
	Cross Purposes
	Magazine

08/08/99
Hi and welcome to the '99/2000 cross season. This is just a note really to say that this site will again be providing a full Notts and Derby results service for the coming season. The site will be overhauled as the season starts to keep things fresh and interesting as the racing gets up-to-speed.

Round 1 of the Notts and Derby League is on the 18th September at Alestree park in Derby.
There's a training day at West Park School Derby to help you remember or learn the skill of 'cross - and to see who is in form for the season to come on the 4th of September.
TThe first race of national significance is the traditional 3-Peaks cyclo-cross up on the North Yorkshire Dales on the 26th of September.

Fees for your rider cards have been controversially introduced following the British Cyclo-Cross Associations AGM. They are not needed if you only plan to race 1 or 2 times, but if you're going to be a regular at the races then you'll have to part with a fiver. (Some of us argued could easily be taken from the levy on your entry fees - but the vote went the other way - DONT BLAME ME!).

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

BIG NEWS

Notts and Derby season starts 18th September.

BCCA Handbooks (events listings, rules, etc) are now availible.

A season guide to the Notts and Derby league is in production.

Letters

Results

Wanted / For Sale

National selection criteria document

Desktop wallpaper

Old editorials:

19/02/99
It's all over now. If you missed it, you'll just have to wait for next September - or do some of the summer events being organised in the east midlands by clubs like F.A.R.T. and D.V.A.T.C. Full details of the east midlands summer mountain bike schedule will soon be on the "calendar" section.

The only event I know of that is still to happen is the British Schools Championships. Nicky & Jamie Harris, and their teammate John Mozley are all wanting to become National Champions again like they did last year. I understand that this years schools event is bigger than ever, in almost every category. Good luck to all.
Now that the racing is out of the way, there are the major social and political sides of cyclo-cross to resolve. The Notts & Derby prize presentation and disco night is bound to be a cracking good do. Then there is all the meetings at the moment: The Notts & Derby AGM, the east midlands AGM and then the BCCA AGM. All have motions to vote on, and principles to up hold. Anyway, we'll all do our best for everyone, but to make sure we get it right, come to the AGMs and express you views.

On a more technological note: I have just applied to register the internet address (URL) "www.cyclo-cross.com", I'll get it working during the summer and hopefully nobody will be able to forget such a simple URL.
For next winter, I'm looking for ways to improve this web site. What I think people want from this site most of all is the results and league tables. Next most important is the other stuff, like the comments , letters page, small adds, and links to other sites. I want to get people to e-mail me with results from further afield, and race reports too. And I'd like people to write their own columns (like this one) which I would put on-line. If anybody has any suggestions for improvements or additions, or if you would like to offer your help, then please e-mail me.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

31/01/99
Well, it's 15 down, 1 to go for the Notts & Derby League, and the riders just keep coming. 191 of the county's cyclists have taken part so far, and each race seams to be able to attract 80 riders for the senior race even at this late stage in the season. The popularity of the league is demonstrated by the contrast with just a few miles away in Leicester - without a season long competition to get engrossed in, many riders have finished for this season. Last weekend just 25 riders raced in Braunstone Park, Leicester - it's worth travelling there if your searching for National Ranking Points.

The race for top Veteran and for top Junior competitor will come right down to just a couple of positions at the final round. 3rd place in the seniors could also be close, but 2nd is now secure with Andy Naylor of the Ashfield RC, and first was secured a couple of weeks ago by Julian Gould of the ACE RT. First team is still to close to call between Ashfield RC and Matlock CC, just 40 points out of 3500 separates the two teams.
While we're into figures and statistics on races and the like, I can tell you that January saw almost exactly one thousand visits to this web site. It's quite rewarding to think that people actually want to see this information, and read what's here.
The USA now have a World Cyclo-Cross Champion, a bronze medal, and the same number of finishers in the Elite

championships as Britain in this years Championships. This is very different to the USA that the cyclo-cross world is use to - many of us have looked down our nose's at American riders because they were worse than us, and it has been embarrassing when they've come to international events. The Americans have achieved a miraculous improvement, and are suddenly one of the main cyclo-cross nations of the world.
Britain has always hovered on the edge of cyclo-cross, and my instincts are that we need some of what ever the Americans have. We must find out how they have suddenly produced a whole batch of top riders despite being isolated from the rest of the cyclo-cross world by the Atlantic. We only have the English Channel between Europe and us, but we've always used it as en excuse for us not being accustomed to world level competition.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

26/01/99
Now that the national championships are well out of the way, the national squad of elite riders for the world championships has been finalised. Riders such as ACE's Shaun Snoddon and Beauvals Gavin Hardwick have packed their baggs and are now off in Slovakia. They'll hopefully put on a good show, and Shaun could be high up in the juniors.

With the best riders away on national duties, the rest of us have the last two rounds of the Notts & Derby League to think about. It's getting very tight in some places: Julian Gould (ACE) has definitely won, and Andy Naylor (Ashfield) looks likely to come second, but third is going to be tight between Ben Eedy (Beeston) and I (Vin Cox South Pennine) - I estimate us both scoring between 1200 & 1210. Next in line and absolutely neck and neck are Bob Wood-Anderson (Matlock -Wards) and Pete Harris (Chevin Chasers), they are equal on points having done the same number of races, and are our two top Veteran category racers.

The extra points available due to the top guys being away, and the determination to secure the places which we've all been establishing for ourselves over the past 4 months, will make for good racing at Alestree Park in Derby on the 30th of Jan, and at Bramcote Hills on the 6th of Feb. I don't think we could ask for better venues to finish the season with.
The real final event of the season will be the prize presentation and disco evening in March. Derek Gascoyne sells the tickets for what is always a top night (just look at the social page).

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

11/01/99
As predicted, the Notts & Derby league table changed a bit during the Christmas period. Julian Gould has according to my calculations already won overall, Pete Breen has moved up to second, but Andy Naylor is still likely to get second in the end given a couple of good races out of the last three. Third is a bit more open. I can probably get third myself, but it could be very close with Ben Eedy, Bob Wood-Anderson, and Pete Harris.

