Yesterday I ventured over to sunny Prestatyn for another cyclocross race, this time it was the TLI National Champs. I drove to the race but miscalculated how long it would take, I arrived before 10am so had a bit of a wait before I could register... then it turned out my race wouldn't start until 1, so there was quite a bit of waiting around which wasn't too bad for me, but for my support crew (Heather Dinsey) I'm sure it was pretty boring.
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| wondering how to get round the first corner in one piece! |
The race attracted a medium sized field with some very talented riders, and some keen beans opting for the two bike tactic where you switch between bikes during the race as they get clogged up with grass and mud. Of course this method is pretty expensive and you need a willing helper who will wash your bike for you when it's not in use - so I couldn't really go for that option as much as I'd like to!
After a few laps around the course to find my way around and warm up it was time for the race. The start was quite interesting as the organisers decided to place the sprint about 50m from a narrow, sharp, slippery corner... which I wasn't too happy about. Nevertheless it all got under way pretty smoothly. I started quite conservatively as I didn't want to risk crashing out on the first corner. The first lap was pretty crazy with a lot of overtaking going on and everyone settling into their own rhythm. The course was great. It was really long, fast, technical and interesting. Nice one Mark Baker great job there!
The race was pretty uneventful in terms of mechanicals and crashes etc. It definitely seemed like the longest hour of my life, and with good reason as I checked my watch at the end and the race had last nearly an hour and 20 minutes. Painful. But all in all it was an enjoyable race and a solid workout.
It was then off back to the leisure centre where I got changed, ate some monster munch and then went and watched the prize giving. It turned out I got 2nd in my category which was cool as I received my first proper medal, however it unfortunately fell off it's ribbon on the way home. First place in my category went to Mat Prichard from
Revolution Bikes (Perhaps he would have won if he'd held back on the shandys' the night before?!) The winner overall was Paul Bethell who was in a whole different league. He led from the first corner and apparently didn't even look tired throughout the race. Impressive stuff.
Nice one to all the race organisers, great job. And once again great shots from Gwynfor James of
Sport Pictures Cymru.
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