National Champs Innerleithen

The big one, the race with the most points on offer all year. I was promised a 'proper' course by everyone I spoke to and I tried to train accordingly, as much as you can when all the hills nearby are so small!

The course started in a boggy rough field which wasn't much fun but did split the races up before heading into the woods. I nabbed a front row start as there was no gridding (thanks BC!) Heading across the field for the first time I seemed to find a better line than everyone else and made my way into the lead, this hadn't been the plan as I intended to pace myself on the first lap so I didn't blow my doors before the end! Heading up into the woods I eased up and let the next rider through and the next and the next, you get the picture! Riding steadily I sat in 8th/9th by the time we crested the last climb before the descent back to the arena. This was awesome, when I practised it on Saturday I'll admit I scared myself! Steep, rooty, muddy with lots of off camber bends, by the time I hit the bottom my arms and brakes were pumped! Fortunately come race day I was more relaxed and managed to flow a bit more down the hill but I never felt comfortable enough to let it hang out as I normally would like to on a descent. The first time down a couple of riders had decided to try and run the descent so I made up a couple of places only to lose them again on the climb. The rest of the race was spent trying to limit losses on the increasingly muddy climbs and claw back seconds 0n the descent. This was only moderately successful and I ended the race in 9th, I had aimed for a top 10 finish so achieved this but was a little disappointed as well to finish behind some riders I have beaten before. However it still means some valuable points and a step closer to my main goal of racing expert next season. It also gives me some points on where I need to improve my riding.

Next up I have the Southern Champs at Alton which has been selected to hold the National Champs in 2010, so will be good to see what we have in store next year, something tells me slightly different to Innerleithen!
Once again thanks to Steve for the support all weekend and to the Elite downhillers who showed us all how it should be done by coming down the hill like complete loons all weekend!
See you all soon.....