cyclo-cross north of england championships...

mr-marty-martin · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 3779 Location: co Durham

just though i'd start the post early, almost like a preview of tomorows race Very Happy

well its eventualy come around again, the northern champs is tomorow and i cant wait

coming upto the event i havnt done loads of cross specific training, been on the road bike doing mostly long rides and thrahing the hills, doing power work. although ive been working realy hard on my rides though so i dont think it'll affect me that much. ive done about 350-400 mile the 2 weeks ive been of school.

tomorows race should be a real eye opener for next weeks natoinal champs down bradford. a few strong lads are racing who should be top 10 finishers in the natoinal champs so i'll be keeping my eye on there pace

the race plan is... there a good few riders who i dont no and have never raced so im going to try and follow joe home (the usual winner of our cross races when he turns up) so follow close ish to him and if i feel like im going good try and stick with him. if i loose touch i'll find a position were im comftorble and stick with it, not pushing to hard. so i have something left for sundays race...

so we'll see how it goes then lads, and as i mentoined on sunday im racing again, and with most of the riders being tired of the day before it should be very intresting

K88MUD · Joined: 20 Sep 2008 Posts: 788 Location: New Marske

Nice one marty ......good luck mate.

hugo15 · Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Posts: 402 Location: Ingleby Barwick

Good luck Marty.

mr-marty-martin · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 3779 Location: co Durham

cheers lads

Gunner · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 1:15 pm Post subject:

Good luck Marty, hope the plan works Wink

mr-marty-martin · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 3779 Location: co Durham

rite then, was a good race today...

im going to write the report tomorow along with tomorows race report, as things like pics and final positions arnt on the net yet Very Happy

bry5 · Joined: 16 Sep 2008 Posts: 407 Location: Leeds

mr-marty-martin · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 3779 Location: co Durham

well all i'll say is i had a decent race, but remember there were some real good riders there Wink

CLATChY · Joined: 24 Oct 2008 Posts: 222

Good luck m8.....

mr-marty-martin · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 3779 Location: co Durham

hi everyone

so then the north of england cyclo-cross championships...my biggest race yet

got to bed early the night before, half nine to be exact, and got upto a good old boul of porridge at 8. oiled and checked my cross bike over as i new a good few of the compeititors would have second bikes waiting in the pitlane, so i realy couldnt deal with getting a mechanical.

got to the course and it was abit nippy, and the wind was present. i got signed on and got my number sorted, and done a few warm up laps in. the course was pritty hilly with some good technical sections. there was a realy muddy section of the course which was a nightmare to ride, realy tough and draining on the legs ( this is what alot of the course will be like at next weeks national race ) there was a decent bit of road section which crossed the line so i planned to use this as a rest section. i wasnt to sure on how i would cope without being able to drink ( yeh your not allowed to carry or be given food, or water during the race ) as the last race i tried to race without one i struggled and started to dehidrate.

i spent a while concentrating on my warm up and road around the road circuit at a sensible pace. a few of the good riders were using rollers and turbo trainers to warm up, so i think i'm going to do that next week at bradford. the race was postponed by about 15-20 mins as there was a crash on the mortaway and a rider who was racing was delayed. everyone was lined up waiting to be called forward and we were getting chilly, so we all put our jackets back on. then the race commisure called the rider who were fast, or who'd road big races before and they go gridded at the front. then as we were about to start everyone took there jackets of and i noticed there number were on there left shoulder, i'd been told to put mine on my right shoulder... so one of the parent helped me out and started changing it over.

although just as she started to put the last pin in the starting gun went off and i had to just go for it, just being left on the line slightly, but i was soon back into the bunch and i got into the top 10 for the first bend/climb. after the first long climb there was a decent descent which went into a tight right hander, and then a realy tight left hander as there was a fence which you had to be careful not to crash into. i made up a few places on this section as a good few of the lads were being cautouis and i just went for it, just aming the tight left hander and nearly crashing into the fence. then there was a flat section were everyone settled down into there positions. the top 5 started to pull away and i was dying to follow but didnt want to risk blowing up. i grouped up with a lad from liverpool and we worked together for a couple of laps, gaining a 1 or 2 places up. i then started pulling away from him but when i hit the road section i took it easy and let my legs have a little rest, this ment he got back in touch with me, then i started drafting him up the straight and he wasnt to happy about it, so the he started swerving side to side and looking behind at me, ( like a sprint race on the velodrome ) then as we hit the strech of rather bumby grass leading upto the main climb, he realy attcked with a big sprint, i followed him and he'd gained nothing from his efforts. then as we hit the climb he quickly changed down the gears and his rear mech got twisted up into his cassette ( you can actualy see it in the pic ) and his bike was nackered, luckily for him the pits were just up the hill so he shouldered his bike and ran the 100 metres or so to the pitlane were he had a spare bike waiting. this was when i put my attack in and got a decent lead on the rider, i was still feeling pritty strong, and had the local crowd cheering me on. once he was on his spare bike he put in an attack to try and catch me, but he didnt have the stamina to keep it up long enough to catch me. after this i crossed the line and heard the bell for the last lap. i realy went for it up the climb and once at the top i saw a rider from the front group had blew up and was slowing down, i attacked him to the last technical section and managed to hold him of for the line.

i came about 6th i think out of 30 (i'll have to confurm this after the full results have been released)

i was pritty pleased with the days racing and had felt realy strong, looking back i think i maybe should of went of with the fast 5 when they atttcked but the risk was to high.

it was realy good to race people i hadnt raced before and to see what the pace would be like next week. also there was a couple of riders from the british cycling talent team and i wasnt miles away from one of there lads ( the other was female )

also as scott were sponsering the event i got a scott dvd for my efforts. also as they were sponsering the event they had the scott van with them and had some top end bikes on show. one of them was the 7 grand scott genuis mtb.

as i mentioned next week it's the national champs so i cant wait for that

with a feild of about 150 u16/u14 and female riders racing it should be a trualy massive start, which i realy enjoy.

here's the many pictures of the days racing

the start/finish line

everyone lined up and ready to go

and were off

everyone powering to the first bend

me sitting on the rider from liverpool's wheel

the chasing bunch

at the top of the tough climb

the tight left hander

and from another view

ross a fair bit behind me

joe home at the top of the climb

and another one of him lapping a rider

the winner of the race passing one of the senoirs warming up (although he didnt qualafy as he is scottish, and not from the north of england

me again going up the climb

followed by the liverpool centuary rider

and again him heading for the main climb

after his mechanical, have a look at his rear wheel were you can see his twisted rear mech

me coming upto pass the blown up rider

and finally crossing the finish line

there should be more pics on the net soon so i'll add more when they get uploaded

mr-marty-martin · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 3779 Location: co Durham

a couple of views from the top of the climb

grant · Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Posts: 537 Location: stockton

Well done Marty on the 6th place
also the good write-up and good pictures
like i say well done Very Happy

mr-marty-martin · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 3779 Location: co Durham

cheers grant, am on writing the report for todays report as i speak Wink

bry5 · Joined: 16 Sep 2008 Posts: 407 Location: Leeds

Well done Marty, a decent result.

Are the Nationals at Peel Park Bradford on the 11th ??? What time does the race start ??? Its in my neck of the wood so I might try and get down to give you a friendly MTBE cheer and see what it is all about Very Happy

Bry

mr-marty-martin · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 3779 Location: co Durham

yeh peel park

im racing on the 10th but the senoirs are racing on the 11th, no that'll be good to watch Wink

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/cyx/News2008/20081208_nat ional_cross_preview.asp

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