Muddy Xmas Cup

As promised the Merry Cross-mass cup was muddy, but fun. To be honest I found the short track race format a little odd, but eventually cottoned on to the nature of the beast. Like anything it takes a bit of getting used to so sure next time will see better times and a more comfortable ride.

Well, not that the format had anything to do with the comfort factor this time I guess. Mud, mud, sand, rain and mud were probably deciding factors in that.

Did a couple of reccy laps on both bikes and found the short track wet and slippery as expected. The one pinch climb didn't seem so bad, how hard could this be?

Ok then, first up, 'cos I'm a newbie we're off in the 'C' grade race on the Rush:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4627818

It started to rain during this race and after the second lap (there are 5 laps in this profile I can make out) couldn't really see much. Took a couple of excursions into the tires and bush and mud pools (yerch!) but they were soft enough so no drama. The conditions really were against us and from the third time up the pinch onwards chain suck made that a walk - something I should be glad of to be honest.

For the first few laps it was pretty close of course. Being a newbie I settled in at the rear of the pack and just went with the flow. Maybe half way into things I found myself closely following a couple of riders and thought we could cruise round like this and have a sneaky final push on the last lap. They were probably thinking the same thing too, but not that it mattered in the end as one of the previously mentioned excursions saw me drop off that race so decided to cruise on in, tired, but happy to survive riding several laps blind!

A brief rest and chat with other folk while the 'A' grade riders and co. chop up the track and we're back out there for Cyclocross on the Bianchi:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4627819

At least it's stopped raining, but those other guys have carved up the trail and it's a real bog in places now. Riding very tentatively I let the seasoned crosser riders fly off only to almost catch them after a few hundred metres after they had a little incident at one of the first corners.

After a couple of laps I realise that the Bianchi has more grip in these conditions than you'd think, and it's skinny tires also cut through the deep mud rather well. I begin to ride a bit harder and catch/follow Alchemist for a while before sneaking by on one of the inclines.

Only managed 4 laps here (well, the race time is shorter and that tentative start and all) but that's enough to see Warren come blasting by on the last pinch to lap me. The dude is a riding anomaly - so I don't feel so bad about it and cruise on in to finish fourth