A heavy cold put paid to the first half of December, including a round of the London ‘cross league in Addington (frustratingly, one of my more local races), so I arrived at Ford Manor Farm having not ridden for nearly two weeks. An hour of cyclo-cross racing at full gas is one way to blow out the cobwebs, I suppose, but it meant I was short on anything resembling fitness.

Having seemingly forgotten almost every lesson I learnt earlier in the season, I arrived in Kent with 30 minutes to setup the bike, sign-on and ride only half a practice lap, before taking my place on the start line just as the ice-cold drizzle began to get heavier.

One of the great things about cyclo-cross, I’ve learned, is the variety of courses. Of course, there will be some common features found almost anywhere you ride ‘cross – barriers, run-ups, off-camber corners – but every course has its own character and offers a unique challenge. The Ford Manor Farm course is inspired by the legendary Koppenbergcross. It may not have the iconic cobbled climb of Flanders but draws inspiration from the race with a technical wooded section and a series of tight, twisting, off-camber switchbacks.

I started to feel at one with the bike after so much time off and, just as importantly, began to get familiar with the course – even if I was kicking myself for not doing both before the actual race had started. As the lap board went up, I quickly picked off a couple of faster starters and ended up finishing about two-thirds down the field, just as I had at Leeds Castle (albeit from a far small number of entrants).

While racing may look daunting to the unitiated – and, sure, you need to be a super-strong (and complete) rider to win a race – it’s also totally inclusive. In the senior men’s race I rode at Ford Manor Farm you had the fast blokes in skinsuits at the front, but in the same field there were also newbies like me, club riders, cyclists in Christmas fancy dress. Riders of all shapes and sizes competing against one another.

There were carbon bikes and steel bikes; cyclo-cross bikes, gravel bikes and mountain bikes; and earlier in the day, races for women, vets and kids. You can enter in advance or just turn up on the day, it’s friendly and you don’t need a British Cycling licence. Everyone was there to race and test themselves, regardless of ability.

It’s far from glitz and glamour, but cyclo-cross is bike racing at its most egalitarian. It’s for the fast and the slow, it’s thrilling and punishing, and, with British riders winning some of the biggest ‘cross races on the European circuit, it’s a sport on the up. Even if it does take place in winter.