I dodged the bodies strewn over the muddy descent. It was carnage…OK that’s the first downhill done…now on with the rest of the Hit the North lap.

My first experience of a shorter course and shorter race time was brilliant. First things first..the sun shone…in Manchester…in March!

I started from quite far back which was probably a mistake as there was quite a lot of singletrack sections but I slowly made up places as the race progressed. The course was good. I had never ridden a short course race and really enjoyed it. I like technical riding and the first climb and downhill were really good. Lots of the cyclocross guys were struggling on the downhill and plenty were spat out over the bars in the soft mud at the bottom. Some in comical slow motion. I managed to avoid running over anyone and after the queue on the first lap I settled into a steady pace and was pleased with how I felt as the race progressed. I paced myself pretty well and was in a nice groove as the race finished.

Some great support from the other folks in Team JMC and great to see so many turn out. Pretty happy with where I finished but looking back now could probably have pushed harder.

Many thanks to Jason and Debbie for organising a fantastic event and everyone for the great support around the course.

Can I look forward to HtN6?

Photo courtesy of Greg May.