Central League CX Rd 6 Hemel Hempstead, 16 Oct 2022

Mid-attack, the only time I was ahead of these guys (Photo: Katie)

I was really looking forward to this course - notorious in the Central League as being ‘the one with the hill’. Lots of people hate it but I love it, and got my season’s best result here last year! It was a lovely day again, and the course was running nicely on intermediate tyres - just some slippery corners that had been damp from overnight dew, and what turned out to be a very tricky corner under a tree that had dumped acorns which were like riding on marbles!

One time the remount went ok! (Photo: Katie)

I was still gridded down due to my poor result in the first round, but I got a reasonable start and picked my way up through the field over the first couple of laps, using the hard bits to my advantage and doing my best through the technical bits and the hurdles. I was stuck with a group for a while, gaining on them on the hills and then losing ground on some other sections. After pausing behind them for a while I decided to attack on an uphill section and got a gap on most of them, which lasted until near the end of that lap and the hurdles. Unfortunately someone slowed/stopped in front of me just as I was remounting and my front wheel clipped their back wheel just as I was remounting. The bike went down and I managed to jump clear, then had to go back and get my bike. By this time the 4-5 riders I had overtaken had come back past me and remained tantalisingly ahead of me for the last two laps. I came 17th which is the best result of the season so far, not quite as good as 15th last year on the same course but still not bad.

Tim Phillips

Tim Phillips21 October 2022CX, Cyclocross