Rocketing at Gunpowder Park

Image by John Mullineaux
londoncyclesport.com

We left in good time to get up to Gunpower Park in Waltham Abbey for Round 3 of the London Cross League. It started going pear shaped when I lost my way on the route I'd chosen. No problem, I had a backup route... Which was all well and good until our progress was halted by a police road closure. Cue 45 mins of confusion and traffic hell through parts of North London that I won't mind not having to pass through again.

Of course, all this meant arriving at the race very late. I signed on at 12:59 by my watch, and was rolling onto the grassy field, about 150m away from the start just as the tail end of the field was easing out of the start area.

I tried to stay as calm as I could, but it was difficult. If I wanted to be vaguely competitive I'd have put in a lot of effort to get myself back into contention. Writing this now, I can see parallels between this and Warwick a month or so back, but at the time all I could think was getting through the field as quickly as possible.

As you'd imagine, I made up a bunch of places very quickly, but then my progress slowed and I found each pass was a lot more effort. One rider made me chuckle, in a good way; I was passing a girl on the run up to the technical bit at the far side of the course. Heading to the corner, she wasn't going to give me an inch. With each pedal stroke she accelerated, forcing me to push harder to get by. We were all but sprinting as the corner loomed. I'd pulled barely ahead of her going into the corner, but she made me work hard for it!

From there on, I had a few spats, including an ongoing battle with a dude on a Kuota Kross. We passed and re-passed each other a few times, and during the last few laps, he pulled a small lead. At the 3 lap board I turned up the wick and started reeling him in. We charged through the last lap, but on the run to the line I took him, and another two riders ahead.

All in all a really great experience. The bike was 100%, and all the small adjustments I made after the last outing paid dividends. Despite the circuit being insanely bumpy in places, I could trust leaving the chain on the little ring when I needed to. My arms took a big beating, but the sheer intensity of it is something very new - there really is nowhere to hide. It is much like XC running, but on a bike.

I'm hooked.

ps. Thanks to London Phoenix for hosting this event.