The National Senior, under 23, and junior Championships were held on the 10th of Jan. The usual speedy Sutton Park course in Birmingham had been slightly adapted, allowing it to accommodate even more spectators. The huge crowds certainly had something to see in every race. Royal Sutton CC organised it all, and Huge Porter provided an informative commentary.
Shuan Snoddon (ACE RT) won the Juniors as expected, but not without a crash which knocked him back to second temporarily before he recovered to win in style. Dave Bowater (Black co Wheelers) had just made his winning move in the under 23s when Tim Morley broke his bike leaving a medal place clear for Gavin Hardwick (Beauvale CC). Dave will hopefully be showing-off that national champions jersey in this area quite a lot since he is a student in Nottingham.

In the seniors, Steve Knight (Peugot 406) was the crowds favourite (so Hugh Porter said) and got an unusually fast start to be at the front battling with Barry Clark (Raleigh) and Nick Craig (Diamond Back) right from the start. Those three alternated the lead, and eventually Barry cracked, leaving Nick and Steve alone. As the last lap began, Steve had a small gap which Nick could not close, so Steve Knight became the National Champion. The crowd screamed themselves horse during the race and looked to be enjoying it almost as much as us riders.
The veterans and Youth championships on 17th could see gold medals come back to Notts & Derby riders. Phil Spencer (Matlock CC Wards Shoes) is hot favourite after his sixth place in last weekends Junior Championships. Raining Veterans Champion Martin Booth (ACE RT), was riding in the senior championships and finished 26th, so he has to be favourite to win the Veterans again.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

25/12/98
Christmas day and I finally get the chance to write another editorial - you all know the story - it's busy for normal people at this time of year, but the cyclo-cross riders time is very tight in December. Well, merry christmas everyone!

The christmas/new year racing extravaganza will prepare our top riders for the National Championships. It will exhaust the rest of us. 19 events in Britain during the next week can keep and rider who's prepared to travel very busy.
Some of us near the top of the Nott's and Derby league table have other ideas about racing at this time of year however.... Andy Naylor (Ashfield R.C. currently 2nd overall) has gone skiing and will miss the next two league events. 3rd place Pete Breen (DVATC samways) might therefore move up, but that depends on how seriously this notorious party animal takes christmas. Ben Eedy in 5th place (Beeston RC) had been planning to miss Brickyard farm (round 12), but when he realised he could gain a few places by riding he reconsidered. I'm currently in 6th just a point or two behind

Ben, but I'll miss round 13 (Clipstone forest) because I'll be climbing in Glen Coe for new year.
Shaun Snoddon, the ACE RT junior, is spending christmas abroad racing in World Cup events. According to the Derby Evening Telegraph, he's had a top ten result in the first race of the trip, and plans to eat christmas dinner in McDonalds. I'm sure we can all wish him luck, and spare a thought for our top junior sat in a lonely foreign MacDonalds while we tuck into the turkey in more conventional surroundings.
I hope that you've all got that set of wheels / tubs / handlebars / pedals etc, that you wanted. Or maybe you've got a new computer which you're reading this on. Anyway, all the best for making use of your gifts in the new year. Perhaps you could write a thank you note or give us some other wise thought on the letters page.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

6/12/98
Snow and cold weather greeted us for last weekend. The snow has still not settled, and the forecast for the week ahead gets warmer damp weather back with us. It's a pity I think - not just because I'm a big kid who loves playing in the snow, but because this years world championships are in Slovakia's mountains. Some snowy practice for our international hopefuls would help them.

Saturday at the Notts & Derby race was torture for all the riders without a fleet of spare bikes and a crew of cleaners too keep them competitive. I'm usually fortunate enough to have a spare, but I had to remember what it's like to be clogged solid on Saturday. Constantly stopping to free the wheels isn't much fun.
Most of the top guys, and the eventual winner (George Richardson) started cleanly, but some of us inevitably crashed on that very dodgy start line. While I was worrying about how to avoid crashing I heard some riders saying that they wanted to be at the end of the start line, near to the official who starts the race. They wanted to be there because the sound of the start signal would reach them sooner than the riders at the other end of the line - hence they could get away sooner. Some quick calculations have made me realise that I have been neglecting this important factor - it's potentially as much as a tenth (0.1) of a second!

The Midlands Championships on Sunday were unfortunately west midland dominated. Only the 3 ACE Racing Team lads Carl Buckle (4th), Julian Gould (6th), and Paul Wright(7th), could get in the seniors top ten. Team Valley, lead by Dean Smith (2nd) were also fighting west midland domination in the Youth event. And in the Juniors, Shaun Snoddon (ACE RT) was away racing abroad, leaving anther west midlander to the gold despite Oliver Cox and Darren spooner doing their bests in 2nd and 3rd.
Only the skill of the Harris' and of Isla Rowntree, got the east midlands some gold medals. Isla was simply in a class of her own in the women's event riding for Raleigh. Pete Harris (Chevin Chasers) beat old rival and National Champion Martin Booth (ACE RT) to win the Veterans title. Pete's son Jamie won yet another under 12's race with his usual style and Nicky Harris was best Youth Girl and 13th out of the boys.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

22/11/98
Sutton lawns got us all back to the Notts & Derby after last weeks break. The rest seams to have affected different people in different ways. Pete Breen was flying, I was suffering, Gav Hardwicke was a bit slower than he has been, and Martin Seddon was just a spectator.

Good tight racing was seen in almost every category. Professionals Tim Gould and Carl Sturgeon were giving us a good show in the seniors. Jamie Harris, Jon Mozley, and Ed Parker kept up the record of the under 12s being the best race to watch, with a really great battle. Also neck and neck were top under 23s Phil Dixon and Dan Booth. But the Youth and Juniors were one horse races for the best riders in the nation at these age groups: Junior Shuan Snoddon (ACE) and Youth Phil Spencer (Matlock). Phil never saw another rider in the youths, wile Shuan was right up with the pros in the senior race.

