Sherwood Pines BMBS1

Last weekend was the weekend I have been looking forward to for months. Recovery has been going pretty well and is on schedule and this was the date I had targeted for a comeback as long ago as November. I met up with most of the team on Saturday afternoon to pitch the tent and get acquainted with the new members. We got our new team kit too which was a big bonus. Last year we had to wait until June to get it from inverse so the change of supplier has obviously done its job! What’s more it all feels like good quality and definitely a better fit than last year. That said, the shorts are a bit unusual! Rather than having a hem with rubber grippers at the bottom of the leg, there is no stitching, just small rubber spots on the inside of the material. They are also reasonably short! After riding in them I have to report they do the job. They feel much lighter than anything else I’ve worn and you just forget they are there after a while.


On the practice lap I felt good and my handling skills didn’t seem to be as much of an issue as I had anticipated. I felt pretty strong too, and while I didn’t push too hard, I didn’t struggle to keep up with anyone. The course was very enjoyable, tight, twisty, flat and fast essentially. Just what I needed after such a long lay off.


With this being my first attempt at racing since breaking my back I had entered Open so was not racing until 2.30pm. Having a relaxed day watching the other categories race was good and we had a pretty pro setup in the main arena. The elites were ridiculously quick, especially with the international field. I actually felt sorry for the other riders out on course, frantically trying to get out of the way of trains of elites without slowing them down too much.It was great to see some of the team riding well too, including an amazing 23rd for Andy C in elite.


After a short warm up with team mates Jason and Rob, we lined up for the start. Im not sure how it was worked out but I was gridded on the first row so my plan was to sprint off the line, avoiding the chaos I had seen in other races earlier in the day, and then tuck in behind a couple of people and settle in. I definitely didn’t fancy being caught in the middle of a pile up at this stage in my recovery! The plan went according to plan and after about half a lap I was in a group of 3 off the front of the main pack. Unfortunately I ran out of room beforea singletrack section and got caught behind 2 grand vets backmarkers while the other 2 escaped in front of me. I caught one of the other riders pretty quickly after getting through but the leader stayed about 10s away from me for the rest of the lap. Things stayed like this until the start of the final lap when I started to real the leader in until I again hit traffic at an inopportune time and lost more ground. Towards the end of this lap I cocked up on a small dip and lost about 20 seconds trying to get out of the pedals while pinned to a tree. Once I was back on trail I had lost sight of 1st and cruised home for a reasonable but disappointed 2nd. Rueing the endless traffic and delays from back markers on a course which doesn’t allow much overtaking!


Although my legs struggled at times, and I was definitely missing anything remotely ‘top-end’ I didn’t get any pain in my back, and didn’t suffer the next day. Next week I am planning on doing the Southern XC and will hopefully enter Sport for the extra lap.