Lining up for the 5th round of the southern xc series and the championship round I was looking forward to a good ride and hopefully a top 5 finish. The course was similar to most southern races with plenty of singletrack, bombholes and short steep climbs. As this was Alton it was muddy, this place is cursed with bad weather! The previous weeks rain had turned much of the singletrack into a slog and the steep, flinty climbs very slippy. After a warm up lap and a quick bike clean I was ready to race.
I have been taking it easy after training hard for Inners and this told at the start of the race where I found the pace too hot and dropped back to around 10th. I managed to make up a few places on the first steep flinty climb which required just as much skill as strength to clean. After that I struggled to move through the tail end Master and Expert riders and finished the 1st lap in 8th. Getting a clearer run on the next lap meant I was faster through some sections but I was fading on some of the climbs. Last lap and I could see 2 riders in front of me so I pushed hard on the first descent and caught and passed 1 and chased after the next. Having caught the next rider and up into 6th I pushed to get a gap in the technical sections this worked until near the end of the lap where it went a bit wrong. Hitting a right hander too fast my front wheel washed out on some roots and I was down. As I landed I had a severe pain in my shoulder and knew instantly it had 'popped out' again, this has happened in the past and is prob still weak from this. Thankfully it went back in as quick as it came out and high on a mixture of gels, coke and adrenaline I jumped back on. I'll admit climbing the last grass field was an experience I don't want to go through again anytime soon but I managed to finish only losing 1 place to finish 7th.
A quick trip to the ambulance had my cuts and grazes cleaned up and my shoulder checked out before heading home to rest. Sitting here now it seems I have been lucky as the shoulder only aches and I have 90% movement so I should be able to train on the road this weekend.
Looking forward I have a local race in 2 weeks followed by the final round of the southerns and then down to Plymouth for the last British XC round. As it stands at the moment I am 8th in the national rankings so looking good for my Expert licence next year! Then the real work starts!
Until the next time
I have been taking it easy after training hard for Inners and this told at the start of the race where I found the pace too hot and dropped back to around 10th. I managed to make up a few places on the first steep flinty climb which required just as much skill as strength to clean. After that I struggled to move through the tail end Master and Expert riders and finished the 1st lap in 8th. Getting a clearer run on the next lap meant I was faster through some sections but I was fading on some of the climbs. Last lap and I could see 2 riders in front of me so I pushed hard on the first descent and caught and passed 1 and chased after the next. Having caught the next rider and up into 6th I pushed to get a gap in the technical sections this worked until near the end of the lap where it went a bit wrong. Hitting a right hander too fast my front wheel washed out on some roots and I was down. As I landed I had a severe pain in my shoulder and knew instantly it had 'popped out' again, this has happened in the past and is prob still weak from this. Thankfully it went back in as quick as it came out and high on a mixture of gels, coke and adrenaline I jumped back on. I'll admit climbing the last grass field was an experience I don't want to go through again anytime soon but I managed to finish only losing 1 place to finish 7th.
A quick trip to the ambulance had my cuts and grazes cleaned up and my shoulder checked out before heading home to rest. Sitting here now it seems I have been lucky as the shoulder only aches and I have 90% movement so I should be able to train on the road this weekend.
Looking forward I have a local race in 2 weeks followed by the final round of the southerns and then down to Plymouth for the last British XC round. As it stands at the moment I am 8th in the national rankings so looking good for my Expert licence next year! Then the real work starts!
Until the next time
Nice one sticking in there hope the shoulder is ok. Should be calling you Bryan robson from now on.
ReplyDeleteGood one! When we gonna hear about the full W/C experience?
ReplyDelete