We had the London League Team Championships on Sunday at Wilmington School near Dartford. I wasn't feeling great having trained hard and stayed up late the day before, and I really lacked the top end power you need on the short, sharp, and slippery banks that the organisers sent us up. I ended up in sixth place, and we think the team came second, although we're still waiting for confirmation. After the race the league prizes were awarded and Kevin and I, fifth and fourth in the league respectively, were called up, despite being off the podium proper. So that's it, cyclocross done and dusted until September. Now for the task of building wheels and bikes in preparation. Oh and that little matter of a road racing season...
We just set up an MBR account on www.GPSies.com so that we can post the GPS files of routes up online - something we haven't been able to do in the past. When you look on the MBR page you a choice of base maps, and you see the location of all the routes across the globe. Excellent stuff.
At the beginning of January we held the Grande Finale of the MBR Killer Loop series up in the Lake District. It was good fun and there's a big feature about it (written by me) in the new mag, out Wed 11 Feb. We took a load of video footage and this morning I cobbled it all together into one little video for the MBR website. I might as well post it here too though.
from Andy Waterman on Vimeo. The final round of the London League, a season long competition that runs from September to February, took place in Brighton on Sunday 1 Feb. Your final season's ranking is taken from your nine best results of the 16 rounds. Prior to this final round I had participated in nine rounds, and at least one of those results was crap - so I really wanted to knock that off my tally in Brighton by scoring some good points. I had spent the week looking at the points spreadsheet working out different scenarios. I was in 4th, but the guy behind me, Nigel Ling was only two points behind, and another rider, Gary Record, could easily overtake me if he raced as he had only ridden eight rounds. I'd need to beat both to hold on to my 4th spot. So we show up on the day and I'm looking everywhere for these two riders, and what do you know, neither showed up! This left me a bit deflated and when I couldn't follow the other hitters at the start, I did consider giving up. However, Stanmer Park is hilly by cyclocross standards and although I'm no mountain goat, I was able to put my MTB experience to good use on the descents and make up some time there. By the second lap I was in third place with a visibly struggling Chris Ansell - the confirmed series winner - falling way off the pace. I didn't particularly trust this situation and so it proved, as with two laps to go I was caught. I rode with him for a bit, and even got a bit of a gap again on the steep climb that I could ride, but he ran, but it proved in vain. On the final draggy grass climb of the penultimate lap, he rode away from me. I just didn't have the power when it mattered. I was in 4th with one lap to go, and Chris had about 10secs on me, so I just got my head down and kept on going, not really thinking about reclaiming 3rd, but just maintaining position. And so it was that I crossed the line in 4th, 2.5mins behind the winner - Darren Barclay - and 20secs behind Chris. This was enough to maintain my place in the league and even add a few to my total. It was lucky I did carry on with the race though, as my team mate, Kevin Knox, finished 6th which put him on the same number of points as I had prior to this race - if I'd have dropped out, he'd have overtaken me pushing me down to 5th. As it happens, he and I are now 4th and 5th in the league (he overtook the absent Nigel Ling), which I think is pretty good for a couple non-sponsored club riders. Next year should be a bit different: the plan is to build up two bike and ride the National Trophy series, together with Kevin and PJ from the club. I really really can't wait - hopefully the road season will fly by in a blur of multiple wins and unparalleled success!
I just watched the last lap from Milan. How strong does Boom look at the start of the lap? He just lacked the techniques when it mattered - too big a gear and too little momentum = foot down = Nys! I don't think he'll be doing that again, so he's my tip for the Worlds' win. Second, if I was a betting man I'd go with Stybar. He's been looking so strong since Christmas, and shown he's more versatile than some (Wellens) say he is, coming second in the quagmire at Roubaix. Third - got to be Nys, but I don't think he'll win. Outside bet - Vervecken. You can't write him off, and with World Cup wins at Roubaix and Koksijde, he's already shown this season that he's got the legs. The Brits - I reckon Jody could get top 15. Winning the Nationals must have been a massive confidence boost, so hopefully he's put Koksijde behind him and is ready to mix it with the guys he was beating there until he crashed (he was ahead of Page and Groendaal for instance). Last prediction - Jody to beat all the Americans!
Prediction: 1 - Boom 2 - Stybar 3 - Nys Top 15 - Jody C
No pics from me, just of me — I was racing. This was my 9th result for the series and I came 4th, 3 and a bit minutes behind the National Champion Jody Crawforth. This puts me up into 4th place overall in the London League standings, with one race to go. Nigel Ling is only 2 points in arrears so I have to race next weekend just to make sure he doesn't bag the win while everyone is off watching the World Champs in Holland. It was so muddy yesterday, I had to wash my bike three times: first using the Jet Wash at the garage, second in the bath, third bit by bit in the sink to pick out bits of grass and wash the bearing of my jockey wheels clean. It was good to get a result, but I was questioning whether it was worth it when I was getting shouted at for bringing so much filth into the flat... Cross is great isn't it?!
Taking a sneaky line between the trees. Pics from londoncyclesport.com
