Midlands R3 - Cannock

After four weeks without racing I wasn't entirely confident that my body would be up for the 2 hour slog that was Midlands - Round 3! I'd been feeling strong on the bike training and felt like I'd really pushed on since Margam, now I was looking for a chance to prove myself right! Due to the conflict with the Southern Series race, being held at next years national champs venue some of my key rivals for the overall series had opted to travel south for the day. I felt this course would of suited me against those guys and would of been a chance for me to get a good win and put myself in pole position for overall victory in the series.


The lap was roughly 5.5km long and would take me 22-23 minutes to complete. The last quarter of the lap was more or less un-ridable which is something I haven't experienced in a mountain bike race for well over a year. I set up at the front of the grid with the idea of getting up the hill and into the singletrack climb in first position. I wanted a clear run at the track as the conditions were difficult enough without trusting someone else's line. Robert Davies had a great start and put a couple bikes lengths in to me almost instantly but the climb dragged on and I managed to claw my way past him before the singletrack. I felt great and being out front allowed me to keep my efforts within my zone without going too hard to counter attacks or bridge any gaps.

At the end of the first lap I had a gap of a little under 30 seconds and it grew out to a little over 7 minutes by the end. I was really consistent and even managed to catch 5 out of the 10 elite riders. I was happy to win but I would of liked to do it with some of my main competitors involved but Round 4 isn't far away and I've gone a long way to securing the top spot on the series podium.


I've got the Welsh series round 4 at my local stomping ground (Llandegla) in a couple of weeks, the final Midlands & final BMBS to round out the year. Maybe some CX and then a hard winters training!

Laters