30th October 2022, South Shields
It was off to the seaside for half the team as we went to sunny South Shields for Round 3 of the CX National Series.
It was sunny at times, but not all of the times, but the odd shower did add an extra frisson to the racing when it came. South Shields doesn’t get muddy though as it is right behind the beach and the sandy nature of the soil drains extremely well. It does get slick though, and with the twisting nature of the course this meant there were a lot of interesting corners to negotiate. It also tends to be windy and there are a couple of exposed sections of the course right into a headwind. But we did have the first sand of the season as Daphne was about to find out.
Becca
A trip to the seaside for Round 3 National Cyclo Cross Series. A great course, with sand pits, off cambers, hurdles and a lot of twisty uppy downys. [Becca has nailed the technical language needed for course descriptions with this one.]
We woke up to a wet morning, with a slight breeze. Looking at the course it would appear finding a rider to ride behind up the longest climb would be a huge benefit to shelter from the head wind.
My legs weren’t feeling 100% after warm up - a lot of fatigue had set in from the week leading up to the event. I had a good start and settled in. Sitting in 8th, on my own it was going to be a tough race. A tiny slide out on with 2 laps to go meant the group behind caught me so now it was a fight for top 10. I sat just off the back of this group for a lap. In hindsight this was a mistake; I should have sat on or in the group to have a bit of a rest and to be ready for the last lap. I pushed hard on the last lap to come across the line in 13th.
I left everything out there, which I’m super happy with. I’m starting to become more brave in the longer races not trying to save anything.
- Lots more experience gained for Becca, lots of tactics learned, another amazing start, and a good solid 13th in the Junior Women.
Daphne
Sunday brought rd 3 of the National CX series: this time we were heading to north east to South Shields. The course was running fast with lots of tight turns, cambers and also a sand feature.
The race started fairly well with me having a good start being about mid pack halfway through the first lap. Things then went wrong on in the sand pit where I somehow managed to catapult myself over the bars, honestly no idea how it happened. [Ever supportive teammate Becca was there to describe it as a classic Daphne comedy moment.] Luckily no damage was done apart from some bent bars. A steady ride to pits to change bikes and then we were back to it. By this time I was 2nd to last. Trying to catch up to the group in front it began to be clear that my body just had nothing to give.
After being ill all week it was always going to be a push racing and my body just wasn’t ready for that race effort so it ended up being an DNF for me. Lots of lessons learned and still positives to take away. Time to rest up and put the focus on the next rd in a couple weeks’ time.
- Always that hard one to call – do you race or do you rest? And if you do rest those guilty feelings about whether you’re not as sick as you thought and you should be racing; if you
race, the potential of realising you really are sick and should have rested. No easy answers, and quietening the little voices in your head shouting one way and the other is another one most athletes wrestle with.