North East Cyclo-X Association Round 3 16/12/07

I've been a bit slow about getting a report in for this one what with all the festivities and me being lazy. Vicky and I headed over to Hetton Lyons Country Park, a regular Cyclo-X venue, for round 3 of the NECCA.
I always enjoy the courses at Hetton, they tend to be fast, in good condition and imaginative, not to mention that you can even have a hot shower afterwards! As ever the fields where a good size with about 40 riders in the Senior race which was last to run. Vicky was struggling for motivation as she was the sole female in the field and so simply had to finish to win, i was not expecting great things as i had not raced in over a month and this would only be my third cross of the season, I've also been maintaining my strict regime of never training on a cross bike.
Despite having muscled in to start at the front of the grid i got my usual quality start and was about 40th going into the first corner, i just cannot get the hang of clipping into SPDs, probably practice would help. In a race made interesting by off camber frozen turf which was nigh on impossible to ride i spent my time riding a steady tempo and climbing as high as 6th place going into the final lap. Two riders kicked past me on the final lap and i couldn't up my rhythm, i have a bad enough kick during the race season, in December I'm just stuck in diesel mode and can't respond to anything. I was pleased with 8th overall and enjoyed the blow out, i also achieved my race objective of not falling off which is more than can be said for most people in the treacherous conditions, i lost count of the number of people i passed on the ground.
Vicky tooled round in training mode and used the event to practice her bike handling skills, being a lighter (or possibly the lightest!) rider made the icy conditions almost impossible at times and she was often forced to tackle sections of the course on foot (not always much easier).
All in all an enjoyable day and another chance to fly the KeswickBikes colours, I'm sure we'll be back on (and off) the cross bikes a few more times this season. Have a good new year.