Racing is hard, but not racing is harder…
I was still unsure at 12:00 about what to do, but as the seconds ticked past I left a road training session at Cyclopark to drive into the gloomy skies above East Kent for the 3rd round of the EKCX league at Sandwich.
The main reason I raced was that I was desperate to try my new set-up. I’ve been experimenting with what can be done with Shimano’s Di2 shifting and I’ve managed to match up an XT mountain bike rear mech with a set of the Ultegra level Di2 shifters. In doing so I’ve also managed to hide the majority of the cabling including hiding the junction box. I’ve also set-up both shifters to operate the rear mech which means full sequential shifting regardless of terrain.
I’ve retained the updates I’ve made to the tubeless tyres and hydraulic brakes and everything seems to be working really well. The Di2 was more difficult than normal to program but with a bit of thinking I found a way. In the race the set-up was faultless – unlike my riding! The unpromising course ended up being one of my favourites this year. Loads of changes of camber, plenty of line choices and features that forced you off the bike made this a real proper ‘cross course. Big respect to the organisers – I’ll definitely be back for more!
Photos by Dave Hayward and Glen Whittington.
Glen rides for the Southborough & District Wheelers. He races Mountain bikes in the UK National XC Points and Eastern XC Series, Road bikes in the Surrey, South-East and Eastern Leagues, TT in the South East Region and ‘Cross in the LCCA League. He receives personal support from Helly Hansen, The Velo House, and the.æight.bicycle.cømpany @eightbikeco #aeightracer
Glen runs The Velo House with Olly, a coffee shop, workshop and bike shop welcoming all cyclists and even well behaved non-cyclists. We’re based at 5 St.Johns Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 9TN – 01892 554 505 – glen@thevelohouse.com. @thevelohouse #thevelohouse