Gavin's Cycling Flow: Slip N Slide to Victory in the UK

Milton Keynes (Non World Cup) UCI junior race

The trip to the UK was a great time. My Mom's side of the family is all from England so I was able to visit family and not just focus on racing. I stayed at my cousins house in a Milton Keynes and it was just a fantastic couple days. I drank more tea in 3 days then I have in 3 years and am now having trouble saying certain words without a British accent. I guess you could say it was a succeful trip :) (pictures below with cousins)

Getting to the bicycle part of things.. Milton Keynes was genius. The course was beautiful. The Dutch would say "Heel Mooi" it offered almost everything that makes cyclocross great. Off cambers, climbs, run ups, 180s, and MUD. One of the best tracks I've ever had the chance to race on. I hope this race becomes a classic.

With the conditions only getting worse Saturday morning.. I was ready for some action. It was special to warm up hearing my name called out from grandparents, cousins, and other relatives. I had several supporters watching and I was determined to make it a good show for them. I started 3rd row because of some call up issues so I didn't get my usual front row start. However, I wasn't too worried because like I've said before, on tracks like these the strongest riders do well. Not always the fastest starters.

(A special thanks to Tom Hopper and Richard Breininger who saved my race when I had a last minute mechanical before the start. You guys are awesome.)

The first corner was a hard right, then you're on the off cambers. (Pic above is after 1st corner) Surprisingly by turn 2 I was in 4th... Just before the crazy decent where I knew crashes would be happening. I turned out to be one of its victims :) a rider in front of my went down and I didn't react fast enough. WHOOOOSHH.. I slid on my butt for a good 5 feet before I could get up. I won't lie, I laughed as it happened. It's still funny to think about

The first lap I just focused on staying smooth and catching the 3 guys in front of me. By the end of the first lap I was leading. This time around I didn't crash on the decent of death, and managed to stay clean every other lap after that as well. :) this is one of my first big mud races I've done on my Focus CX Mares and it handled stellar. Disks were also super beneficial on a course like this.

As the race went on I was able to extend my lead thanks to the amazing pit work by Tom Segers and Mario Yskout who allowed me to switch bikes every half lap. Clock work. My Challenge Limus tires hooked up amazing at 16psi in the front and 17psi in the rear. The SRAM cx1 was perfect and the shifting never failed me. Thanks for making this possible Challenge and SRAM!

Was insane to have thousands of fans cheering on every part of the course. So motivating! The crowds in Milton Keynes were the best so far.