CCXL Round 3 – Handsling Racing Report
CCXL Round 3, Campbell Park, Milton Keynes 30 September 2023.
The guys at Velobants do a superb job of promoting what they call, “CX in the City“. Campbell Park was used for a round of the UCI Cyclo Cross World Cup in 2014, and has seen some great League races since. This was no exception with an exceptional course fro CCXL Round 3, great facilities, and a DJ. Oh, and a DeLaurean sports car parked out on the circuit!
Paying the price
I’m still paying the price for not finishing in CCXL Round 1, and was gridded somewhere around 60th. Found a great spot on the grid though – nicely mown grass, bit of a gap between riders on the rows in front. Concentrated really hard on the start whistle, clipped in quickly and was away. Then the rider in front unclipped and I came to an abrupt stop!
Still, that was the only racing incident this week. Otherwise, I made good progress through the field. There are plenty of long, draggy climbs which I quite like. There was also a steep bank at the top of the circuit which took a mighty effort to scale.
What tyres?
I had full mud tyres on this week, and they came in handy on that bank, and in the lovely wooded sections. Felt like I was nailing the lines much better this week, and my legs felt in good shape too. Another nice feature of the course was a set of steps which were very well-made and a great little run up. No chance of remounting immediately as there was tree trunk to be jumped maybe 10 metres after. And that was where the DJ’s truck was to be seen (or rather heard, as by lap 3 I was seeing stars let alone hearing them!).
As I mentioned at the beginning, the organisers do a great job of promoting this CCXL event, and there were 96 v50 and v60+ riders. Fantastic to see so many competitive riders! There was a great turn out across all of the age groups that I saw. CX really is a very welcoming and entertaining form of cycling.
