write up by Des Pugh
After hearing Paul and Nick talking enthustiatically about cyclo cross myself Chris RobertsNeil Vose and Glyn Jones decided to give it a go and as the next event was being held at Foxley estate Mansell Lacy near Hereford it seemed an ideal time to dip our toes into this form of cycle sport. we arrived at the venue in plenty of time and went to enter the race where we met up with Paul Bufton and family and Neil Vose. After entering we watched the end of the kids race in which Hafren’s youngest member Max Bufton finished a very creditable 9th place and by now we were all chomping at the bit to get on our bikes,after getting our kit on we rode towards the start area and the 4 of us and Ian Coe went for a few laps around the track and were quite surprised how flat and easy the course seemed to be….that was until Paul informed us that we were in fact riding around the kids track so Paul and Nick took us for a warm up lap of the proper course (though there were concerns of overheating as it was such a hot day) after heading up the 200 metre concrete start/finish straight into the first right hand corner which dropped down to the right and then into a tricky and slippery off camber left and onto the course proper….it wasn’t particularly wet and muddy but it was soft and therefore hard going with one deep ditch which couldn’t be ridden through one shallower ditch ditch which could be ridden through by the faster/heroic/nutters….one brick built well which you had to carry the bikes over …..one 2 foot stile and two planks stood on edge which the faster riders would later bunny hop if on mtb’s or cx riders would un-clip dismount and run with their bikes all in one impressive motion. We all finished the lap together and were now chomping at the bit to get started. with our team in place (consisting of Ian Coe as chief photographer and cheer leader and James Green hanging around the pits with a large selection of hammers should our bikes need any fine tuning) we sat on the start line with the other 107 riders with myself Glyn and Nick opting to start at the back and make our charge forward later in the race and Neil,Chris and Paul opting to get in the thick of the action nearer to the front. As the mass start commenced we heard the familiar sound of 226 eager feet clipping into pedals as we all headed to the the first turn 200 metres ahead. with myself Glyn and Nick settling into the race and Neil Chris and Paul further up the field the race sorted itself out…battles insued with riders overtaking,undertaking and shouts of ‘to the left’ ‘to the right’ as riders jockeyed for positions. As lap times were under ten minutes it wasn’t long before us mortals were being lapped and around the mid-way part of the race I glanced behind me to see Chris charging up behind me with mud flinging off his wheels and a manic grin on his face and Paul in hot pursuit myself Glyn and Nick seemed to be chopping and changing position regularly and at times we could see Neil up ahead…..the race however wasn’t without incidents as my chain came off 3 times and Glyns seat dropping down to its lowest level making it look like he was riding a kids bike(though he was still in front of me) a quick pitstop though and an encounter with the hammers soon had his bike back in tip top shape. As the last lap bell rang and the good sized crowd cheered the riders onto their last lap the six Hafren riders were strung out all over the course each involved in their own little battles and after flying over the line for the final time we all met up telling each other and anyone else who would listen of heroic passes,crashes and mechanicals all with huge smiles on our muddy faces Cyclo cross is a fantastic way of keeping in shape and racing through the winter and can be ridden on almost any type of bike providing it hasn’t got bar ends and has some type of off road tyres and with Hafren cc hosting a round of the Welsh champs in the near future there are no excuses not to ride or support this fast growing cycle sport
Full results at http://www.cyclocrosswales.co.uk/results.html