Monday 31 December 2018
Friday 14 December 2018
A Cyclocross Podium!
So it finally happened. In my 9th season of cyclocross I got a podium. I am not ashamed to say that I felt rather emotional at my 2nd place in the Doonbank Trofee B Race. Years of travelling all over Scotland , breaking and running with bikes through Somme like fields of muck finally brought some success.
The day was set up brilliantly for success. The highlight of my day was actually watching my daughter in the U12 fun run race. At age 6 she gamely pedalled her frog bike through 4 laps of the juniors course with a big smile on her face.
The course at Rozelle had been changed up by Ayr Burners and it was a belter. The weather and the course changes made it a faster drier race which I prefer (I'm no runner and I am now back to having no pit bike) as it suits my cycling.
I think the Super Quaich A and B race formats have been a success. Lets face it, for the most part in the seniors and A races we are going to pick a winner from 1 of 3 people and those 3 generally make up the podiums. At times in the seniors you can get a bit disheartened when you've trained hard, eaten right, prepared properly and mid race you know you are going to come in the high 30's or 40's position wise.
The B race however gives you a chance at success. I actually find myself racing harder because I know my place has a value and my racing is worthwhile, I'm not just going to be a course obstacle for Lines, McDonald, Wardell etal.
Key as always to success is a good start and I made sure I pushed myself as high up the grid as possible. I've watched too many similar ability riders stay away from me simply because they had a better grid position. I fired off then from the start and got myself in the top 10 early on.
The last few months I have actually taken a break from cross. I kind of felt I'd lost the love for it a bit. I changed my diet completely and training regime and targeted Doonbank as a return. I managed this return 20lbs lighter and definitely more toned and stronger for ditching turbo sessions for HIIT workout sessions and it paid off.
On the first lap I felt strong and the fast start didn't leave me burst. Over the course of the first half of the race I pulled myself up to 5th position. I always feel stronger towards the end of a race and in a sport that is fast and furious I took my time to reel in 3rd and 4th place to move to second with 2 laps remaining. I was never going to catch 1st but on the second last lap pushed hard to consolidate my position and then played it sensibly in the last lap to keep my second place.
I crossed the finish line in 2nd place in a B race pumping my fist like I'd won the world champs and promptly pulled my brakes, stopped and cried into my hands. I've won small mountain bike races before but this was my greatest race. I finally managed to coincide preparation, fitness, bike and body for success after 9 years of hard hard slog.
It may be the last podium I get in CX but I will be forever proud of it.
Thanks to Ayr Burners for a great course , event and day and thank you to the Super Quaich for giving us also-rans the chance at glory.
The day was set up brilliantly for success. The highlight of my day was actually watching my daughter in the U12 fun run race. At age 6 she gamely pedalled her frog bike through 4 laps of the juniors course with a big smile on her face.
The course at Rozelle had been changed up by Ayr Burners and it was a belter. The weather and the course changes made it a faster drier race which I prefer (I'm no runner and I am now back to having no pit bike) as it suits my cycling.
I think the Super Quaich A and B race formats have been a success. Lets face it, for the most part in the seniors and A races we are going to pick a winner from 1 of 3 people and those 3 generally make up the podiums. At times in the seniors you can get a bit disheartened when you've trained hard, eaten right, prepared properly and mid race you know you are going to come in the high 30's or 40's position wise.
The B race however gives you a chance at success. I actually find myself racing harder because I know my place has a value and my racing is worthwhile, I'm not just going to be a course obstacle for Lines, McDonald, Wardell etal.
Key as always to success is a good start and I made sure I pushed myself as high up the grid as possible. I've watched too many similar ability riders stay away from me simply because they had a better grid position. I fired off then from the start and got myself in the top 10 early on.
The last few months I have actually taken a break from cross. I kind of felt I'd lost the love for it a bit. I changed my diet completely and training regime and targeted Doonbank as a return. I managed this return 20lbs lighter and definitely more toned and stronger for ditching turbo sessions for HIIT workout sessions and it paid off.
On the first lap I felt strong and the fast start didn't leave me burst. Over the course of the first half of the race I pulled myself up to 5th position. I always feel stronger towards the end of a race and in a sport that is fast and furious I took my time to reel in 3rd and 4th place to move to second with 2 laps remaining. I was never going to catch 1st but on the second last lap pushed hard to consolidate my position and then played it sensibly in the last lap to keep my second place.
I crossed the finish line in 2nd place in a B race pumping my fist like I'd won the world champs and promptly pulled my brakes, stopped and cried into my hands. I've won small mountain bike races before but this was my greatest race. I finally managed to coincide preparation, fitness, bike and body for success after 9 years of hard hard slog.
It may be the last podium I get in CX but I will be forever proud of it.
Thanks to Ayr Burners for a great course , event and day and thank you to the Super Quaich for giving us also-rans the chance at glory.
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