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Scottish Cyclocross – Here and now

Oh cyclocross…  your dirtier than mountain biking! And more crazy! This race was mud mud mud check this picture out: in the words of Morven Brown I'm "Hurdling like a gazelle" here.

The day of the race I wasn't sure what to expect.. after just recovering from my 18th, traveling up and down the country and racing on a bike that I hadn't ridden before with the breaks the wrong way round – it was going to be a real test! The course started in a moist field that was rapidly turning into a big bog as more and more tyres sunk into it. There was a longish climb and decent and nice bit that threw you over the bars (yeah… I found that out the hard way…) so that was now a quick run!

The women were started with the junior boys, luckily it was a wide start as I wasn't gridded due to not having raced any of these before. Once we were off I nipped round as many people as I could. Out the field and I moved up to second in the womens. I then moved to first and lead second round for a few laps. It took me back to a conversation Oli and I were having earlier in the week about racing – every thought was for here, it was for now, in this race: how was I going to beat her? Is she going to attack here? Where am I stronger? Can I take advantage of that? etc. nothing else mattered, I had never realised the escape in racing before!

As the race went on I was getting tired and when the move was made by Genevieve I had no response. I started heading down the hill over taking a lady before a left turn… next thing I knew I was rolling around the floor!! I jumped up and everything was squint!! I stopped quickly to sort what I could and slipped into third! It was then another lap, the hurdles were now walls for my little legs as the ground around them sunk ever deeper. Another women was now upon me and we were in the very last part of the lap… I fought with her but, unaware this was the last lap, didn't fight as hard as I should… and there I was crossing the line in a close 4th.

Not going to lie I was pretty disappointed! I like to do well and those were just silly mistakes that cost me a podium! But there is a lot to take from it, new things to try and plenty of learning! Its a great incentive for training too! Another Scottish race in two weeks, then the Scottish Champs the following week, and a weekend of racing on the Isle of Mull! Plenty to look forward to :) 

Well done to everyone who raced! It was great to have such a big field of women racing! And thanks to JB for letting me borrow his gloves, Iain Grant for getting me there and being a great support as ever and Lucy Grant for just being Lucy Grant :)

Keep riding!

Win tin ton

Posted by Morvélo