Salisbury Saxon CX

One of the more serene sections of today's Salisbury Saxon Cyclocross Sportive, covering some lovely rolling chalk downs (and ups) south-east of Salisbury.

There were three routes: 40km, 60km and 80km, all comprising a mix of road, tracks and full off-road. My original plan was to do the 60km route, on the basis that off-road riding can be very draining. Colleagues at work convinced me to join them on the 80km route. Unfortunately, my bike had other ideas. After about 12km my rear derailleur snapped off, leaving me with a problem. One of my co-riders fixed it by shortening the chain but that left me with only one gear. I dropped down to the 40km route and limped home.

It was a beautiful day though - cold and clear - and, based on what I saw of it, a great route.

(I'm secretly quite pleased that I didn't have to do the whole thing - not so pleased about the costs of repair though).