Injury time

I was stiff and sore post-race for a couple of days, which I put down to my hard crash in practice; I got through the race on adrenaline but I was soon seizing up a bit afterwards. Ironically, having got away with no lasting damage from that, I then managed to go over on my ankle walking round the office at work, tearing some ankle ligaments in the process! For the first couple of days I thought I really wasn't sure how much damage I'd done; plenty of rest saw things start to improve and I was able to get gently back on the bike after the first week, but it has taken three weeks, a few trips to the physio, and a lot of ice and stretching to get back to more-or-less normal. Early season plans put on hold then. I'd planned to make the trip up to Aberystwyth two weeks after Llanishen, but although I'd resumed some light training by then, and my heart wanted to race, my head knew it was still out of the question. Ditto for Hereford the following week, a notoriously bumpy and technical circuit and therefore the last place to test out a dodgy ankle.

Welsh Cyclocross League round 1: Llanishen High School, Cardiff

Down to business then. The first proper race of the season was met with anticipation and a certain amount of anxiety. Despite being as well prepared for a cyclocross season as I've ever been, you don't know where you are going to slot into the pecking order until things get underway. The weather forecast added another layer of complexity in the run up to the race; playing a game of "will it rain or not". In the end conditions were dry, and the ground fast, with the rain conveniently holding off until just a few minutes after I'd got home and unloaded the bikes and kit from the car. Round 1 being all of 3 miles from home did mean a nice gentle introduction to the Sunday morning pre-race routine, and a little extra time in bed before heading over for practice. The course was looking fast, but reasonably technical, with no forced dismounts but a few sections that would be tricky to ride and, for the likes of me anyway, meant playing percentages and running with the bike rather than lose time attempting to ride them and making mistakes. Away from those, I managed to crash hard on a fast but fairly straightforward section of the circuit, getting tangled up in the course tape and coming down hard on the back of my head. This was only a few minutes before the start, and at that point I was pleased just to get up and be able to make it to the start line with my ears no longer ringing. It was only after the race that I realised I'd cracked the back of my helmet in the process. Around 140 people signed on, but the organisers had wisely chosen a starting circuit where we could start 20-abreast, meaning I got the luxury of a front row start! I got off the line well, perhaps even a little too well; I was about 10th into the first corner and soon losing touch with the faster folks ahead of me and coming under pressure from riders behind. I therefore slipped backwards a little on lap 1, but still avoided any major bottlenecks.

AJAX team photo post-race. Massive crack in the back of my helmet not pictured.

The pace was blisteringly quick, quick enough to allow for a little drafting on the straights as things settled down. I spent much of the race yo-yoing in and out of a group of three; the other two riders carrying slightly better corner speed than me, whereas I was clawing my way back up to them on the straights and the couple of drags uphill on what was largely a flat circuit. I started the last lap a handful of seconds down on the two of them, and despite emptying the tank on the last lap I couldn't close the gap. I finished 15th overall, exceeding my expectations a little.

Cross is here

So it's been radio silence on here all summer, but now that the autumn approaches I thought I'd resurrect this blog.

So far it's been another year of racing more than ever. In addition to dabbling on the road I've raced a fair bit of cross country. So no excuses for not being race-ready for the cyclocross season. Having said that, after a busy spring and early summer of racing I made sure I took things fairly easy in July and August to make sure I hit the autumn mentally and physically fresh. Late summer is a great time of year to chill out and go for lots of long rides!

A few of us from Ajax have also got an evening cyclocross training group going, which has been great for honing technique and fitness. All in all, I'm as well prepared as I've ever been for a cyclocross season. Will that translate into results? Time will tell, starting with round 1 of the Welsh League on 13 September.