Home race, Ashwell and Superprestige Ruddervoorde.

I havent blogged over the last 3 weeks, been a bit busy!  I'll wrap up the eastern races quickly to get to the Belgium story asap!

The 3rd round of the Eastern Cross League was held less than a mile from my house at Springfield Park, where most of my training takes place! I knew i would have to win this race as people from the area would be watching and i had to impress so straight from the gun i went for it and managed to get a decent gap, helped by my in depth knowledge of the venue.

The course had 3 sets of steps, cambers and lots of corners which i loved so i was riding around the course and enjoying it to the max! I finished with a two minute gap over second and enjoyed my victory!

Next up was the CC Ashwell cross race in Baldock. This was probably the hottest cross race i have ridden and the fast terrain made it hard to get a gap. After the first lap i was leading by a matter of meters but i managed to pull out on the technical bits.

I was suffering towards the end with the heat but managed to fend off Cam Woolsey who was riding incredibly well by over a minute. I was planning on riding the London league race at Herne Hill the coming day but with the heat i decided a ride to the Blue Egg would be much better for me! 

Last Saturday me, dad and Ivan ( AKA Peanut) travelled to Ruddervoorde for the first round of the Superprestige. 

We met up with Hugo Robinson the national Junior champ, and his dad,  Hugo and I rode the course a few times. We both liked it, it was quite fast and included some switchbacks up and down mounds so it was technically challenging!

We returned back at the apartment and i rested up whilst dad and Peanut went for a few drinks. Overnight it rained and rained so the race would be muddy.

We arrived at the venue with 3 hours to spare, and whilst returning from signing on i met Stefan Wyman and Helen, a brilliant way to start the day! I then went back to the car and prepared, made wheel changes etc... 

I went and warmed up, before being gridded on 3rd row which is great considering im normally gridded 3rd from last! On the start line i was thinking about how tough the start would be, pelting it down a road and then doing a tight right between two houses and through a backgarden. Crashes would be inevitable. I got a great start and spent much of the race in 19th place, battling with a swiss rider. 

I really blew in the last 2 laps and finished up in 25th place, one which i know i can improve on. Afterwards we spoke to The Wymans and Ian Field who i can honestly say are thoroughly nice people, and they gave me some tips and advice! Overall it was a great weekend and i cant wait for the next belgie trip!

Photo by Dirk Bruylant, you can see more from the race on his website here. Bedankt Dirk!

Photo: Dirk Bruylant (website)

So, as usual a massive thanks to Ciclos Uno's Trev, Jane, Ewan and James for keeping me constantly kitted out. Also, thank you to Ivan Burch for helping out massively and keeping spirits high! Colnago/Windwave for providing me with framesets for 2011/2012 (Watch this space!), Stefan and Helen Wyman and Ian Field for the chat and advice, and finally to Dirk Bruylant for the fantastic photo!