races galore since april

its been a very long time since my last post. in between the round 1 of midlands there's been a lot of racing, crashing, punctures and a few good results.

races since april
enduro 6, catton park
entered this as a bit of fun and a bit of training. My mate Phil Topliss wanted to give it a good go and we tried with a pretty decent result. I did the start lap and was first back into the arena ahead of Jonathan Pugh riding for the eventual winning pairing. Other friends Rob Friel and Matt Barrett, KTM looked as though they were the strongest pairing but Pugh and Bevis put up a close and strong fight. Meanwhile despite my times being up with the best we dropped back to 10th ish.

bmbs rd 2, dalby forest.
a tester for the 2010 world cup round and a tough technical course with varied terrain. i was proper nervous at the start and had a terrible start going into the first bit of singletrack. i settled into my ride after the first drop through Worry Gill and climbed fairly well whilst sitting behind Sam Gardner for a while. Whilst settling further and starting to make a move through the field and heading for top 15ish i hit a small hidden stump at speed on some inocuous singletrack which sent me flying and landing very heavily. i tried to get going but my knee was pounding. race over! and a trip to the medical tent.

16th may, fnss rd 2, mk bowl
needing to bolster my confidence and enjoy racing i entered a local race and was greeted at the start with some tough competition with Matt barrett, Adi Scott, Nick Jones and Our Jason. Jason led us out for the first part of the lap shouting "follow me boys" which undid him as we passed him on the first draggy tarmac climb!. After one lap of and interesting, technicalish course made more so by the slight downpour leaving the off camber and short tarmac sections quite greasy i attacked. The obvious culprits had been together since the start and my break strung us out. i got a gap and extended it for the rest of the race. a very satisfying and confidence boosting win. I even got a front web page pic on xcracer.com!

22nd may, fnss rd 3, daventry
one week since my win i was feeling confident for another. This time a fast open course with some tough short climbing but hard to shake anyone off. This time Matt was joined by Dan Booth a very experienced and strong rider. A fast start and the front group established itself with Adi Scott scrambling to get on for the first lap. For the rest of the race all three of us tried small attacks but knew it would be too hard to skake off the other two so it came to the last climbs on the last lap. going into the singletrack we all sprinted to get their first with Dan i think getting there followed by me. Looking for a place to get by dan punctured leaving myself and matt to battle on the last section. i had advantage being in front and was first onto the tarmac end drag. my head went down as sprinting for a certain win. in the last 50 yds i was going round a back marker when matt hit from the rear sending us both down hard! i was tangled in my bike having come off worst and matt got up before me. With many lots of cuts and bruises and wrecked rear wheel i hobbled across the line for 2nd looking very pissed off. After calming down i spoke to matt about his version and it appears it was just unlucky. The winnings were good but only made a dent in the £250 bill to fix my wheel.

bmbs rd 3, margam
A venue which had been slightly mixed in previous years with a win, a DNF from having the shits, and a 2nd place. one thing is sure enough and that is the tough climbing. something which has been a strength but is clearly a little lacking this season. maybe too much lard and muscle? The weather was hot, the course tough, my mind was not confident. Another tentative start saw me slipping back (note, should be more agressive.. grrr) was going ok after first couple of laps, riding with Ben Thomas who took off on top climb. the last 2 laps the cramps took hold and i had to stand aside for a couple of minutes and watch 6 places go by. This was hard to watch. i finished 26th, feeling only half cooked and frustrated by my legs and the cramps. i'd overlooked my fuelling strategy!

bike radar, donnington park, Devil ride
One day after Margam i travelled up to Nottingham to help Garry at Sportstest at the biggest bike festival in the country. Saturday night i had a proper bad headache and retired for another night of camping. Waking sunday morning it was gonna be hot. i treated Garry and Meself to a big bacon buttie and set his stall up. After a day in the sun handing out leaflets Garry persuaded me to go for the road race. Lining up with Stephen Roche was bizarre but he was there for publicity but still gave it some! The Devil concept was new to me and was still unsure even after i finished. the circuit around donnington was fast, smooth and had a hard long gradual climb with a bastard headwind. a few laps in and the pace starts hotting up with some riders dropping off. some dickhead stalls on the climb right in front of me and brings us down. getting up his wheel is stuck in my shifter, which he rips off leaving me in the big ring. i get a angry and sprint to catch up. half way through and there have been a couple of attacks that came to nothing. two sigma sport riders attack, nobody reacts so i decide to have a bash but a little late. i get a gap on the bunch but cant get across to the sigma boys who immediately start working well together. 10 laps to go and i'm on my own. 4 laps to go and the field is being whittled down and i sit up for two riders to catch up. we drop on one of them when i power up the climb. the last lap is a little cat and mouse. i attack too early on the climb and Luke Dragstra gets on my wheel i lead out a sprint and die a little, he goes past, i have a second wind and push for the line. half a wheel and... fourth! damn. 3rd place was £150. felt good, and pleased since i performed like that a day after a hard NPS race.