This weeks blog is mostly about the Central CX League round 3 hosted by Kettering's Youth Cycling Club, KCC Cyclones. It was a hell of a lot of work but worth every ounce of effort.
My very own SuperSam
I was introduced to Cyclocross when Sam started at the Cyclones and it was very much love at first sight. The sport is ridiculous. On machines that are like road bikes but with knobbly tyres, incredibly fit super skinny cyclists ride round in circles as many times as possible in an allotted time period. Trailing behind these high speed cyborgs are blokes like me. It's hell! It hurts. Your legs burn, your lungs ache and your heart feels like it will burst through your chest. Then it finishes. You stand round talking tall tales with other Lycra clad loonies. Then you all agree how brilliant it was and start getting excited about the next race.
Giant wooden Red Kite...much easier to get a picture of!
For me though, this was not about taking part. It was about taking our turn to provide others with their CX fix. The venue was Prologis Park and that's where the thanks need to start. Prologis have been very accommodating, not only it allowing us to use the venue but also in cutting the track for us.
This was our first year organising the event without Mark Evans. After some sterling efforts he's taken a break from coaching and organising. However Mark's influence was clear in Roland's course design. Which leads me nicely to the next lot of thanks. Roland Bell worked harder than anyone for this year's event.
Don't worry...Bruce can't read
After weeks of planning we were suddenly on the day before the race. Earlier in the week we had a team of parents raking mown grass. There was more raking to do. We were worried that there were a lot of thorns and the course would be a puncture fest. Then we had staking out to do, followed by taping. Taping...all I can say is thank goodness for Dom Bell. That young man sorted out the mess that Olly and I had made of the half pipe. We were literally flummoxed by the whole thing. Dom on the other hand knew what he was doing.
We started at 9.30 on Saturday morning and didn't get the course done until nearly 17.00. I did 32 000 steps on Saturday. Bruce my dog was a big help, you know, finding logs, keeping us entertained and all that but I think he was a bit relieved when I took him home. Look at him flaked out on his table...he didn't move for quite some time!
I may have taken Bruce home but I was soon back at Prologis with my bike. I wanted to do a test lap, especially as I wasn't riding in the race the next day. Olly, Andy Brown and I had a mess around in the halfpipe and then I did a full lap with Olly. The plan was to ride together but I couldn't keep up, that long day had wrecked me. Olly must be made of sterner stuff! The test lap confirmed something else...the ground was rock hard! It was lovely to set up on a sunny day where we all caught the sun a little. However this was not CX weather! 2018 at Kettering would be totally lacking mud!!!
Test lap...
Halfpipe shenanigans
All that course building might sound a bit much but it's not even half of it. Liz did a great job organising a marshals rota, there was the risk assessment (which I think Roland did, I have a dim awareness of looking at it at a meeting,) catering needed arranging. Victoria was amazing at getting the OUP car park and liaising with everyone. Then of course the Central team turned up with all their gear such as the timing chips. Our Cyclones parents were on registration and the cake stall. It's mind boggling how much went on and if I've forgotten anything then well...sorry just let me know and I'll edit it in!!! Oh yeah...The commisaires!!! You can't have a race without them.
On Sunday I arrived at Prologis at 7.30. Loads of people were already there and gazebos were being set up. I dropped load of cupcakes off to a cake stand that was bulging with kind donations and then headed off to look for jobs to do. I was soon banging stakes in for the sponsors banners. Then I had time to enjoy a superb chilli sausage roll and check in on Sam before heading off to my first Marshall point at 9.00.
The racing was superb. I was very proud of our kids in orange as they raced against some very talented youngsters. They're tough too, surviving crashes and suffering for their sport.
Jake Bird is a regular to the podium. It was great to see Jackson, Lukas and Thomas also get in on the act.
Charlie Stockham takes on the tricky camber
Yes that is another picture of Sam...it's my blog and I'm a proud Dad!!!
After being on dog walker watch I swapped over to the crossing points. I was getting bored up a corner on my own, until Lisa came to take over with Ian's coffee (which ended up as my coffee because we couldn't find Ian,) the move to a crossing point couldn't have been more different. It was hectic actually! The upside was that I saw a lot of the racing. The adult races had big fields and some serious quality cyclists.
In my age group race the winner was just phenomenal. He just obliterated the course with consistent laps of around seven and half minutes. It was also good to see a lot of the Cyclones dads in this race. What I really like is the broad spectrum of cyclists who take part and the spirit in which the races are conducted. It's incredibly hard but also incredibly nice!
As the day continued people kept bringing me drinks and Mike Deely brought me a bacon and sausage roll. The atmosphere was wonderful and I enjoyed all of the races. We had nearly 400 riders in the end which is just brilliant as this is a good fundraiser for the Cyclones.
The day flew by and before we knew it the last race of the was finishing. Marshal duties then shifted to course take down. For official race results see here: http://centralcxl.org.uk/2018-results/
Mike had the genius idea of driving his Hilux around the course as we piled stakes and tape in the back. With space inside at a premium Dom hitched a ride on the back. This isn't as dangerous a it looks as Mike kept the speed right down.With everyone pitching in we cleared the place in less than two hours.
I'm not going to lie...I was shattered by the time I got home on Sunday. Learning that my father in law had made me a chilli was very welcome. I had a few beers and just vegged out! Others did more work than me, I can only imagine how tired they felt! My overwhelming feeling is one of pride. KCC Cyclones is a great club and the way everyone go involved just proves that. I'm looking forward to doing this all again next year.
Before then, the good news is that I've been accepted onto the British Cycling Level 2 coaching course and will start this in a few weeks. So I guess I best get some rest.
In the meantime if you want to know what's been happening at the elite end of the sport, I'd recommend having a look here:
and if you want a Cyclocross masterclass:
Happy pedalling