I'm sure Phil and Shuan will be the guys to watch in the Area and National Championships. The Midlands Area Champs are in just a couple of weeks time in Coventry, and the Nationals are in the new year, in Sutton Park Birmingham.
Another rest from Notts and Derby racing can be had next weekend so I'm off to the Lake District to climb some hills. The rest of you will no-doubt get down to the National Trophy in London, or maybe go to the West Midlands race on Saturday. I hope you have a good time.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

16/11/98
With no Notts and Derby race last weekend, local riders were either having a rest, racing in Leicester, or racing at the National Trophy.

I chose to rest, but Pete Breen (DVATC Samways) chose Leicester and won, while Shaun Snoddon, Martin Booth, Jamie Harris, Nicki Harris, and Philip Spencer (ACE, Double A, and Matlock CC respectively) all went to Bristol to win their sections of the National Trophy round two.
Jamie Harris, who lapped the whole field in his under 12 race, described the senior race as one of the most exciting he'd ever seen. There was nothing to separate Tim Gould, Nick Craig, and Barrie Clark until the very end when Gould was left by Craig and Clark as they sprinted for glory. Craig just didn't have the energy as Clark crossed the line a single second ahead.

Hot news here is the letter the site has received from a member of the BCF Board. At the same time as denying that the BCF would like to take over cyclo-cross, he does admit that they plan to envelope cyclo-cross in their "British Cycling" label, and make our BCCA board a sub-committee of the BCF!
I expect a lot of discussion (outcry even) on this matter, so visit the letters page frequently and please contribute to the debate.
Because I did not want to take any responsibility for editing the letter (which is very long), I have created a new page to display it. Also there is a shot response to the points made about this site in the letter.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

8/11/98
Dry ground was happily under our wheels last weekend at Strawberry Hill. It made an interesting change! Bike changing was unnecessary and there's not even a great amount of cleaning to do when getting home after the race.

Start line disaster befell top veteran riders Pete Harris (Chevin Chasers) and Bob Wood-Anderson (Matlock CC Wards-Clarks) when they were among the first to crash into Scott Gamble - the Linda McCartny Professional. Loads of riders piled in on top, causing injury to bikes and bodies. Scott came out worst from the bottom of the pile, with suspected cracked ribs. Bob and Pete both lost points on their other rivals due to damaged bikes and delayed start. Another big losser was Ashfields Steve Chamberlain.
Up in front, the early pace was set by Gavin Hardwick (Beauvale), Paul Wright (ACE RT) , Dave Perry (Raligh), Andy Naylor (Ashfield RC), Jim Bryan (ACE RT), and myself (Vin Cox, South Pennine). But by the end of the first lap ACE riders Julain Gould, Shaun Snoddon and Martin Seddon, had joined the front along with Phil Dixon (Peugeot). A large bunch formed from these riders and quickly dropped Andy and I. Behind and just out of the top ten, Dan Cook, Ben Eedy, and James Furness teamed up to pursue.

Gav' Hardwick and Shaun Snodden were apparently locked together for the entire race, with Shaun's ACE RT team mates all close at hand to try and avert another defeat by Gav'. With the leaders still together approaching the finish it would have been hard to predict. The ACE team should be able to control the finish because of their numbers, but Gav' is renowned for a fast finish and has beaten them at every opportunity so far this year.
The logs across the track approaching the finish were the focus of the riders and the spectators. Gavin's speed over these logs during the finishing sprint got him the win over Shaun. Despite having demonstrated the ability to bunny hop them, he changed styles and performed a perfect dismount and re-mount at over 25mph to allow him to run over them faster than the opposition.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

1/11/98
It amazes me when riders (or parents) start complaining or criticising a race organisation. Riders, can't see prize money as more than a spit in the ocean of bikes, transport, and race entry costs. So why is it worth deriding the organiser and jeopardising the further enthusiasm of the rarest type of cyclist - the organiser. They've often had at least a day of work, and give and entire weekend to the ungrateful, winging sods.
Take note: When someone does something for you - Say thankyou - offer to help him make it better next year if you don't like this years.

Now then, Holme Pierrpont was a grand and muddy occasion. It was another race with over 100 riders despite the fowl weather for the last week or two. D Atkins came over from Coventry and got the better of the ACE boys, Lea Fearn, Andy Naylor, the ELMEY team, and myself. Shaun Snoddon took second for ACE and the top points in Notts and Derby, despite having a tumble or two.
Julian Gould (ACE) grips more tightly to the top of the table now with an 11 point margin over Andy Naylor (Ashfield). Proving me wrong, Pete Breen has now got all the way up to third position - which is the position he finished in last year. Bob Wood-Anderson, Ben Eedy, and myself all have a race in hand though, which makes third place attainable.

Gav' Hardwick was just a spectator on Saturday - choosing to save himself for the international on Sunday. Fellow international riders Shed, Julian, Andy et al were in the race but professed to be "taking it a bit more steady" - which is perhaps why I got to see the front of the race for a lap or so.
When the international arrived, our locals (organisers and riders) put on the style. Under 12s, Youth team, a solid Junior performance, and a couple of good rides from Gav' and Carl Buckle was just what we wanted to see. Luck played a nasty trick on us in the senior race when 3 of the 4 east mid's team were in the start-line crash, Julian and Paul not managing to continue in the race past 20 yards. That's the way it happens sometimes, and those riders will have a point to prove next time.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

24/10/98
Last weekends weather has even reached into this electronic cyclo-cross world. The floppy disk containing the results to the National Trophy in Ipswich was attacked by the damp, and required intensive resuscitation - almost completely successfully. So there's a double helping of results available, despite the best efforts of the elements.

