...or The Tour of the Cornfields (Cambs - UK)
I rode the second edition of the Tour of the Cornfields Cyclo-Cross Sportive yesterday. Soon to be a classic I guess (and indeed this year's event was oversubscribed weeks in advance), the event is based on a 59 mile loop round Bassingbourn in South Cambridgeshire and has a field limit of 175 (this year at least).
A very nice event indeed and about a 50/50 split between blacktop and off-road. Even though there aren't many hills on the course (well none actually) - nonetheless it was excellent training / practice for the 'Peaks and the Iron Cross in that it provided 4 hours* of hard riding over what was some tough terrain - mainly due to the bumpy nature of the tracks around said cornfields which made it difficult to get into any sort of regular cadence.
I got round in 4hrs 11mins (riding time as per my Garmin) - about 4hrs 25mins (actual elapsed - inc. 1 x stop for feedstation and 1 x because I went off course).
*Note: It's a sobering thought that Rob Jebb was able to get round roughly the same distance in the Iron Cross last year about 30 minutes quicker with some substantial hills in the way!
I was using my trusty ex-'Peaks / Iron Cross Specialized Tricross Sport in standard trim except for swapping the wheels out for a pair of Spinergy Spox carbon 'blingers' which I bought on ebay some time ago and needed to dry-run to see if they would stand up the rigours of the 'Peaks / Iron Cross double header.
Answer affirmative. With Schwalbe Landcruisers @ 70psi it was a trouble-free day over the miles of teeth-loosening single track...
No pix of the event itself (I was riding it y'see) but here's a nice one of the rig I used being admired by an attractive young woman I met outside the event HQ at Bassingbourn Community Sports Centre.
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