(techno music)
(grunts)
- Yeah, that was kinda closer than,
(laughs) closer to nature than I wanted to get.
(dramatic music)
- [Emma] I have really enjoyed getting into cycling
off road through cyclocross.
I've been very lucky to have both a super nice bike
and a super awesome coach in the form of my colleague,
Simon Richardson.
But the grand finale of my beginner cyclocross guide
was always supposed to be a race.
Now, I've been putting it off long enough.
And that's how I found myself on the edge of a muddy
field outside Keynsham on a Sunday morning in December,
psyching myself up to race the
South Regional Cyclocross Championships.
Which actually sounds like quite a big deal to me
as a beginner cyclocrosser.
Now, everyone's told me that cyclocross races
start really really fast
and that I should warm up on a turbo trainer.
But, basically, I've refused,
because years of time-trialing have left me
with, well, basically, a bit of an anxiety about warming
up on turbo trainers.
Just the thought of it makes me quite agitated and nervous,
so I've decided that I would rather just take my chances
with a first start, and I'll just warm up around
the car park or something.
One thing though, that I have taken everyone's advice on
is do a practice lap, because, well, I'll be honest,
haven't been practicing my skills as much as I should
so I think it's probably worth trying to ride the lap
before the race to see if I can even get round it.
Not too sure what to do if I can't get around it.
Yeah, I haven't really got a plan B.
So here we go, I'm gonna go and try out a practice lap.
And see if my gears work.
(upbeat music)
It's alright, my bad.
Well, we had half an hour to practice and I thought
I'd get a few laps in, I managed one.
At this rate, I'm not sure if I'm going to do more than
one lap in the race.
What am I doing here?
Luckily, we have Katherine here flying the flag for GCM.
She has skill and excellence off road, unlike me.
(laughs)
Thank goodness.
Unfortunately, she's not technically racing for GCM,
she's racing for a first game club but we know that
you're GCM at heart.
- GCM at heart of course, yeah.
- Good luck Katherine.
- You're gonna smash it.
- Show me how it's done.
- All you have to is sprint off the start and then time
trial it, basically what you're used to anyways
so you'll be fine.
- I can't do either of those things.
(laughs)
Definitely not in mud, either of them.
- There's a lot of mud.
(upbeat music)
- Right well after the practice lap, numbers,
I'm honestly not really sure if I should be here
because I feel totally out of my depths,
literally in mud, it's almost up to my knees.
I'm kind of wondering whether I might just sneak off and
just do a coffee ride.
I don't think anyone is gonna notice, I don't think
anyone thought I was coming because of the hip.
Whose gonna know?
I'm just gonna get coffee.
- Emma! Yes, I heard you.
- Uhh.
- Good luck, I brought you a spare set of wheels.
- Thanks Si.
- That's alright, no worries, how you doing?
- A bit nervous.
- Yeah?
Good stuff.
Fantastic.
Well not good being nervous but you know, pre race.
You need a bit for the start line.
- Yeah, it's really muddy.
Like its a lot muddier than in any of our practices.
- You'll be fine.
It's the same for everyone out there.
I've also brought your cheer squad.
- Heyyy.
Albie, how you doin?
(blows raspberries)
That's how I feel too.
- We'll do a better cheering I promise.
Okay, come on indeed.
What do we say?
Go Emma!
Can you say that?
(laughs)
(shivers)
- Cold already.
I've been concerned about crashing, given how much it
doesn't hurt.
It's only mud.
- Once your crash once, it's fine.
She said, "Once you crash once, its fine".
Can't get the pedal in the right place.
(upbeat music)
Apparently you're supposed to put your chip under you sock.
- Lydia Gold-
- Feels like a school nipolton
(chuckles)
I was always the last one to get-
- Emma Pooley.
(claps)
Charlotte Fisher.
(upbeat music)
(whistle blows)
(crowd cheers)
(bell rings)
- Go! Go! Go! Go!
- [Emma] The people who advise me to warm up and start fast
were right, sadly, I failed to take that advice.
I started at the back too slowly and was stuck there.
Truth be told, I never even saw the front of this race.
- She made a steady start.
I think that's a wise move.
Play it cool at the start and pick everyone off.
- [Emma] Nonetheless it was fun getting stuck in, literally.
I was pretty delighted that there were sections I could ride
at all, like the rollers which I managed every single lap
and on the banks, well, there I took Si's very good advice
and ran them every time and that was definitely a good call.
It's actually the bit I'm best at which involves running.
(upbeat music)
- [Emma] After the first few laps, I did find myself
catching a few riders who had perhaps started a little
too fast.
- You alright?
- [Emma] My frustration was that although I could
power through the straights and make up distance,
as soon as we got to a muddy corner, I lost so much
ground.
Truth be told, I really have not mastered the feeling
of sliding round corners, the center of the spiral of doom
was probably the muddiest and most frustrating point.
- Tell you what, Emma is absolutely smashing.
It's brilliant.
I thought she might, but she's properly moving through
the field now.
Some of the technical elements maybe,
like the jumping on and off,
she still hasn't quite totally nailed them every time but,
it's absolutely brilliant.
She's flying, it's great.
- [Emma] Even worse than sliding, I simply was not
capable of the running remount and here I confess it was
just down to lack of practice.
I lost so much time, stepping back onto the bike that it
was better often just to run a bit further.
I even had to run most of the decent, which is a
bit embarrassing really.
Most of all, this race reinforced to me just how
awesomely impressive cross riders are.
Their skill levels are just fantastic, unlike mine.
I did it last time.
- Well done, great job!
(bells rings)
- [Emma] Even at the back of the race though, it was such
a great atmosphere.
The organizers of Shamxross did a brilliant job
building a fun and very challenging course and the
spectators were so generous in their cheering.
- Come on Emma!
Go on Emma,
GO GO GO!
- [Emma] The winner finished 6 minutes and 52 seconds
ahead of me.
Trailing in far behind in 14th place.
That was interesting.
- Well done Emma.
Put it there.
- So how did you find that Emma?
- It was really fun.
I'm almost out of breath because I was struggling
so much on the corners, its so slippery, I just can't
get the hang of sliding around corners.
I'm just too chicken.
- I guess coming of from your background is a completely
different sensation that what you're used to.
- Yeah and I should have practiced more, I definitely
should've practiced more, but I was actually quick at
running quite a lot of it, definitely the banks
and I didn't crash once which mean I probably wasn't
pushing it to the limit.
- That's quite something for your first crossrace.
- Yeah, it means I wasn't trying hard enough probably.
- But now I feel like I need a cup of hot tea.
- And a porridge bun.
- Amazing.
- Right, let's go get some tea.
Well um, I have to say, I don't think that was my finest
race as I'll ever- but the whole point of cyclocross was
to try something new and have a bit of fun and learn
some new skills and I think I've certainly done that and
I have to say that if someone like me can- after years
of pro racing can go to a new discipline in cycling and
start right from the bottom and get totally embarrassed and
yet be welcomed with friendliness and warmth and just have
a load of fun at a race then I think anyone can do it.
So, give cyclocross a try because it is awesome.
Apart from cleaning your bike which sucks basically.
- [Emma] If you enjoyed this, please share it with your
friends and to see how I got here, check out the earlier
videos in this beginner cyclocross series.
(upbeat music)