The 18th found me at the Huddersfield Star Wheelers junior branch charity cyclocross event. Either due to my awesome turn of speed, or a route calculation error, I arrived half an hour early, so had a nice time riding round in the sunshine before anybody else arrived. I was eventually joined by the rest of the youth coaches and volunteers, and we soon had the course set up for the kids.
In the interest of safety, we escorted all the kids round the circuit so they would be familiar with it before the racing started. Now the course involved a sandpit, and the best way to ride a sandpit is at speed and to attack it, neither of which I did. I’d only managed to get about ten feet into the pit before the drag got the better of me, and what with failing to unclip in time, down I went. Of course my fellow blogger Gilly Dukes was there to take the photo…
The racing was a blast though, with some real effort going in from the kids, and some money raised for a good cause as well.
However the main event was to come, the Madison. This is usually run with the partners being the parent and child, but there are usually too many children and not enough parents, and with neither of my own children being willing to partner me I had to borrow somebody else’s child. Step forward Hannah…
I have no idea where we finished, but we had lots of fun doing it, although there was a large amount of cheating going on from what I could see. All in all a grand day out.
Today had me taping up my foot, to try to alleviate the tendon pain I’ve had since Wednesday. I have been converted to the benefits of kinesio taping after a visit to Mills Physiotherapy prior to last year’s Three Peaks Cyclocross, when the delightful Mills patched up my flaky knee. I only did a quick hour on my bike, but the foot felt good, and I managed to set new personal best times on much of my ride. Might even attempt a run tomorrow…
Gary Jackson.
30 Days of Biking in the South Pennines 