On Saturday I raced at the 6th round of the Eastern Cyclocross league race at Redbridge. I wanted to do this race last year but due to a knee injury at the time, I couldn’t do it (or any CX racing last year), so I was looking forward to racing on this challenging course. As it was my first cyclocross in 2 years, and my fourth ever CX race, I was a little nervous as this was still very much out of my comfort zone. I’m not experienced or knowledgeable on cyclocross compared to the other riders I race with, so my aim was to get in the middle of the pack and find a pace that I could sustain throughout the race and take each technical section one at a time, and lap by lap.

Not ideal, I couldn’t do a practice lap, as I was also working at the venue where the race was held, and it was very busy so I just missed out on the course practice. However, I was advised by a marshal on the areas to look out for. I was also very pleased to hear that there were no hurdles!

The start was at the bottom of the Hoggenburg, where I planned to make up some spaces before heading into the first grass sector. The pace was quick, and we had a technical first few corners before heading up to a grassy (and slightly muddy) hill. This is where I was able to show my climbing strengths and make up some places. I was in a small group (perhaps the third group in the race?) and I was just following their lines and observing how they tackled the technical descent. The bottom of the muddy descent was sketchy with lots of drainage pebbles at the bottom between the mud and the start of the tarmac section. We then approached my favourite part of the course, the dino mound, which consisted of lots of little muddy hills and descents - similar to a pump track. However, there was a sharp right turn at the end of the dino mound, where me and another rider had a collision, as we both were competing for the same line. Luckily we were both okay (just a small cut on my hand) and we laughed it off as we untangled ourselves and bikes.

I went to mount back on to my bike and noticed my back wheel had come loose. I quickly fixed it back on and began to chase down the group again, starting to catch them again on the short, sharp climbs. Unfortunately my rhythm was messed up as I took the wrong line through a long off camber section. I managed to dismount from my bike before nearly crashing again, and I noticed that my back wheel annoyingly came out again. I knew something wasn’t right with my bike but I was already past the pits, and I didn’t have a spare bike anyway. I decided to ride on and try to find my dad who was a little further down on the course. When I found him, my back wheel came out again, so this unfortunately meant I had to pull out of the race.

It was quite frustrating to have to pull out of the race, after only managing to complete a lap. However, it was definitely the safest option. It wasn’t until after coming home from the race and checking the bike properly, we realised that my derailleur had cracked and my thru axel had also damaged too.

Amy Harvey

Eastern League CX Rd 6, 9 Nov 2024

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