Unusually early for the Welsh League, the first fixture was held on Saturday and organised by the club secretary himself, Mr Standage. The club connection didn't end there with David Bright kindly providing the use of the Llantarnam High School grounds, providing an excellent base for the large field. I think I'm right with this stat (Craig will correct me if not), but there were 149 riders across all the groups on the day. A flying start to God's own cycling discipline . In the early races, Elizabeth Bennett (Paul's eldest) scored a very handy 17th overall and 3rd Youth lady. The young riders really give it their all and warmed the spectators up nicely for the main field.

There were a whopping 75 riders in the main race, with a field of excellent quality.......which was particularly bad news for those who wanted a gentle introduction to the season and a nice amble across the start line. It was hammer and tongs from the off. The course had it all; fast bits, technical bits, boggy bits, bike carrying bits and really annoying bits where you slip off and get a nice chain ring cut for your efforts. Craig had done a marvellous job in providing a course that was challenging but fair, and not favouring any one particular kind of rider. I do plan to speak to him about the absence of a beer tent however, as we'll never match our Belgian cousins unless we manage to get around 2000 spectators getting sloshed on the sidelines (there is ALWAYS opportunity for improvement.....)

As the race wore on the course got muddier and more energy sapping . So I'm sure I wasn't alone in being very happy to see the number of laps reduce towards '1'. It was a great reintroduction to muddy fast cycling but no matter how much you do it, the pace of the racing always comes as a bit of a shock. The pointy end of the field was led by Lee Williams from Daniel Lewis of the RAF (he's a real flyer – boom boom) and Welsh League regular Andrew Baum. JIF representation around the top 10 was led by Mark Davies (9th), Matt Thompson (10th) and Adam King (12th). It was particularly pleasing to see Adam do so well in his first senior outing. With both he and Matt giving Mark a hard time, the future of cross for JIF is looking promising. I bet Adam also enjoyed beating his dad Phil, who similarly made his senior cross league debut; Well done Phil, good to see you out.

Myself, Paul and Donald were duking it out for the vets prizes, until Paul had to retire due to a slow puncture. Donald had a blistering ride for 21st place (3rd Vet/2nd V50) and I finished 25th (5th Vet/3rd V40). Andy Hoskins bagged 40th, Philip Caunt 60th and finally Stu Renshaw (aka 'legs') in everyone's favourite number – 69th . It was great to see Stu and Lisa at the race, both looking radiant (now THERE's a girlie word) after the birth of Ffion Efa. Sleep deprivation + work + Cross = knackered. Well done Stu.

Note to self – train more and/or sabotage Donald's bike.

Thanks to all those Jiffies who helped and supported; especially Clare and Wendy's catering crew. By the time the girl's hit their teens, they'll be restauranters.

Next up – 3 Peaks.