Julian Gould now leads the Notts and Derby league, because Gavin Hardwick missed Saturdays mud festival, saving himself for the National Trophy. Julian took the overall lead by finishing 3rd behind his new ACE RT team mate Jim Bryan, and Team Chevin's Matt Bailey.
The torrential rain and wind didn't detract greatly from the Trent Meadows course, and the event seamed more cosy for the reduced turnout (nostalgia maybe). Pete Breen was back in the top ten after a disappointing start to the season. He'll have his work cut out to emulate his third place of last years league though:- Julian, Andy Naylor, Gavin, and Paul Wright are all looking very strong for the league.

Down in Ipswich, on the fantastic Foxhall Stadium course, east mid's riders were putting on a good show. Shaun Snoddon (Ace RT/Alan/W Cup/Impsport) did the biz and made the opposition look silly in the junior race, as did Phil Spencer (Matlock CC/Wards Shoes/Clarks) in the youth (Matlock is a NWCCA club, but as a Nott's and Derby club they are with us).
In the senior open race, Beauvale's Gav' Hardwick was 1st under23, just ahead of ACE RTs Stuart Blunt in 7th. 10 out of the first 30 were east mids so I'm happy as area coach- especially since I was one of them! I also know how many of this areas top riders were missing or just having bad luck (Dan Booth had to jog to the finish after rolling his tyre)- so there's better results to come.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

17/10/98
Shiply Park brought most of us back to the muddy reality of cyclo-cross last weekend. But Beauvale CC's Gavin Hardwick refused to come back down with the rest of us and put ACE RT in number 2 slot for the third week running. Sean Snoddon the was impressive junior representative of ACE on this occasion.
I must admit that I enjoyed the mud too. Largely thanks to the efforts of my two bike cleaners (BIG thankyou), and a spare bike. I got a good result from a day I felt rather groggy on.
The ACE boys have given warning that next weeks National Trophy will see them on top form, and no doubt more motivated than ever by Gavin's insubordination of recent weeks. Martin Seddon told me that he'd been training himself to death recently, and now he was going to start reaping the benefits.

As far as Notts & Derby goes next week, things could be all change. The guys at the top of the league table will all be holding something back for the National Trophy, and some will actually miss the race. Shed (Martin Seddon) and Paul Wright are off to Belgium (good luck lads), and we're unlikely to see Gavin if he follows the pattern of previous years. This could make Trent Meadows at Long Eaton an open battle for the top of the table place.
Andy Naylor will be hoping than Julian Gould follows his team mates to Belgium, as will Bob Wood-Anderson. Both would be in contention for the league lead if Julian is absent. Even that pair may have bigger fish to fry though, they are both national level in their age categories.
Oh well, enough conjecture. We'll have to see the race.

To keep things interesting for those of you who want balanced opinions we could do with some ranting and raving on the letters page. Personally, I know that the BCF is a topic most of you can be very vocal about - so I'd like to see some letters about them (check out the "BCF" link first).

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

11/10/98
Welcome to "Cross Purposes" magazine. This is the bit of the site that it's worth coming back to even when you've been 'round it all before. It will keep changing as races and events happen. Also, you (the reader) get to contribute to the letters page.

Derwent Valley ATC held one of the most well attended events in the history of cyclo-cross on staturday. 140 riders lined up for the main race at 2.15pm, and had to come back 15 minutes later when the numbers for all the riders were sorted out. It presented the wrong impression - disorganisation. Infact it seems increadable to me that it was possible for 140 riders to be tracked around that 6 minute lap at all. Perhaps the only performance that deserves more credit than Gavin Hardwickes win is the judging team who wrote down every rider number, every lap (about 1200 numbers), and then made sence of it to produce the result.

I remember hearing a discussion about how to reduce the problems of there been so many riders in our races, several years ago at the anual meeting. As participation takes anouther jump up this could again become an issue for next year. How can any more riders be accommodated on a cyclo-cross course, or acounted for by a judging team? Anouther downside of popularity is the national rankings. On the lastest rankings it is far from obvious that our area is so strong. Quite poor riders feature highly because of little oposition in their area, yet the vast majority of us here never see one national point.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

4/10/98
Welcome to "Cross Purposes" magazine. This is the bit of the site that it's worth coming back to even when you've been 'round it all before. It will keep changing as races and events happen. Also, you (the reader) get to contribute to the letters page.

Beauvale CCs event last Saturday was in every way a great success, and Gav' Hardwickes win was about as popular as it could have been. It's a rare event thats won by a rider from the promoting club these days, and rarer still that Ace RTs boys get squeezed out of the top slot if they're in the hunt.
A few top younger riders were missing

from the races on Saturday and they were to be found over in Lea Green where the BCCA was having a coaching weekend for potential national level riders. Naturally, the East Midlands was very well represented. When I went along on Sunday, the riders were finding out about the world championships, nutrition, training groups, skills etc. They also had a couple of hard training sessions, and were developing the cameraderie that is important for the national team.
I joined in on some training riding across a slippery bank. Aparently my crash was aproaching world class, but my riding wasn't.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

27/9/98
Welcome to the web site, and in particular to it's most recent addition - the "Cross Purposes" magazine. The idea here is that this is the bit of the site that it's worth coming back to even when you've been 'round it all before. It will keep changing as races and events happen. Also, you (the reader) get to contribute by e-mail to the letters page.
News as it happens (now then) will be availible here.
Top of the bill at the moment has to be the Three Peaks. Chris Young won. Complete results are available on this site. The gossip though, is that Chris, and three other top ten riders incurred time penalties for rule infringements. For the first time since Tim Gould used to win

every year, the lead riders swapped to road bikes for the road sections - which is now against the rules. One rider also had his support car follow him along the road section, seriously affecting the flow of traffic.
It was ironic that the race commissaire was Harry Gould, Tim's father, who now had to decide on the penalties for these riders. In the end, few grumbled about the 2 and 5 minute time penalties added on for these obvious rule infringements.
The magazine is a product of the Three Peaks race. Being too tired to train having competed, I'm reduced to an evening at the keyboard. 47^th is my best performance to date, so I'm reasonably happy with my aching body.

Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?

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	08/08/99 Hi and welcome to the '99/2000 cross season. This is just a note really to say that this site will again be providing a full Notts and Derby results service for the coming season. The site will be overhauled as the season starts to keep things fresh and interesting as the racing gets up-to-speed.
	Round 1 of the Notts and Derby League is on the 18th September at Alestree park in Derby. There's a training day at West Park School Derby to help you remember or learn the skill of 'cross - and to see who is in form for the season to come on the 4th of September. TThe first race of national significance is the traditional 3-Peaks cyclo-cross up on the North Yorkshire Dales on the 26th of September.		Fees for your rider cards have been controversially introduced following the British Cyclo-Cross Associations AGM. They are not needed if you only plan to race 1 or 2 times, but if you're going to be a regular at the races then you'll have to part with a fiver. (Some of us argued could easily be taken from the levy on your entry fees - but the vote went the other way - DONT BLAME ME!).
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	19/02/99 It's all over now. If you missed it, you'll just have to wait for next September - or do some of the summer events being organised in the east midlands by clubs like F.A.R.T. and D.V.A.T.C. Full details of the east midlands summer mountain bike schedule will soon be on the "calendar" section.
	The only event I know of that is still to happen is the British Schools Championships. Nicky & Jamie Harris, and their teammate John Mozley are all wanting to become National Champions again like they did last year. I understand that this years schools event is bigger than ever, in almost every category. Good luck to all. Now that the racing is out of the way, there are the major social and political sides of cyclo-cross to resolve. The Notts & Derby prize presentation and disco night is bound to be a cracking good do. Then there is all the meetings at the moment: The Notts & Derby AGM, the east midlands AGM and then the BCCA AGM. All have motions to vote on, and principles to up hold. Anyway, we'll all do our best for everyone, but to make sure we get it right, come to the AGMs and express you views.		On a more technological note: I have just applied to register the internet address (URL) "www.cyclo-cross.com", I'll get it working during the summer and hopefully nobody will be able to forget such a simple URL. For next winter, I'm looking for ways to improve this web site. What I think people want from this site most of all is the results and league tables. Next most important is the other stuff, like the comments , letters page, small adds, and links to other sites. I want to get people to e-mail me with results from further afield, and race reports too. And I'd like people to write their own columns (like this one) which I would put on-line. If anybody has any suggestions for improvements or additions, or if you would like to offer your help, then please e-mail me.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	31/01/99 Well, it's 15 down, 1 to go for the Notts & Derby League, and the riders just keep coming. 191 of the county's cyclists have taken part so far, and each race seams to be able to attract 80 riders for the senior race even at this late stage in the season. The popularity of the league is demonstrated by the contrast with just a few miles away in Leicester - without a season long competition to get engrossed in, many riders have finished for this season. Last weekend just 25 riders raced in Braunstone Park, Leicester - it's worth travelling there if your searching for National Ranking Points.
	The race for top Veteran and for top Junior competitor will come right down to just a couple of positions at the final round. 3rd place in the seniors could also be close, but 2nd is now secure with Andy Naylor of the Ashfield RC, and first was secured a couple of weeks ago by Julian Gould of the ACE RT. First team is still to close to call between Ashfield RC and Matlock CC, just 40 points out of 3500 separates the two teams. While we're into figures and statistics on races and the like, I can tell you that January saw almost exactly one thousand visits to this web site. It's quite rewarding to think that people actually want to see this information, and read what's here. The USA now have a World Cyclo-Cross Champion, a bronze medal, and the same number of finishers in the Elite		championships as Britain in this years Championships. This is very different to the USA that the cyclo-cross world is use to - many of us have looked down our nose's at American riders because they were worse than us, and it has been embarrassing when they've come to international events. The Americans have achieved a miraculous improvement, and are suddenly one of the main cyclo-cross nations of the world. Britain has always hovered on the edge of cyclo-cross, and my instincts are that we need some of what ever the Americans have. We must find out how they have suddenly produced a whole batch of top riders despite being isolated from the rest of the cyclo-cross world by the Atlantic. We only have the English Channel between Europe and us, but we've always used it as en excuse for us not being accustomed to world level competition.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	26/01/99 Now that the national championships are well out of the way, the national squad of elite riders for the world championships has been finalised. Riders such as ACE's Shaun Snoddon and Beauvals Gavin Hardwick have packed their baggs and are now off in Slovakia. They'll hopefully put on a good show, and Shaun could be high up in the juniors.
	With the best riders away on national duties, the rest of us have the last two rounds of the Notts & Derby League to think about. It's getting very tight in some places: Julian Gould (ACE) has definitely won, and Andy Naylor (Ashfield) looks likely to come second, but third is going to be tight between Ben Eedy (Beeston) and I (Vin Cox South Pennine) - I estimate us both scoring between 1200 & 1210. Next in line and absolutely neck and neck are Bob Wood-Anderson (Matlock -Wards) and Pete Harris (Chevin Chasers), they are equal on points having done the same number of races, and are our two top Veteran category racers.		The extra points available due to the top guys being away, and the determination to secure the places which we've all been establishing for ourselves over the past 4 months, will make for good racing at Alestree Park in Derby on the 30th of Jan, and at Bramcote Hills on the 6th of Feb. I don't think we could ask for better venues to finish the season with. The real final event of the season will be the prize presentation and disco evening in March. Derek Gascoyne sells the tickets for what is always a top night (just look at the social page).
