After enjoying the hospitality of the NHS for a few days, followed by a much needed week away recuperating and devouring Pasta in Rome, I had no idea what level of performance to expect this Sunday at the second Gorrick Autumn Classic. Despite the possibility of embarrassment I had no hesitation in going since it was the final XC race of the year and Gorrick always produce an enjoyable course. Entertaining cycling was guaranteed!
The organisers struck gold with milder weather than the wintery flavour of the week before and the sun shone all morning. The torrential rain from Saturday meant there were some puddles, and the majority of the trails were covered in a thin layer of mud, but below this was a good firm base, so racing was still fast and the grip was actually pretty good. Even the wet roots didn’t seem to be as scary as they can be.
Crowthorne is a Gorrick classic so parts of the course are very familiar including the famous corkscrew! There were also some new sections too to link it all together, creating a mixture of fast open trails and fun twisty bits.
Ian again decided to mix it with the ‘youngsters’ in the Veterans Plus race, enjoying a long duel with Nik Pullen to come home 15th. He attempted to do the double and enter the Super Vets but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time between the races.
I met Will sitting on the start line and immediately noticed his slightly unusual stead with rigid forks! At least it wasn’t a cross bike! I’ve no idea how he coped with the roots. Regardless of the bike he again produced some stunning lap times in the Expert race, but he lost a few minutes on his fourth lap. Not sure what happened, I just hope it wasn’t a front wheel meeting with slippery root type of incident!
Oli rode the Sport race coming home in 12th place.
I decided to man up this week and raced in the recently renamed ‘Masters Plus’ category. This basically means an extra lap compared to the regular Masters (30-40 years) race. My thinking being that the longer race should provide a bit more training for the Brass Monkeys series which starts in a fortnight. I enjoyed a tight tussle at the end to finish 7th . Another top 10 finish was a nice way to complete my XC racing for the year. The Gorrick course was cracking as ever, producing another brilliant days cycling.
Next up are the winter marathon races. We’re expecting to see more club members out racing in a few weeks at the Brass Monkeys!
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