On Friday, My Dad, Kevin Barker, team mechanic for Ciclos Uno Ewan Hendon and myself carted off to Belgium for round #3 of the UCI World Cup Cyclo Cross at Koksijde, Belgium where i would be racing in the 'Nieuwelingen' support race. Koksijde is rennouned for being both a mentally and physically tough course, and was one i desperately wanted to ride, even if it was not for a race. With the 2012 Cross world champs being hosted at Koksijde, there were some changes in the course-Which in my opinion, took away the feel and the atmosphere that you usually get at Koksijde. This aside, i got a good few laps practice in on Friday, where it was raining almost continuously, and i liked the course which suited me due to long stretches on sand which require you to run and short sharp climbs that test your power. After spending a few hours at the course and checking out the registration site, we took off to the hotel. We arrived at the surprisingly nice apartment for the night, we went out and amazingly found an excellent Irish Bar where we had dinner.
Practising the course on Friday.
Arrived at the hotel.
Overnight there had been light snow, and the frozen conditions ensured ice. We arrived at the course with about 45 minutes to go, after collecting Kevin's press pass and i set out to warm up. Riding along the start finish straight before the start, i crashed on black ice and landed dead on my elbow. After getting up, i was pretty much immobilised until about 5 minutes prior to the start and i was facing doubts over even starting due to the pain i was in. After some not to friendly encouragment from my dad, i took the choice to start, and with no surprise i was gridded 3rd from last. Straight from the start i was about 5th from the back, unable to ride properly. Once the adrenaline (More effectively cold, it was -3) set in and the pain numbed i managed to make up about 5 places to finish in 27th place. Not exactly what i had hoped for, but not to bad considering I'm a year younger than most others and also my crash, but i gained valuable experience.
Just after crashing on the ice.
In the race.
Sunday, after ongoing pain in my elbow, we went to the NHS walk in centre to get it looked at where almost instantly we were sent to A&E with an expected dislocated elbow. After resting it up for a couple of days as advised, I'm back doing rollers and will be racing the Regional Championships on the weekend at Hog Hill.
Overall, i had a superb weekend and it could not have been done without the help of Kev and Ewan, and my Dad. Thanks a lot to Trevor at Ciclos Uno for supplying me with kit every season, and Ewan again for always keeping my bike running smoothly. Thanks as well to the Burch's for the support.
Ciao for now.
