ShamXross WCCL Round 13

Bristol

After missing round 12 of the Wessex League due to me having Covid and a DNF at round 13 due to a puncture I wanted something more of a result to sign off the 21/22 CX season, so I headed to Bristol for the final round of the ShamXross.

I planned to have some fun with this one and attack like an idiot off the front from the start. The set up of the race and course was really good, not my perfect circuit but an interesting one. For the race I swapped over to my Baby Limus wrapped wheels over the Grifo’s that I had tried in practice. There were sections of the circuit that made it too risky to race the Grifo’s in my opinion.

I was on row 2 of the grid and my start was strong which propelled me into the lead by the first corner so I got to work riding the course and putting the hammer down. Lap 1 and 2 went well with me leading throughout but I started to get unstuck when it came to overtaking the senior category.

The main difference between CX events I have raced outside of the Wessex League is that the Senior category start about a minute before the V40 but you share the circuit. This was certainly my undoing with me generally making a mess of some key passes, just like Newnham earlier in the season. Lap 3 saw Chris Ames, the eventual winner catch me and we both had a crash with a senior rider who fell on a steep incline in front of us, it was all getting a bit messy and annoying. Chris broke away and I drifted back.

I was then caught by another rider and we had a good tussle for a few laps drawing close to the end of the race, 40 minutes for the V40 category. I was getting ever confused each lap mind, as the laps to go board as we went over the finish line seemed high for a 40 minute race. A little confused but with 2nd place just a few bike lengths ahead I checked my watch and we were close to the end.

Before the final lap I had made a mental note of the strengths of the rider in 2nd. He was killing me on the plank jumps as he was jumping them and I was running them. He would pull out some 4 to 5 bike lengths every lap which I had to chase back. I’ll need to work on that before next season. I was stronger than him on the spiral by sitting my wheels tight to the outside of the corner next to the grass and riding the slides, it was super fun. I had to get in front at this section and make a break for it to build a gap for the jumps. It all went well on the final lap when I did as I had planned, made a gap, got to the plank jumps with the gap maintained and over before him. I was in 2nd place with only a sausage bend to go and the finishing line and the flag…

Oh, but there was no flag! The race was in actual fact an hour, the same as the senior race and not 40 minutes. I’d just put in a big effort and showed my cards and with 20 minutes or so to go this wasn’t ideal. The confusion was due to the fact that my normal V40 CX races are 40 minutes and I am sure that was what I read when I entered this event but it was obvious now, I was very wrong.

3rd place caught me again and dropped me, as did the 4th place rider. When I say dropped me, they steadily increased their lead. It was clear that both riders dealt with the back markers far better than I did while I recovered. I did get into a nice rhythm once I regained my composure and rode around for the final couple of laps with who I believed to be the winner of the senior race, that was quite cool.

I finished 4th, 26 seconds off the podium and 46 seconds off the win, which I was really happy with. I went to Bristol to win the race, plain and simple, but 3 guys were better than me on the day. They were better at race craft, managing their effort and they all knew how long the race was as well. Kudos to them.

Thanks ShamXross for having me, it was great fun which is what it’s all about in the end.

Result and time gap analysis

Result: 4th/50

Time from 1st: +0:46
Time from 2nd: +0:36
Time from 3rd: +0:26

Lap time analysis

Time: 1:05:18
Laps: 9
Gap:
Lap1: 07:10
Lap2: 07:12
Lap3: 07:26
Lap4: 07:11
Lap5: 07:13
Lap6: 07:06
Lap7: 07:18
Lap8: 07:23
Lap9: 07:15

Stand out moments based on time

Lap1 Fastest Lap 07:10
Lap6 Fastest Lap 07:06