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	11/01/99 As predicted, the Notts & Derby league table changed a bit during the Christmas period. Julian Gould has according to my calculations already won overall, Pete Breen has moved up to second, but Andy Naylor is still likely to get second in the end given a couple of good races out of the last three. Third is a bit more open. I can probably get third myself, but it could be very close with Ben Eedy, Bob Wood-Anderson, and Pete Harris.
	The National Senior, under 23, and junior Championships were held on the 10th of Jan. The usual speedy Sutton Park course in Birmingham had been slightly adapted, allowing it to accommodate even more spectators. The huge crowds certainly had something to see in every race. Royal Sutton CC organised it all, and Huge Porter provided an informative commentary. Shuan Snoddon (ACE RT) won the Juniors as expected, but not without a crash which knocked him back to second temporarily before he recovered to win in style. Dave Bowater (Black co Wheelers) had just made his winning move in the under 23s when Tim Morley broke his bike leaving a medal place clear for Gavin Hardwick (Beauvale CC). Dave will hopefully be showing-off that national champions jersey in this area quite a lot since he is a student in Nottingham.		In the seniors, Steve Knight (Peugot 406) was the crowds favourite (so Hugh Porter said) and got an unusually fast start to be at the front battling with Barry Clark (Raleigh) and Nick Craig (Diamond Back) right from the start. Those three alternated the lead, and eventually Barry cracked, leaving Nick and Steve alone. As the last lap began, Steve had a small gap which Nick could not close, so Steve Knight became the National Champion. The crowd screamed themselves horse during the race and looked to be enjoying it almost as much as us riders. The veterans and Youth championships on 17th could see gold medals come back to Notts & Derby riders. Phil Spencer (Matlock CC Wards Shoes) is hot favourite after his sixth place in last weekends Junior Championships. Raining Veterans Champion Martin Booth (ACE RT), was riding in the senior championships and finished 26th, so he has to be favourite to win the Veterans again.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	25/12/98 Christmas day and I finally get the chance to write another editorial - you all know the story - it's busy for normal people at this time of year, but the cyclo-cross riders time is very tight in December. Well, merry christmas everyone!
	The christmas/new year racing extravaganza will prepare our top riders for the National Championships. It will exhaust the rest of us. 19 events in Britain during the next week can keep and rider who's prepared to travel very busy. Some of us near the top of the Nott's and Derby league table have other ideas about racing at this time of year however.... Andy Naylor (Ashfield R.C. currently 2nd overall) has gone skiing and will miss the next two league events. 3rd place Pete Breen (DVATC samways) might therefore move up, but that depends on how seriously this notorious party animal takes christmas. Ben Eedy in 5th place (Beeston RC) had been planning to miss Brickyard farm (round 12), but when he realised he could gain a few places by riding he reconsidered. I'm currently in 6th just a point or two behind		Ben, but I'll miss round 13 (Clipstone forest) because I'll be climbing in Glen Coe for new year. Shaun Snoddon, the ACE RT junior, is spending christmas abroad racing in World Cup events. According to the Derby Evening Telegraph, he's had a top ten result in the first race of the trip, and plans to eat christmas dinner in McDonalds. I'm sure we can all wish him luck, and spare a thought for our top junior sat in a lonely foreign MacDonalds while we tuck into the turkey in more conventional surroundings. I hope that you've all got that set of wheels / tubs / handlebars / pedals etc, that you wanted. Or maybe you've got a new computer which you're reading this on. Anyway, all the best for making use of your gifts in the new year. Perhaps you could write a thank you note or give us some other wise thought on the letters page.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	6/12/98 Snow and cold weather greeted us for last weekend. The snow has still not settled, and the forecast for the week ahead gets warmer damp weather back with us. It's a pity I think - not just because I'm a big kid who loves playing in the snow, but because this years world championships are in Slovakia's mountains. Some snowy practice for our international hopefuls would help them.
	Saturday at the Notts & Derby race was torture for all the riders without a fleet of spare bikes and a crew of cleaners too keep them competitive. I'm usually fortunate enough to have a spare, but I had to remember what it's like to be clogged solid on Saturday. Constantly stopping to free the wheels isn't much fun. Most of the top guys, and the eventual winner (George Richardson) started cleanly, but some of us inevitably crashed on that very dodgy start line. While I was worrying about how to avoid crashing I heard some riders saying that they wanted to be at the end of the start line, near to the official who starts the race. They wanted to be there because the sound of the start signal would reach them sooner than the riders at the other end of the line - hence they could get away sooner. Some quick calculations have made me realise that I have been neglecting this important factor - it's potentially as much as a tenth (0.1) of a second!		The Midlands Championships on Sunday were unfortunately west midland dominated. Only the 3 ACE Racing Team lads Carl Buckle (4th), Julian Gould (6th), and Paul Wright(7th), could get in the seniors top ten. Team Valley, lead by Dean Smith (2nd) were also fighting west midland domination in the Youth event. And in the Juniors, Shaun Snoddon (ACE RT) was away racing abroad, leaving anther west midlander to the gold despite Oliver Cox and Darren spooner doing their bests in 2nd and 3rd. Only the skill of the Harris' and of Isla Rowntree, got the east midlands some gold medals. Isla was simply in a class of her own in the women's event riding for Raleigh. Pete Harris (Chevin Chasers) beat old rival and National Champion Martin Booth (ACE RT) to win the Veterans title. Pete's son Jamie won yet another under 12's race with his usual style and Nicky Harris was best Youth Girl and 13th out of the boys.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	22/11/98 Sutton lawns got us all back to the Notts & Derby after last weeks break. The rest seams to have affected different people in different ways. Pete Breen was flying, I was suffering, Gav Hardwicke was a bit slower than he has been, and Martin Seddon was just a spectator.
