Eastern League CX WGC Sun 27th Sept

Dry as a bone Stanborough Lakes is a rarity as usually it’s a mud fest so file treads much in evidence amongst the racers with tricky dusty corners that caught a few riders out Bryan off 90 seconds before the other NRers in the Vets 50-59 race and an early crash was avoided in the starting straight before he got in to his work on what is always a wearing course set into a rakishly angled ridge. With an upward curve on results an expected top ten finish was on the agenda and Bryan more than delivered coming home in an excellent 8th place and getting a deserved reward for dedicated training. Dave and John where off next in the Vets 60 race. A return to CX action for me after a couple of years and I’d set the bar at trying to finish in the top half. I had my doubts about that as I looked around and saw a distinctly pro looking keen group of riders who really should be doing an allotment or something. Still I got a good start and ‘Operation Top Half’ looked a possibility untill 19 mins in (exactly as I looked at my Garmin) and I knew that it was game over on racing and more just tempo’ing round to finish. Dave was also having some type 2 fun and was finding the climbing on course a tough ask although his silky smooth cornering came into use on the second half of the course as the parcour ducked in and out. John 19th and Dave 25th both left a tad disappointed in their results and a bit bemused by how good the racing was in the Vets 60. I suppose that Darwin chap knew his stuff about survival of the fittest…3

John McDowall