Another rainy week and a return to an old ‘favourite’, Milton Keynes Bowl this week. Having managed to get my rear mud tyre sorted I was reasonably ready for action. After a tiring day before and grim weather on Sunday morning, it was tempting to consider going back to bed, but a video of a new version of the course from the day before gave me some FOMO so I got everything in the car (including Katie and the spare bike) and headed for MK.

The course recce didn’t look too bad, with some new features including a climb up a near vertical concrete wall, some steps, and a single track section through some woods. The woods section was already quite slippery and with the course recce traffic there wasn’t a chance to try riding it, but I had already decided that on lap 1 I was going to run the whole section as it looked just as fast to do that (and lower risk).

I had a decent start and made up some places on the first half lap which included most of the climbs. The woods section was indeed carnage. One chap was trying to ride it just in front of me, gave some lip to the people running it, then promptly stacked it right in front of me (I may have made a smart-arse comment as I ran past him). It was noticeable that he also ran the section next time. I was pleased to keep it upright the whole race (a rarity for me!) and have no real issues. The woods section and an off-camber descent were getting muddier and slipperier through the race and the woods was definitely ‘run only’ the whole race - for me anyway.

I finished in 23rd place which I was a little disappointed with - with no issues and consistent lap times I was thinking a top 20 was within reach. The practice on starts and dismounts/remounts is definitely paying off though and I have to be happy with the way I rode.

Tim Phillips

Central League CX Rd 8 MK Bowl, 6 Nov 2022

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