It’s a chilly morning at Southampton sports ground, the location of my first national-level race, and I’ve turned up with little clue of what is going on, hoping my cluelessness will be made up for in enthusiasm. My dad is in the pits for me with a serviceable mountain bike as my spare bike. We didn’t know it at the time but that’s something that’s not allowed at that level. I was a mere youth…
Between then and now I have learnt the hard way the dos and don’ts of the mysterious, muddy world of cyclo-cross. What follows are all the things I wish I had been taught at the start, with a few pro tricks thrown in for good measure.
LIFE LESSONS
▪ There is
