the harder you try

the luckier you get. or so i have been told. i guess i wasnt trying hard enough then :-P either that or i can say that with all this bad luck, i should have a long lucky career in cyclocross ahead of me! the race in rotterdam ended 20mins in with a broken derailleur and dropout. the third time this season! its tempting to blame the refurbished derailleur and thus my own workmanship for this, but said derailleur functioned perfectly for a full 50mins last weekend under arguably worse conditions. anyway, such is this muddy life. 5th place in this race, and overall, slips through my muddy, thermal glove covered fingers, and i have to settle for a DNF and 7th in the championship.



on the bright side, 7th place is still in the prize money, and while it wont replace my rear derailleur, i win just enough to buy a new dropout for the kinesis, plus one as a spare. im not going to cry (for long) over how if i hadnt missed 3 races, and the 15points you get just for starting, and if i had had spare bikes at the races like the pros (and some of the guys i raced against), i would have finished a few places higher up in the overall rankings. the milk is spilt.



tears would be shed mostly happily anyway. this was my first cyclocross season, steep learning curve and all that, and while i lost 5th at the last race due to a mechanical, i still achieved my goal of a top ten position overall. looks like i also need a new chain! thanks to sven for this photo. and to the canadian avenger and friends who turned up or supported online, you guys rock, much love to you all! so now its time for a little (sunshine) break before training for the road season starts, proper. amateur racing license has arrived, there is a new bike in the pipeline, more details will appear as things are confirmed. cheers