	Good tight racing was seen in almost every category. Professionals Tim Gould and Carl Sturgeon were giving us a good show in the seniors. Jamie Harris, Jon Mozley, and Ed Parker kept up the record of the under 12s being the best race to watch, with a really great battle. Also neck and neck were top under 23s Phil Dixon and Dan Booth. But the Youth and Juniors were one horse races for the best riders in the nation at these age groups: Junior Shuan Snoddon (ACE) and Youth Phil Spencer (Matlock). Phil never saw another rider in the youths, wile Shuan was right up with the pros in the senior race.		I'm sure Phil and Shuan will be the guys to watch in the Area and National Championships. The Midlands Area Champs are in just a couple of weeks time in Coventry, and the Nationals are in the new year, in Sutton Park Birmingham. Another rest from Notts and Derby racing can be had next weekend so I'm off to the Lake District to climb some hills. The rest of you will no-doubt get down to the National Trophy in London, or maybe go to the West Midlands race on Saturday. I hope you have a good time.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	16/11/98 With no Notts and Derby race last weekend, local riders were either having a rest, racing in Leicester, or racing at the National Trophy.
	I chose to rest, but Pete Breen (DVATC Samways) chose Leicester and won, while Shaun Snoddon, Martin Booth, Jamie Harris, Nicki Harris, and Philip Spencer (ACE, Double A, and Matlock CC respectively) all went to Bristol to win their sections of the National Trophy round two. Jamie Harris, who lapped the whole field in his under 12 race, described the senior race as one of the most exciting he'd ever seen. There was nothing to separate Tim Gould, Nick Craig, and Barrie Clark until the very end when Gould was left by Craig and Clark as they sprinted for glory. Craig just didn't have the energy as Clark crossed the line a single second ahead.		Hot news here is the letter the site has received from a member of the BCF Board. At the same time as denying that the BCF would like to take over cyclo-cross, he does admit that they plan to envelope cyclo-cross in their "British Cycling" label, and make our BCCA board a sub-committee of the BCF! I expect a lot of discussion (outcry even) on this matter, so visit the letters page frequently and please contribute to the debate. Because I did not want to take any responsibility for editing the letter (which is very long), I have created a new page to display it. Also there is a shot response to the points made about this site in the letter.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	8/11/98 Dry ground was happily under our wheels last weekend at Strawberry Hill. It made an interesting change! Bike changing was unnecessary and there's not even a great amount of cleaning to do when getting home after the race.
	Start line disaster befell top veteran riders Pete Harris (Chevin Chasers) and Bob Wood-Anderson (Matlock CC Wards-Clarks) when they were among the first to crash into Scott Gamble - the Linda McCartny Professional. Loads of riders piled in on top, causing injury to bikes and bodies. Scott came out worst from the bottom of the pile, with suspected cracked ribs. Bob and Pete both lost points on their other rivals due to damaged bikes and delayed start. Another big losser was Ashfields Steve Chamberlain. Up in front, the early pace was set by Gavin Hardwick (Beauvale), Paul Wright (ACE RT) , Dave Perry (Raligh), Andy Naylor (Ashfield RC), Jim Bryan (ACE RT), and myself (Vin Cox, South Pennine). But by the end of the first lap ACE riders Julain Gould, Shaun Snoddon and Martin Seddon, had joined the front along with Phil Dixon (Peugeot). A large bunch formed from these riders and quickly dropped Andy and I. Behind and just out of the top ten, Dan Cook, Ben Eedy, and James Furness teamed up to pursue.		Gav' Hardwick and Shaun Snodden were apparently locked together for the entire race, with Shaun's ACE RT team mates all close at hand to try and avert another defeat by Gav'. With the leaders still together approaching the finish it would have been hard to predict. The ACE team should be able to control the finish because of their numbers, but Gav' is renowned for a fast finish and has beaten them at every opportunity so far this year. The logs across the track approaching the finish were the focus of the riders and the spectators. Gavin's speed over these logs during the finishing sprint got him the win over Shaun. Despite having demonstrated the ability to bunny hop them, he changed styles and performed a perfect dismount and re-mount at over 25mph to allow him to run over them faster than the opposition.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	1/11/98 It amazes me when riders (or parents) start complaining or criticising a race organisation. Riders, can't see prize money as more than a spit in the ocean of bikes, transport, and race entry costs. So why is it worth deriding the organiser and jeopardising the further enthusiasm of the rarest type of cyclist - the organiser. They've often had at least a day of work, and give and entire weekend to the ungrateful, winging sods. Take note: When someone does something for you - Say thankyou - offer to help him make it better next year if you don't like this years.
	Now then, Holme Pierrpont was a grand and muddy occasion. It was another race with over 100 riders despite the fowl weather for the last week or two. D Atkins came over from Coventry and got the better of the ACE boys, Lea Fearn, Andy Naylor, the ELMEY team, and myself. Shaun Snoddon took second for ACE and the top points in Notts and Derby, despite having a tumble or two. Julian Gould (ACE) grips more tightly to the top of the table now with an 11 point margin over Andy Naylor (Ashfield). Proving me wrong, Pete Breen has now got all the way up to third position - which is the position he finished in last year. Bob Wood-Anderson, Ben Eedy, and myself all have a race in hand though, which makes third place attainable.		Gav' Hardwick was just a spectator on Saturday - choosing to save himself for the international on Sunday. Fellow international riders Shed, Julian, Andy et al were in the race but professed to be "taking it a bit more steady" - which is perhaps why I got to see the front of the race for a lap or so. When the international arrived, our locals (organisers and riders) put on the style. Under 12s, Youth team, a solid Junior performance, and a couple of good rides from Gav' and Carl Buckle was just what we wanted to see. Luck played a nasty trick on us in the senior race when 3 of the 4 east mid's team were in the start-line crash, Julian and Paul not managing to continue in the race past 20 yards. That's the way it happens sometimes, and those riders will have a point to prove next time.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	24/10/98 Last weekends weather has even reached into this electronic cyclo-cross world. The floppy disk containing the results to the National Trophy in Ipswich was attacked by the damp, and required intensive resuscitation - almost completely successfully. So there's a double helping of results available, despite the best efforts of the elements.
