CX

Now the nights are drawing in everyone needs something to do to keep them occupied through the cold wet darkness, or just to retain sanity whilst the Other Half is watching Strictly Come Dancing (Victoria Pendleton is not an excuse).

The Kinesis Hell of the West - 80(+) kms of the finest riding Dartmoor has to offer. Initially billed as a cyclocross sportive, the varied nature of the course meant that it was a toss up as to what would be faster: cross or mountain bike? The start line featured a massive array of bike types, from race ready cross bikes, to full-suspension mtbs and I even spotted a handful of fixie riders (absolute nutters). As I’d brought my Kinesis KM810 along, I was hoping for plenty of rough stuff to make my big tyres count. Turns out, I wouldn’t be disappointed.

I was looking forward to this, my first cross race of the season, a local one, just 10 miles up the road, so an enjoyable mix of friends and fun and pain, the potential re-shuffling of the mostly amicable pecking order, and stopping off on the way home for something fatty and tasty and frequently justified as ‘well-earned’. It’s mostly a tradition now.