Last weekend we got a good show of the changing seasons, a cyclocross race! Fortunately the weather was beautiful to make a nice day racing at Oxford Spires Academy. We had Adrian Matthew on the start line to see how he could do, and he rode hard in his first CX race on a brand new bike! More from him below

 

Adrian 

13/09/2015 – Wessex Cyclo-cross league Round 1.

 

Last Sunday saw my inaugural cyclo-cross race, in the centre of Oxford. The sun was out, the course at the Oxford Spires Academy was hard and very fast. The organising club, Oxonian CC had laid out a truly challenging course, which included several steep climbs, wooded sections and several flat playing fields.

Luckily all but 1 of the climbs was rideable, in the dry and dusty conditions, so only having a planned dismount and remount once per lap was definitely a bonus to a CX novice.

With lots of short sharp climbs and hairpins bends, acceleration was the dish of the day, and the pain soon followed over the 8-lap/50 minute course. The cheers from the crowd at the crests being the main motivation to power up the rises. But despite this I could feel my legs fading and the gaps growing to those just ahead of me.

 

Overall I finished somewhere in the middle (official results still unconfirmed) but happy for my first CX race, on a bike I’d owned for less than a week. The atmosphere was great, the course was a lot of fun and I’d definitely enter more in the future with a bit more training, and knowing what to expect next time.

 

If anyone is contemplating making the jump into CX I would 100% say go for it, the bikes are amazingly capable. Even in the short time I’ve been riding one I can definitely feel how it’s going to improve my bike handling for both Road and XC rides, and it hurts less if you have a fall! 

Sprint at the start

Sprinting for the finish

Collapsed, but still smiling!