thanks everyone, this has been helpful.

I think that's the key difference fitness wise. Testers tend to stick right at or below threshold. Road riders will go over threshold maybe for a couple of minutes max but will have extended periods way below this. For cross, you are at your limit for an hour, with constant efforts above this.

I'll echo what everyone has said about technique. When you are at your max, trying to close even the slightest gap (because you've taken the wrong line, haven't dismounted/remounted as smoothly, slipped on an off-camber) is very hard.

Tinea Pedis,
The collarbone incident was the result of the front wheel washing out on a thin film of mud on hard/well drained ground. I lost concentration and the wheel went from under me. Anyway I picked the bike up and carried on (I did not come last!!) but at the end I got very nauseus and passed out with pain, the first aiders revived me gave me a kick on the ass and sent me home. I drove home took a very painful shower, and actually went into work on the following day only to be sent to the local casuality where the broken collarbone was discovered. Luckily it was a clean break and has healed "perfectly" but it meant that I could not train at all for 12 weeks. Needless to say I was very depressed so I did what I had to do - ate too much and drank too much and piled on 10kg.
I managed to get things back under control but my performance has not really returned to what it was - mainly due to excess weight - I hope to get this sorted in 2013 and start winning (TT's) again - which echoes the point made about TTer's not being good at CX
I am on quite a good Winter programme, which includes CX as a weekly source of high intensity training, and as long as I enjoy it, improve at it and benefit from it I can accept coming in at the rear of races
Plus there is great scope to experiment with kit

You honestly sound like the Irish version of me

I didn't pile on quite as much weight, but certainly gained a bit. And it was/still is dim times.

Thanks for being so candid with your reply

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Why wait till next year? I'll be lining up on the 3rd November this year...

Reading all the comments intently - even though I haven't raced CX yet, as a TTer I have a feeling they are all relevant to me too!

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http://climbinglama.blogspot.com.au

Need a bike

And a job...

Semi-pro doesn't pay well, who knew

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Top 10 reasons you suck at CX

1 -- You're fat
2 -- You don't strength train
3 -- You don't do agility drills
4 -- You are not flexible
5 -- You're old
6 -- You're a wuss (fear to run them bitches down no matter what)
7 -- You don't ride cotton tubs
8 -- You don't like the cold
9 -- You don't ride enough races to get the intensity in
10 - You don't have a mullet or some sort of cool facial hair

Fair enough TP... Was lucky to pick mine up very lightly used and going cheap.

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http://climbinglama.blogspot.com.au