It's the morning of the Maldon Cyclocross, round 5, little misty and slightly cold, proper cyclocross! All kit and bikes in the car the night before, leaves more time in bed! Whoo!
We arrive at the venue, second there, Dad and I say hello to Carl Stephens from the Basildon CC before signing on. After having a chinwag with Carl, Dad and I move onto the signing on where the Smith family, who run the series, are standing. Of course, I can't forget about fussing Glen's Pug, Biscuit.
Now back at the car, all bikes and ourselves ready to go for a few warm up laps with Harry Bates. The course was fast but a few sloshy parts here and there.
Shorty after, on the second row with good preparation from my warm up, the whistle blows, and we're off! I must say, the start from some of the youngsters was impressive, getting the wholeshot by the first corner!
Now five or so minutes into the race, Anthony Marsh in the lead with Kurt Minter on Anthony's tail, and myself and Steve Coulson a few meters back, I make a break from Steve once I've passed Anthony and Kurt.
I gain a 30/40 second lead on Steve, I was thinking in my head, "Just need to hold this for another 25 minutes, c'mon, you can do it"!
My dad, who very kindly stopped to cheer me on during his own race where the course was next to itself. After that, I kept this lead going for at least 20 minutes, I knew I was feeling good.
Throughout the whole race, I kept an eye on Steve, making sure he wasn't catching, at one point I was pulling away from Steve but then soon eased up a little for the last lap, so I go for it. Steve obviously read my mind and did the same. But he would have to catch me up by 30 seconds in one lap! But thankfully he didn't!
The last corner before the finish, the unexpected happened, yep, I swallowed a fly! This made me choke and almost made me bring my breakfast back up! Sorry for anyone who is reading this while eating their breakfast, lunch or dinner! You shouldn't be on your phone anyways, you should be with your friends, family or the idiots you work with.
Getting of subject now, recovered after that incident i can finally put my arms in the air to celebrate, and with the obvious a Dab to go with it.
Neil Chapman who done a live video on Facebook of the whole race, done a very short interview with myself and steve Coulson. Here is the link to the video; https://www.facebook.
As usual, Gary Sanders, who puts all of the effort into the Maldon & District CC website, took some photos of the race, so thank you for them, they're some good photos!
But a big thank you to the Smith Family who put all of their efforts into getting this series up and running! That was a fast, slippery and bumpy course!
All changed and bikes cleaned with Bradley Hurr's bike wash. Now time for a recovery Coffee and Cake(s) and for another chinwag with the racers and spectators.
Well done to all 72 out of 75 people who raced and finished!
Jake Darragh
HMTB Elite Team