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Love the light, colours and texture in this shot #Repost @thedavehaygarth ・・・ #NWCCA U12 race #throughthenetting

NWCCA – Beacon Park – Round 13

Sunday 24th January, a pleasant day with temperatures into double figures and no rain!

Three Inspire VCUK riders: Cory Edmondson; Nathan Hawthorn and Daniel Gibson travelled to Beacon Country Park, Upholland, Skelmersdale for the final round (13) of the NW cyclocross series, organised by the St Helen’s CRC.

Although there was mud it was a refreshing change from the mud baths of late!

Around 30 youth riders lined up for the start and when the whistle blew it was Cory who took the lead with a very fast start, immediately opening a gap.

A new found confidence in his bike after having technical issues this season showed as he continued to dominate the race. He stayed away and managed a 30 sec lead on the first lap.

Isaac Peatfield was in pursuit followed by Nathan and Daniel. A long course with a few challenges around steps proved to be a good course for the riders. All riders were looking strong but Daniel fell from the chasers when he collided with a rock, he carried on and finished 5th.

Cory took the win with a lead of 2 mins with Isaac 2nd Nathan 3rd. This result secured 3rd place overall in the league for Cory, and 4th place for Nathan.

Adding to this the 1st place that Lewis secured at Macclesfield, we are proud to announce that the Inspire VCUK Racing Team are the TEAM WINNERS for 2015/16.

A great finish to the CX season for VCUK!

#VCUK #Inspire #NWCCA

Quite literally dusting this bitch off. Looks like I may be racing #sscx on Saturday! #NWCCA

#nwcca #sscx

NWCCA Round Another - THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL

After the previous week’s quad numbing hilarity at Rossendale, I was relieved to see that the upcoming Weaver CC course was, essentially, as flat as a tack and looking pretty quick. I suspected that the week priors’ over gearing horror would be replaced by a triumphant return to Australian conditions; a week of decent weather, flat course on hard pack paddock grass, little mud.

Needless to say it hammered down for a full 24 hours before the race.

Once more unto the decidedly muddy breach, then.

It is another curiosity of UK racing that, at least in terms of enjoying the best of the conditions; the highest grade riders get the bummiest of deals. This view was expressed in typically northern fashion by a fellow racer on the warm up lap as we moonwalked sideways up one of the clay bound slopes, as he proclaimed, “This is fucking shit”.

I couldn’t disagree.

Of course being willing to engage with the locals, I managed to get him to expand said wisdom, including further profane gems, but the gist was thus; why do the “best” riders get the chewed up course everyone else has already raced on?

Who knows. It's how it is. Harden up, probably.

It was another big field on the start, 61 riders in total. The first ten in the league standings were duly called up, then it was out with the elbows to secure something not entirely at the back for the start from everyone else. With the philosopher Paddy Oliver’s words regarding my own start line tactics ringing in my ears, I ended up almost right at the back.

The course was composed largely of long, straight and surprisingly boggy sections split by switchback turns. There were two switchback climbs following straight descents, made technical by the ground conditions, and the final sorting out done by two sections of steep, muddy, descent-into-hell type drops followed by mud pit power action and a “run” up a slippery wall of disintegrated clay.

Out of the first section of switchbacks and onto the switchback climbs, it was immediately apparent that a) I was over geared a little again mainly due to the conditions, compounded by b) my Vittoria XG Pro TNT’s being crap in the mud.

They’re an all conditions tyre, but these conditions weren’t for all.

Out of the second climb and the bunch attempted to squeeze at least 50 of the 61 starters through onto a single track descent covered in a foot thick layer of clag. Since steering wasn’t a priority, as it didn’t make any difference, and braking was just for show, hilarity ensued with the majority of us immediately resorting to running.

Running, knowing full well that I wasn’t going to be able to clip back in with this crap stuck to my soles. Cue much gnashing of teeth and tap dancing of pedals. The course designers were then kind enough to furnish us with a slow, painful, death of a minor ascent back up to the bog-formally-known-as-grass, featuring more switchbacks. Then the second descent into hell.

This one was far, far worse than the first, complete with hairpin left hander at the base of the Un-Brakeable Hill Of Sloptm, before running through a Field Of Actual Bottomless Mud And Nettlestm and finally ascending the Hill That Shouldn’t Be A Hill, But Because Of The Ten Thousand Tonnes Of Shit Moved By Riders Before You, It Is Nowtm (HTSBAHBBOTTTTOSMBRBYIIN for short).

And then more switchbacks.

This race was made even more special than usual for me, being spat out the back as per usual after the first lap, by the presence of my good old Mum and Dad turning up to watch me race for the first time in their lives.

Dad was a bit of a decent roadie in his day, but his day was almost 40 odd years ago.

Still, it was with much enthusiasm that he got stuck into shouting “DIG IN!!!!” on every lap, which would have been helpful, had I not dug in, made flower beds, done the weeding and dug out again sometime before he piped up even the first time.

Mum merely watch in horror.

The bell lap was sweet relief as it always is, and as I looked back to double check how close to last I was, it was with some amusement that I found I was already last. Only I wasn’t. Everyone (ok, the four other blokes) behind me had been pulled on the previous lap. And so it was that I managed to ride the last half of the last lap with the tape being rolled up around me, and took a relatively huge round of applause at the finish from everyone else who had finished at least ten minutes earlier.

I love cyclocross. It’s utterly stupid.

P-

#spoxe #spoxecross #cyclocross #nwcca #stoemper #weavercc #muddyhell #grassmyass

F'kin ouch. I'd say that's the toughest hour on a bike I've had since the last one....blog write up at blog.spoxe.cc sooooooon #spoxecross #spoxe #cyclocross #nwcca

#spoxecross #cyclocross #spoxe #nwcca

“Girl” brain tells me to refrain from sharing photos that reveal the full extent of my fatness.

“Oh gawd,” it says, “Look at that belly! Urg, look how your jersey has risen up!”

But the better part of me, the part that hated and loved struggling round the lumps, bumps and leafy tracks of Heaton Park this weekend says, “You look like a badass!”

“Also, AWESOME bartape.”

#sscx #nwcca #fat #cx #cyclocross #fat girl running with a bicycle