Torbay Velopark Jinglecross CX, 19 Dec 2021

At the start of the year, this is a race I would have NEVER considered. But seeing other Catenary athletes doing CX I thought I should at least give it a try. I of course don’t have a CX or gravel bike, so I was lucky to be able to borrow a mountain bike from a friend.

Race plan? Finish in one piece.

Before starting I asked Tim if I should have a gel, he said yes if I plan to go hard. Going hard was not the plan, I thought I’d just pootle around at the back. So we set off, I was pootling trying to stay upright on the tight twists and turns. It was such a technical course (based on my experience of straight line cycling in middle distance triathlons!), but it kept me focused and the race flew by. I actually rode pretty hard in the end [pretty hard in the sense of new HR records!] but really enjoyed it [and won the novices category!]. Will I be doing another CX? Who knows... maybe I’ll do this race again next year, but for now it’s back to triathlon!

Holly Jones

Tricky sand section Photo: Simon Nancarrow

The downside of MTBs! Photo: Simon Nancarrow