Cobbles and Corridors

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BY: Maxine Filby

Published: 13th November, 2013

Having seen the photos from last year’s City Cross, as soon as it was announced it would be happening again I signed up. This year it was at a different venue, The Piece Hall in the middle of Halifax. It is a beautiful old building with a cobbled court yard. The course was to be round the courtyard with the added excitement of racing through the open corridors in the final. We headed up on the Saturday morning leaving home to a bright blue sky and sunshine. As we headed North the sky darkened and the rain appeared no doubt making the cobbles nice and slippery for the race. Arriving at the venue there was just enough time to do a quick a practice lap. I had a lovely Trek Crockett 5 to play on from my new team Trek Coventry. The course was such good fun; it started on a steep cobbled climb leading into the main courtyard. The first feature was a deep sandpit where carrying speed was a must to get through cleanly. Next up was the circle of doom, ever decreasing circles on a very slippery cobbled surface. Back out of the circle then led you to the berm section which once you'd completed you had to jump off and do the podium dash, up the steps on to the stage then jump back on and down the other side. Nearly at the end of the lap, just when your legs were starting to burn, was a steep bridge. Up and over that to the final cobbled section and you were back to the start to do it all again. After the practice lap my bike and I were covered in mud so rather than stand around getting cold we thought we'd go and quickly check in to the hotel which fortunately was just up the road. It was a lovely place and they didn't mind at all when I appeared in full muddy cycling kit complete with bike and an equally muddy dog, we must have looked quite a sight.

Photo Courtesy of Joolze Dymond - www.joolzedymond.com

The format for the racing was slightly different to any race I've done before. There was a qualifying round with a final in the evening. There were about twelve women all together. We all lined up at the bottom of the cobbled climb, there was a complete mix of bikes and riders. I got a good start and led into the first corner and made it through the sand pit, the heat was to be 20 minutes so I was conscious of not pushing too hard to save a little for the final. The course was full of fun but as I hit the last cobbled section after the bridge disaster struck. I had spotted a sly little line in practice which cut a corner off the cobbles making it a little quicker however I hadn't factored in that it had rained a lot more since practice making the line very slippery. As I hit it I felt that horrible feeling of loss of control and down I went. As usual I jumped up pretty quickly and leapt back on the bike but as I put the power down it made a sound no cyclist wants to hear in a race, a horrible crunch. My rear mech had snapped off leaving me at a loss with what to do. I needed to complete the heat to get through to the final, there was no way I was going to miss out on racing in the dark. Jogging up to the finish line I began asking if anyone had a spare bike. A super kind youth rider from Bradford Road club said I could use his. We quickly altered the saddle height and off I went. Without the kindness of this rider I would have had to pull out and miss out on all the fun so I really cannot thank him enough, for me it showed what a fantastic sport we're involved in, not many people would hand over their prized possession to a complete stranger. So I made it to the final by the skin of my teeth. Obviously I needed to get my bike fixed for it though. Luckily there was a bike shop across the road, yet again both the bike and I were absolutely covered in mud. This didn't seem to faze the shop and they got down to the task of making the bike rideable for the evening. They were great and I was back on within about 15 minutes. Huge thanks to Cycle Gear, Halifax. A quick visit back to the hotel to get warm and try to get rid of a little of the mud we headed back for the final.

First Lap of the heat. Had a bit of lie down towards the end, oops!

The hall looked so impressive in the dark, the courtyard being lit from the lights in the corridor. The course had been slightly changed from the heat, instead of the last cobbled section it went up some steps into the lit corridor round three sides of the square and you popped on the entry to the sand pit. It was ace and I couldn't wait. Again we lined up at the bottom of the climb and off we went. I got another good start and led into the first section. With it being so muddy the cobbles became extra lethal so I was very cautious in the circle of doom. The last thing I wanted to do was end up on the floor. It was a fantastic experience going through the corridor, with the pillars at the side it made it feel like you were going super-fast. I had a really good battle with the Hannah Saville, it was definitely elbows out and she pushed me all the way. I managed to pull away on the last couple of laps. It was one of the most fun races I've ever done, the heckling from the crowd and the obstacles made it a race to remember. For winning I got my very own piece of Piece Hall with the trophy being one of the cobbles, very cool. I really hope this event happens again next year and if it does you must give it a go. Huge thanks to the organisers and volunteers for putting on such a unique event.

As always huge thanks to my sponsors and new team. Trek Coventry, Bontrager, Schwalbe UK, Sponser UK, Ana Nichoola, Firecrest MTB, Working Bodies, Joolze Dymond and MB Coaching. 

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