London League Round 11 - Frylands
Dec 12, 2017 14:39:50 GMT
Nigel Wood, Joe R Booth, and 9 more like this
Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2017 14:39:50 GMT
A Haiku by Jonathan to kick things off:
“Frylands mud and snow
Never left the warmth of car
Boot mangled Rear mech”
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“Snow - of the mud variety” (Dave Reese) was the description I was given emerging from the train at East Croydon into the falling snow. A course made up of liquid mud, thick mud, gravel mud and a couple hundred yards of semi solid ground made for a “true CX race” (Olivia Campbell) at Frylands.
The course was based on the side of a hill, with a technical section just before coming into the home straight and a log to hurdle about two-thirds of the way in. Some of the steep bankings quickly became un-rideable, and the slog up the hill was equally tough to ride throughout the day. Quick downhill corners, mixed with a slick mud layer covering rocks and tree roots made for the ever recurring question of “what pressure you got there?”, with a few responding “I don’t know, lets just get this **** over and done with”.
Despite the adverse weather conditions the London X League descended upon Frylands Scout Camp as there was clearly nothing better to do on Sunday. Despite a few DNS excuses (skinsuit zip is broken, derailleur got stuck in the car door) emerging hours before the start, Dulwich as always had a very good presence.
With Ed Davis t’up north at the National’s Dylan Bexley, James Malone and Aaron Haines got the ball rolling, with Dylan crossing the line in a very impressive 11th. Watching them finish it was clear that the course was going to be tough, wet, muddy, cold and involve a lot of running. Next up was Coach Codrington and Campbell both having impressive races. Olivia crossed the line to take 3rd ahead of a field littered withEvans Racing Team Crawley Wheelers, whilst Charlie just missed the points coming in 11th. Quickly heading home, the one bonus for the seniors was there was going to be no “helpful coaching” from Charlie.
Final race of the day saw the Seniors line up to tackle all that the could be thrown at them. Within the first lap all knew that this was going to be a tough race. A smaller field than normal proved who were the harden souls, and within the first lap casualties started falling. Bodies, bikes and even shoe’s were seen being carried back to the start line. Overheard in the canvas tent afterwards was Alec Briggs (that ginger guy) mumbling “**** that hill, I gave up”, whilst Jonathan Dennis running away with a win. Despite this, the Dulwich riders held to true Belgium colors. Andrew Boyd grabbing 4th, Matt Laws 11th, Stuart Lyn 17th, with myself, Aidan Scully and John Cox happy to finish intact (at least that’s what I was thinking).
Sunday showed the spirit of cyclocross, whatever the weather, a bunch of lunatics head to a shed in the middle of nowhere and ride their bikes for an hour and still manage to end up smiling at the end.
Honorable mentions go to the HHYCC pair of Milo (5th) and Harry (3rd) for also braving the cold.
Videos:
Women and Vet 50 - www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1JuTpGL1_M
Vet 40 - www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxozB5Mm99U
Seniors - www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQGp6v5R7W8
Next Races:
East Kent League this Sunday 17th
London League January 7th 2018
New Year’s Day Madison. For all of those who want to clear the heads on New Year’s Day head down to watch the CX Madison (those wanting to ride it, I’m sure there is an equally hungover person looking for that special person).
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Merry Crossmas !!
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“Frylands mud and snow
Never left the warmth of car
Boot mangled Rear mech”
-----
“Snow - of the mud variety” (Dave Reese) was the description I was given emerging from the train at East Croydon into the falling snow. A course made up of liquid mud, thick mud, gravel mud and a couple hundred yards of semi solid ground made for a “true CX race” (Olivia Campbell) at Frylands.
The course was based on the side of a hill, with a technical section just before coming into the home straight and a log to hurdle about two-thirds of the way in. Some of the steep bankings quickly became un-rideable, and the slog up the hill was equally tough to ride throughout the day. Quick downhill corners, mixed with a slick mud layer covering rocks and tree roots made for the ever recurring question of “what pressure you got there?”, with a few responding “I don’t know, lets just get this **** over and done with”.
Despite the adverse weather conditions the London X League descended upon Frylands Scout Camp as there was clearly nothing better to do on Sunday. Despite a few DNS excuses (skinsuit zip is broken, derailleur got stuck in the car door) emerging hours before the start, Dulwich as always had a very good presence.
With Ed Davis t’up north at the National’s Dylan Bexley, James Malone and Aaron Haines got the ball rolling, with Dylan crossing the line in a very impressive 11th. Watching them finish it was clear that the course was going to be tough, wet, muddy, cold and involve a lot of running. Next up was Coach Codrington and Campbell both having impressive races. Olivia crossed the line to take 3rd ahead of a field littered with
Final race of the day saw the Seniors line up to tackle all that the could be thrown at them. Within the first lap all knew that this was going to be a tough race. A smaller field than normal proved who were the harden souls, and within the first lap casualties started falling. Bodies, bikes and even shoe’s were seen being carried back to the start line. Overheard in the canvas tent afterwards was Alec Briggs (that ginger guy) mumbling “**** that hill, I gave up”, whilst Jonathan Dennis running away with a win. Despite this, the Dulwich riders held to true Belgium colors. Andrew Boyd grabbing 4th, Matt Laws 11th, Stuart Lyn 17th, with myself, Aidan Scully and John Cox happy to finish intact (at least that’s what I was thinking).
Sunday showed the spirit of cyclocross, whatever the weather, a bunch of lunatics head to a shed in the middle of nowhere and ride their bikes for an hour and still manage to end up smiling at the end.
Honorable mentions go to the HHYCC pair of Milo (5th) and Harry (3rd) for also braving the cold.
Videos:
Women and Vet 50 - www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1JuTpGL1_M
Vet 40 - www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxozB5Mm99U
Seniors - www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQGp6v5R7W8
Next Races:
East Kent League this Sunday 17th
London League January 7th 2018
New Year’s Day Madison. For all of those who want to clear the heads on New Year’s Day head down to watch the CX Madison (those wanting to ride it, I’m sure there is an equally hungover person looking for that special person).
-----------
Merry Crossmas !!
Attachment Deleted