CX SM 2016/17

Cyclocross National Champs (CX SM) 2016/17

A late decision was made to have a crack at the Cyclocross national championships in Sweden on the 12^th November. The National Champs in any form is known as ‘SM’ over here, standing for ‘Svenska Mästerskap’. This year CX SM was to be held in Eksjö, and I had heard positive things about the race called Sjöängscrossen held in previous years. It’d been a good few years since I did any cross races, and even then back in ’06-’08 it was just as a bit of a cool thing to try at a local race in Newbury. So when I decided to give it a try again last winter (2015/2016) I was kind of surprised how much fun it was to race on skinny tyres. I’d ordered a heavier aluminium bike last winter with plans to mainly use it as  a winter training bike, and with a change of wheels it made for a pretty useful cross weapon, although perhaps a tad on the heavy side. So for this year I sold the alu bike and went instead for a full-on cross race machine!

BMC CX01 in the garage prepped and ready

I had some great help and advice from Christian at Musette on which tyres to go for as I’d had some issues trying to go tubeless. The advice seemed to work a treat and my first race with that set-up was at Musettecross round 2 in Sibbarp the week before the Nationals. Challenge Baby Limus Pros with latex tubes were the set-up of choice, and I felt straight from the first ride how good the tyres were both in low rolling resistance and in side grip. My Stan’s NoTubes Iron Cross Pro wheels have been faultless in the three years I’ve had them also, stiff, light and free-rolling bearings.

So the weekend arrived, and after swim-school with my daughter it was home to pack the car and drive up to the hostel in Eksjö. Arriving at the hotel to collect the keys to the hostel we saw the car park full with cyclists cars. Both with sponsors and bike-racks of all descriptions. Both Malin and I were looking forward to seeing both Emma and Jennie racing in the women’s elite race, along with Anna and Carina in veteran straight after my race. We collected the keys and unpacked the bags and kids into the room to settle down for an early night. Not easy when bunk beds are the most exciting thing you’ve ever seen….. J

Early race morning both kids awake meaning no alarm was needed. Porridge, coffee, a Zipvit electrolyte tab, mix drinks, pack bags, decide on layering and then cycle kit on. Out to collect the car, sh*t it’s cold! Pack car, off to race venue.

We arrive to a snowy car park in an army barracks, everything looks pretty pro and lots of people were out warming up already. Over to register and see that the course doesn’t look as snowy as I thought it would, in fact a mainly grass on the part of the course I crossed. Back to the car, on with the numbers and out to warm up on the road before heading out on the course for official practice. Three main running sections if you cleared everything else, two high wooden barriers pretty close together, a metal bridge with steps up and a ramp down, then another set of steps made of concrete. All three in the first half of the lap, then everything was rideable for the remainder of the lap. Some nice corners, and a fair few sections with snow and ice made it a challenging course. Two banks with off-camber exits were tricky, but otherwise pretty plain sailing. Two laps ridden with one crash on ice, then saw that they had started calling us up already. Sit in the queue and wait. Called up to the last row! Normally that wouldn’t bother me too much as I am a fast starter, but the start straight wasn’t really that wide, so it would be tricky to pass.

Starting at the back is always a challenge! The last cyclist you can see is me!

We started 30 seconds after the Juniors, so I knew there would be a few to pass also, this is gonna be tough. It was, the start was frantic as usual, and I managed to make up 10 places or so before the first corner. Then it was just to keep the momentum up and pass people where and how I could. The first three laps were pretty eventful, passing and battling the whole time. Then on the fourth I started to get up to the quicker people and had some room to stretch the legs and ride some lines that I wanted to, instead of where I was forced to ride. Pushed as hard as possible where clear to do so and the last two laps were spent a little in no-man’s land apart from catching and battling a bit with Lasse from Staffanstorp CK, and Ocsar from Höllviken. All in all pretty pleased with how the race went, and really enjoyed myself. The bike worked flawlessly, love the handling, and the fact that it’s so light means I can really throw it around almost like you can a mountain bike.

Sketchy slippy corners were fun!

Saw some more of the Skåne crew after the finish, Björn, Stefan, Martin and Jakob were riding in the H40 and H50 categories in the afternoon. Wished them luck and watched the ladies races while eating lunch. Froze our a*ses off, but worth it to see Jennie’s effortless style.

What did I learn? Mainly that I want to have another go next year, and I will probably therefore do some qualification races to get seeded a bit higher up. Some more cross specific training would help too. I was still a little clumsy on the bridge and the planks. Short legs probably don’t help too much, but the whole on/off process can be smoother.

Now for some rest and then on with the proper winter training for next season!

Thanks to my coach Rob for the pep and CX tips, and thanks to Musette for the tyre and general CX tips.