bike racing, so it's much cheaper for me to pay for a day licence when needed than to buy an annual racing licence. 

I'll see you there, all being well. A few others have said they'll give this a go too: Steve Hopper, Mike Watson, and Nick Jackson. Rich Waller was a maybe too. What about you lot, Pickering Three?

dont forget…this sunday. should be a good laugh! see you all there!

Good luck to all on Sunday. just remind me of when and where incase anyone one wants to come and see you all having fun in the mud!

Four of us turned up for the North East cyclo-cross race at Caedmon School in Whitby today: Mike Thompson, Paul Lane, me, and <insert name here>, whom I've met at at least one Richardsons CC club meeting, but whose name I have subsequently forgotten. Sorry!

There was a strong wind that made it hard in places, as it's quite exposed at Caedmon School, but the course wasn't nearly as muddy as I'd hoped it would be. Going was pretty firm, albeit on mud that was quite clay-like, so increasingly draggy. I'd have preferred worse conditions. Mike said the same when we bumped into each other before the start. 

The race was a bit congested at first but soon started to string out. As it was around school playing fields, there was nothing technical - some tight corners, off-camber slopes, and a steep slope up and down. There were also a couple of planks on their side, so that the CX riders would dismount and hurdle them. Since I was on my 29er - and can't do CX dismounts very quickly - I just lifted the front wheel up and rode into/over them. Likewise, many ran up the steep bank. I had a granny ring, so rode up it. The fast guys  (those who coudn't ride it on 36 x 28 or whatever their smallest gear was - though plenty did) went about as quick by jumping off and running these bits, but I'd have been much slower getting off the bike.

The pace was pretty keen. These CXers are fit! Some of them have bike handling skills like Bambi on ice, though. I saw people falling off, riding through the marker tape on corners, and braking hard to go around the inside line even when the outside line was faster. They didn't half shift on the straight bits, mind you.

I saw young Mike once or twice when he passed me, in pursuit of Malton's Tom Stockill, though I missed his over the bars dismount at the hurdles. It didn't slow him down that much. He finished as the fastest junior rider. Result.

I also saw <insert name here> when he came past me about half way through the race. I didn't really see Paul until the end. He said he was overgeared (biggest sprocket 25) and too stretched out. 

We had some RCC support too, which was great. Thanks, fellers!

It was good to get out and get racing, and the race was well organised. I was surprised how fast some of the local riders I've bumped into at other (MTB and TT) races were. In the last CX race I did in summer, only Tom Stockill lapped me; this time, he lapped me twice, and most others I knew in the race lapped me once. Still, Paul and me agreed with each other before the start that we were using this race to kickstart our training through public humiliation. Job done!

There's a write up on the BC website here.

Full results aren't up yet, though, AFAIK.

Here's my Garmin plot of the race.

Dan, nice write up!

You maxed out at 228 bpm. Pehaps you should get yourself checked out.