Round 4 | Hog Hill | 29th September 2013
- Weather: mild
- Course: grassy, gravelly, large sections of single track and sweeping berms
- Highlight: first race on a cross bike
At last a chance to test out my super new cross bike, lovingly built by Barna, formerly raced by Gabby Day (and also Jules). The week previous to the race I had a practice at learning to dismount/remount at speed whilst still moving and also had a tentative ride on the BMX pump track….this wasn’t quite as much practice as I would have liked before going straight into an off-road race but hey-ho its all fun. 
My start was cautious which put me behind a lot of the men (veterans, youth and women all race together) but as I gained confidence i also gained speed and slowly worked my way up the field. After surviving an entanglement with the plastic fence tape (I had a section of red and white tape trailing me for a lap or so) and a battle for position with Fran I managed to pull off third place.
Here’s a video;
| Pos | Bib | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Lap 3 | Lap 4 | Lap 5 |
| 1 | 108 | Abi Van Twisk | VC Londres | 59:39 8’27” | 09:17 | 09:49 | 10:02 | 10:09 | 10:03 | 10:17 |
| 2 | 131 | Sophia Joy | PM Racing | 1:00:58 9’46” | 09:29 | 10:07 | 10:07 | 10:12 | 10:25 | 10:36 |
| 3 | 134 | Alice Miller | Look Mum No Hands! | 51:41 1 lap | 10:12 | 10:12 | 10:45 | 10:28 | 10:02 | |
| 4 | 132 | Francesca Morgan Slater | Lee Valley Youth | 52:11 1 lap | 09:51 | 10:29 | 10:48 | 10:29 | 10:31 | |
| 5 | 106 | Holly MacMahon | Team Darenth | 52:12 1 lap | 09:58 | 10:25 | 10:57 | 10:22 | 10:29 | |
| 6 | 133 | Abigail Armstrong | Hackney GT | 54:21 1 lap | 10:30 | 10:54 | 10:59 | 11:05 | 10:52 | |
| 7 | 135 | Katie Burgess | Oscar Bravo | 1:01:07 1 lap | 11:19 | 12:02 | 12:29 | 12:27 | 12:48 |
Round 5 | Herne Hill | 6th October 2013
- Weather: sunny
- Course: Gravel singletrack with small jump. Steep run-up followed by gravelly descent into tight hairpin. Long grass sections.
- Highlight: lovely weather
The velodrome is literally just down hill from me so this was a very casual start for me as I only had to leave early enough to sign on and get a few practice laps in. The course was very loose and gravelly, better suited to an MTB than a cyclo-cross bike.
Here’s a video;
| Pos | Bib | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Lap 3 | Lap 4 | Lap 5 | Lap 6 | Lap 7 | Lap 8 |
| 1 | 132 | Sophia Joy | PM Racing | 48:56:00 | 07:19 | 05:07 | 05:11 | 05:13 | 05:14 | 05:14 | 05:09 | 05:15 | 05:09 |
| 2 | 140 | Anett Deli | Cyclelabs | 49:33 0’37” | 07:38 | 05:06 | 05:10 | 05:11 | 05:13 | 05:14 | 05:14 | 05:28 | 05:15 |
| 3 | 141 | Louise Mahe | Sutton Cycling Club | 49:39 0’43” | 07:15 | 05:12 | 06:24 | 05:11 | 05:09 | 05:02 | 05:10 | 05:06 | 05:06 |
| 4 | 133 | Melissa Brand | MG Maxifuel | 51:35 2’39” | 08:08 | 05:29 | 05:26 | 05:26 | 05:32 | 05:21 | 05:20 | 05:21 | 05:27 |
| 5 | 138 | Alice Miller | Look Mum No Hands! | 51:58 3’02” | 08:09 | 05:19 | 05:17 | 05:23 | 05:35 | 05:31 | 05:30 | 05:37 | 05:33 |
| 6 | 131 | Holly MacMahon | Team Darenth | 52:46 3’50” | 08:17 | 05:26 | 05:29 | 05:26 | 05:33 | 05:40 | 05:44 | 05:31 | 05:36 |
| 7 | 139 | Sarah Connel | Brixton CC | 50:31 1 lap | 08:51 | 06:04 | 05:50 | 06:04 | 05:53 | 05:55 | 05:57 | 05:53 | |
| 8 | 134 | Lesley Wilkinson | Addiscombe CC | 52:56 1 lap | 09:19 | 06:09 | 06:16 | 06:01 | 06:04 | 06:12 | 06:00 | 06:51 | |
| 9 | 136 | Niki Dukes-Kovac | Brixton CC | 49:28 2 laps | 09:16 | 06:15 | 06:44 | 07:10 | 07:07 | 06:33 | 06:20 | ||
| 10 | 135 | Sarah Weir | Brixton CC | 53:20 2 laps | 09:33 | 06:38 | 06:58 | 07:21 | 07:24 | 08:09 | 07:14 | ||
| 11 | 137 | Julia Murphy-Buske | Brixton CC | 15:09 | 08:54 | 06:14 |
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