12th January 2014: Red Kite XC Winter Series, Coed Trallwm

First race of the year, 12 days in.

I only made the decision on Friday to race on Sunday. I'd found out about this winter XC series and it looked doubtful I could make any of the later rounds, so decided to head up to this one. As of Friday, the racier of the two mountain bikes sported one working brake. Some fettling on Saturday afternoon put that right, so there was no excuse not to get back into the familiar routine of packing the car up the night before, ready for an early start and a 90 minute drive on Sunday morning.

About that drive...just getting there felt like a victory. Defying the forecast, the weather fell below zero the night before. Much grumbling and removing ice from the inside of the car windows in the dark, followed by an exciting drive across some ungritted roads above Sennybridge, tiptoing over the ice.

Still, arrived in good time, got signed on and managed half a practice lap and warm up before heading to the start with about 40 others.

It was a good course with something for everyone, or something for every XC racer anyway. Two major climbs per lap followed by technical descents on mostly surfaced all-weather sections with the odd cut-in section. This being January in mid Wales, the cut in sections were muddy and required, for me at least, mostly pushing uphill and tripoding down.

White jersey. For a January XC race. Hmm. Photo by CAC photgraphy

A long fireroad climb began the lap and sorted the field out into a rough pecking order. I came over the top in 4th place, with the top three still in sight but with no aspirations of catching them up - of more of a concern were the half dozen riders hot on my heels. Three of them passed me on the descent; I took one back on the next long climb and yo-yoed with the other two for the next couple of laps, never quite doing enough to get my nose in front of them. Crossing the line after three laps I found the race was over when I had been expecting to go round again! I was a mixture of relief and annoyance at this - I was flagging on the third lap and pouring gels into myself to try and recover for a fourth lap. But if I'd known that was the final lap I could have properly emptied the tank and maybe made up the gap to the guy in front who I still had sight of on the more open sections. Still, 6th place in my first XC race in 18 months didn't seem so bad.

Prologue: Welsh Cyclocross League round 10, Llandaff Fields, 15th December 2013

2013 was the year of no racing. That's a weird way to start a post about a race in 2013. Let me explain.

I've never really raced my bikes much. The occasional cross country or longer mountain bike race, hill climb or time trial coupled with a handful of cyclocross races every season. Every year I've told myself I'll take 'cross a bit more seriously, train properly for it, and then never bothered. So, in 2013, I used the need to save a bit of cash as an excuse to take a year away from racing in general and 'cross specifically. Find out whether I don't miss it one bit, or if a year away makes me want to come back and throw myself in headlong.

Definitely the second one.

It had been a good year and I'd stayed fit as a fiddle; probably the fittest I'd ever been. I'd banged the cowbell and drank a beer or two at a few mountain bike races and not for a moment wanted to be the other side of the tape. But as soon as 'cross season got under way, I was making plans for 2014. I'll get a new 'cross bike, I told myself, maybe go do the Three Peaks again. Then race properly in the Autumn. Take it a bit more seriously. No, really this time.

So much for no racing in 2013 then, as I lined up for a second 'cross race of the year. The first loophole was the last race of the Western League in early January (2012-13 season, I told myself). I allowed myself the final round of the Welsh League to assess what my form was like; whether a summer and autumn of chaingangs and chasing like-minded masochists from Cardiff Ajax up hills had improved my engine. And to remind myself of the pure sweet hell I had been away from for 11 months.

And pure sweet hell it was. Early morning rain followed by dryer weather ensured a course that was almost exclusively heavy, sticky mud. Three forced dismounts per lap, plus two sections which where there was not much to choose in time between riding and running.

No racing all season = no gridding, so shoved myself in as first of the rest in about 40th place and sprinted hard from the gun. Arguably too hard, as I then spent 3 laps drifting slowly but surely backwards as my legs tried to remember how to cope with the constant onslaught of full-gas sprints, climbing off, running with the bike, and climbing back on again. The course was becoming ever more chewed and four dismounts per lap became five as I cocked up another tricky section and elected in my adrenalin-addled brain that it was quicker to run, trying to ignore protests from legs not accustomed to any running whatsoever, never mind running hard through ankle-deep mud carrying a bike.

Holding off a man with tinsel in his helmet. About as good as it got. Photo by Rob Warren

The heavy mud was taking it's toll on my bike too - lap 4 began with alarming noises from the rear mech and the tell-tale slack-then-tight feedback from the chain as mud clogged the jockey wheels and threatened to pull the rear mech off the next time I so much as looked at it. I stopped to clear some mud, made no difference. Stopped again for another go/ After stopping for the third time in 500 metres and wondering whether there was anything I could do to fix the problem, or it was worth continuing until the almost inevitable writing off of my rear mech and retirement, two riders in fancy dress overtook me. Time to throw in the towel then.

So, a humbling experience and some lessons learned. Despite some promising dismount/remount practice in the couple of weeks beforehand, my technique getting off, carrying and getting back on the bike all largely went to pot once my legs were full of lactate and my lungs on fire. I may be fit but I'm not race fit, having done very little to get myself used to riding to riding on the limit for 50 minutes. And I'm still terrible at getting round slippery tight turns.

Still, on to 2014, and as much racing across as many different categories as I can manage.