Handsling Racing
Handsling Racing go ‘cross
Handsling Racing is a collection of riders who all own Handsling bikes. The club isn’t centred on a geographic location, rather we’re all united by our love of our bikes! Many of us take part in the winter madness that is cyclo-cross! Between us we ride in three different leagues: Wessex, Central and the London and South East. One of our collective, Scott Heyhoe, has also been making regular appearances at British Cycling’s National Trophy Series. Scott says he finds the riding faster and the courses more technical. This is a quick round-up of the season so far.
Wessex Cyclo-Cross League
The Wessex Cyclo-Cross League is a series of races organised by various cycling clubs within the Wessex Region. The League covers Hampshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire and Wiltshire with races in Oxford, Reading, Swindon, Southampton. Handsling Racing riders Miles and Rob are Wessex regulars.
Rob enjoys the early season racing, when his fitness can make all the difference. In his own words; “started well with 3rd at Clanfield, steadily getting worse as the weather deteriorates and my lack of skill makes more of a difference.” Despite this Rob is a regular top ten rider, with his best finish being 3rd.
Rob’s results for 2024
Clanfield P3, Fareham P21 (mechanical), Swindon P8, Reading P8, Southampton P7, Popham P12, Kingsclere P6, Newbury P11.
Miles has had a good start to the season and is now regularly finishing top 20. Miles says that this season has seen him making “a considerable improvement on previous seasons, with the majority of results around the top 15. Still a challenge to hold the pace on the power courses, but I’m making the most of the more technical ones.” So as we move into the muddier half of the season, will we see Miles finishing higher up and passing Rob? Always good to have some inter-club rivalry!
Miles’ results for 2024
Clanfield P16, Fareham P15, Swindon P14, Reading P16, Southampton P20, Popham P14, Kingsclere P15, Newbury P20.
Central Cyclocross League
Scott is a stalwart at the Central Cyclocross League, which covers Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire. Scott is, like me, about to leave the V50 category, but is still finishing in the top twenty. He say that so far the season has been “A tale of two cities for me…it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. As my last year in the V50 category, I thought it would be a struggle but actually I am doing consistently better than last season in the Central League, placing 15-19th in the races.”
Scott’s results for 2024
CCXL: Rockingham p14, Leighton Buzzard P16, Milton Keynes P19, Northampton P22, Hemel Hempstead P15, Milton Keynes P18, Silverstone P17. National Trophy: Derby P59, South Shields P50.
National Trophy Series
The Cyclo-Cross National Trophy is Britain’s premier cyclo-cross series, which runs from October to January. It consists of six rounds of racing at venues throughout Britain, taking part does require more commitment, especially if you’re riding events ‘out of region’. Scott has ridden two rounds of the series so far, Derby and South Shields. Scott says that the fields were slightly smaller this year, which made the racing that bit harder. Riders are a mix of “national big hitters who travel to every round, and the local big hitters who fancy their chances.” This means that “‘mid pack racers’ like me get a good gridding, sandwiched between the two.”
If you have thought about riding the National Trophy Series, then Scott can recommend it. He says he really enjoys the “faster racing and more technical courses.” So don’t be put off about having a go at one of these bigger races. Cyclo-cross is generally a friendly branch of cycle-sport and no-one will stop you racing; just keep out of the way of the fast boys! Read Scott’s race report from last season to get a feel of a National Trophy race.
London & South East League
Lastly there’s yours truly, who like Scott is riding my last year in the V50s. As usual my preparation and attendance was patchy. Family commitments, illness and entering the wrong event meant I was riding for fun from the back of the pack. I even managed to ride the divisional championships after a late night party involving curry, some beer and dancing! I can report that fifty year olds do not bounce back like they used to.
As befits my status as a veteran rider, both of my Handsling CXC bikes are old enough to be fitted with cantilever brakes. So while other riders late brake into corners unaffected by conditions, I can work on building up my quads pushing against the mud build-up on the straddle cables!
Paul’s results for 2024
Ardingly P27, Crystal Palace P30, Somerhill P22, Redbridge P19
Cross is boss!
Despite all the doom and gloom around the bike industry and the dearth of road races, ‘cross races are always busy. From the under 10s to the over 60s there’s plenty of racing for everyone. Why is cyclo-cross so popular? It’s a combination of things, cyclo-cross has become a family affair, two of my sons are now racing with me. We all travel together and the boys are now enjoying being able to offer me advice on tyre and line choice. They also get to shout helpful bits of advice like “change gear!” And that old favourite “keep going!” Watch the video below to get a feel of a dry ‘cross race. A wet race filmed with an on-board camera wouldn’t show much!
As well as the family involvement, cyclo-cross is pretty safe. Although you do get the odd scrape or bruise, the slower speeds and softer surfaces, mean serious injuries are rare. You also have the ability to race against your peers within a race. By this I mean that while the ‘hitters’ might be lapping you, you can concentrate on your own personal battles. You can go all out to beat that rider that normally drops you and not worry about the overall. Or maybe you can just concentrate on how your league performance improves over the season. League racing can get very addictive as you battle to claw your way up the table.
Handsling Bikes
Handsling Bikes have always had a ‘cross bike in their inventory, starting with the CXC, which I’m still riding. If you are concerned about riding ‘fragile’ carbon bikes off-road, then let me reassure you, my CXC bikes are almost ten years old and still going strong. I also own the new CEXevo which I keep for dry and dusty gravel racing: it’s too nice to get mucky yet!
