Eastern League CX Rd 5, Mistley, 20 Oct 2019

I was gridded on the fourth row, and after a delayed start I was eager to get going on my new bike. After about a meter, the man in front of me decided to stop dead and I went flying and then had the rest of the grid landing on top of me. I was eyes closed hands over head terrified. In the aftermath I picked up the bike and finally got going. I'd bent my shifter so had half a lap on that before changing to my second bike to get it bent back. When I was back on the fast bike I started to make up places. The course had some nice steep hills which I could attack up as I worked my way through the field. I was closing on Max (another St Ives rider) by the end but he just held his lead. Given the terrible start my place of 8th junior, 27th overall, was ok and I'm very pleased with my performance in the race itself. I've also managed to get many cuts and bruises which I hadn't noticed during the race.

Ollie Maynard