	Julian Gould now leads the Notts and Derby league, because Gavin Hardwick missed Saturdays mud festival, saving himself for the National Trophy. Julian took the overall lead by finishing 3rd behind his new ACE RT team mate Jim Bryan, and Team Chevin's Matt Bailey. The torrential rain and wind didn't detract greatly from the Trent Meadows course, and the event seamed more cosy for the reduced turnout (nostalgia maybe). Pete Breen was back in the top ten after a disappointing start to the season. He'll have his work cut out to emulate his third place of last years league though:- Julian, Andy Naylor, Gavin, and Paul Wright are all looking very strong for the league.		Down in Ipswich, on the fantastic Foxhall Stadium course, east mid's riders were putting on a good show. Shaun Snoddon (Ace RT/Alan/W Cup/Impsport) did the biz and made the opposition look silly in the junior race, as did Phil Spencer (Matlock CC/Wards Shoes/Clarks) in the youth (Matlock is a NWCCA club, but as a Nott's and Derby club they are with us). In the senior open race, Beauvale's Gav' Hardwick was 1st under23, just ahead of ACE RTs Stuart Blunt in 7th. 10 out of the first 30 were east mids so I'm happy as area coach- especially since I was one of them! I also know how many of this areas top riders were missing or just having bad luck (Dan Booth had to jog to the finish after rolling his tyre)- so there's better results to come.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	17/10/98 Shiply Park brought most of us back to the muddy reality of cyclo-cross last weekend. But Beauvale CC's Gavin Hardwick refused to come back down with the rest of us and put ACE RT in number 2 slot for the third week running. Sean Snoddon the was impressive junior representative of ACE on this occasion. I must admit that I enjoyed the mud too. Largely thanks to the efforts of my two bike cleaners (BIG thankyou), and a spare bike. I got a good result from a day I felt rather groggy on. The ACE boys have given warning that next weeks National Trophy will see them on top form, and no doubt more motivated than ever by Gavin's insubordination of recent weeks. Martin Seddon told me that he'd been training himself to death recently, and now he was going to start reaping the benefits.		As far as Notts & Derby goes next week, things could be all change. The guys at the top of the league table will all be holding something back for the National Trophy, and some will actually miss the race. Shed (Martin Seddon) and Paul Wright are off to Belgium (good luck lads), and we're unlikely to see Gavin if he follows the pattern of previous years. This could make Trent Meadows at Long Eaton an open battle for the top of the table place. Andy Naylor will be hoping than Julian Gould follows his team mates to Belgium, as will Bob Wood-Anderson. Both would be in contention for the league lead if Julian is absent. Even that pair may have bigger fish to fry though, they are both national level in their age categories. Oh well, enough conjecture. We'll have to see the race.
	To keep things interesting for those of you who want balanced opinions we could do with some ranting and raving on the letters page. Personally, I know that the BCF is a topic most of you can be very vocal about - so I'd like to see some letters about them (check out the "BCF" link first).
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	11/10/98 Welcome to "Cross Purposes" magazine. This is the bit of the site that it's worth coming back to even when you've been 'round it all before. It will keep changing as races and events happen. Also, you (the reader) get to contribute to the letters page.
	Derwent Valley ATC held one of the most well attended events in the history of cyclo-cross on staturday. 140 riders lined up for the main race at 2.15pm, and had to come back 15 minutes later when the numbers for all the riders were sorted out. It presented the wrong impression - disorganisation. Infact it seems increadable to me that it was possible for 140 riders to be tracked around that 6 minute lap at all. Perhaps the only performance that deserves more credit than Gavin Hardwickes win is the judging team who wrote down every rider number, every lap (about 1200 numbers), and then made sence of it to produce the result.		I remember hearing a discussion about how to reduce the problems of there been so many riders in our races, several years ago at the anual meeting. As participation takes anouther jump up this could again become an issue for next year. How can any more riders be accommodated on a cyclo-cross course, or acounted for by a judging team? Anouther downside of popularity is the national rankings. On the lastest rankings it is far from obvious that our area is so strong. Quite poor riders feature highly because of little oposition in their area, yet the vast majority of us here never see one national point.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	4/10/98 Welcome to "Cross Purposes" magazine. This is the bit of the site that it's worth coming back to even when you've been 'round it all before. It will keep changing as races and events happen. Also, you (the reader) get to contribute to the letters page. Beauvale CCs event last Saturday was in every way a great success, and Gav' Hardwickes win was about as popular as it could have been. It's a rare event thats won by a rider from the promoting club these days, and rarer still that Ace RTs boys get squeezed out of the top slot if they're in the hunt. A few top younger riders were missing		from the races on Saturday and they were to be found over in Lea Green where the BCCA was having a coaching weekend for potential national level riders. Naturally, the East Midlands was very well represented. When I went along on Sunday, the riders were finding out about the world championships, nutrition, training groups, skills etc. They also had a couple of hard training sessions, and were developing the cameraderie that is important for the national team. I joined in on some training riding across a slippery bank. Aparently my crash was aproaching world class, but my riding wasn't.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?


	27/9/98 Welcome to the web site, and in particular to it's most recent addition - the "Cross Purposes" magazine. The idea here is that this is the bit of the site that it's worth coming back to even when you've been 'round it all before. It will keep changing as races and events happen. Also, you (the reader) get to contribute by e-mail to the letters page. News as it happens (now then) will be availible here. Top of the bill at the moment has to be the Three Peaks. Chris Young won. Complete results are available on this site. The gossip though, is that Chris, and three other top ten riders incurred time penalties for rule infringements. For the first time since Tim Gould used to win		every year, the lead riders swapped to road bikes for the road sections - which is now against the rules. One rider also had his support car follow him along the road section, seriously affecting the flow of traffic. It was ironic that the race commissaire was Harry Gould, Tim's father, who now had to decide on the penalties for these riders. In the end, few grumbled about the 2 and 5 minute time penalties added on for these obvious rule infringements. The magazine is a product of the Three Peaks race. Being too tired to train having competed, I'm reduced to an evening at the keyboard. 47^th is my best performance to date, so I'm reasonably happy with my aching body.
	Vin Cox - cyclo-cross rider?