Southern XC1

This weekend, for me atleast, was all about progression. Last weekend was a success so I decided to make the step up to Sport and hopefully a longer harder race. This is the category I have raced for the last couple of years so I was pretty confident I knew what to expect, and that was definitely not a podium! There are a lot of strong riders in sport so I knew it would be a fast start and I would probably struggle to keep with the lead group.

From the off I was probably mid-pack by the time we left the arena and hit the first section of singletrack. I managed to just about keep on the wheel of the guy in front and before too long we had opened a gap on the chasing riders. As the lap went on I started to feel more comfortable and by the time we reached the steeper sections I felt I could challenge the guys in front. On the flat stuff later on in the lap I lost a bit of ground and found I had to plough a lonely path into a head wind across the draggy fields at the end of the lap. Going onto the second lap I manged to catch Frack Lebon (Giant Radlett) and we rode together for the whole lap. We both had small crashes on the loose roots and he got a gap on me towards halfway. Again, the steep climbs suited me and I made up a load of time to the extent I actually had a small lead onto the flat section which I promptly lost and we were again together going onto the final lap. The last lap went to plan as I stuck on Franck’s wheel until the climb, then overtook and pushed hard to get away from him. I tried to keep the pace high for the rest of the lap and fortunately made my escape count. During the last lap I thought I was probably in the top 5 but when Franck came in the commentator announced he was second. I had to check before I got excited but I had indeed finished first, and taken my first ever win! To be honest I was a bit disappointed I hadn’t known because I didn’t get a chance to cross the line with my hands in the air! I did however, manage to chase down Corby in Masters just before the line which was just as important!


After the race, my back was a bit sore when getting changed and making recovery drinks up. The course was very bumpy and loose and probably a much harder work out for my back than the previous weekend. I also allowed myself to push a bit harder after the confidence boost of a pain-free race. After a bit of a stretch and a walk around that seemed to ease off and by the next day I was back to normal. My legs also seemed to recover nicely with the help of some lovely Bikefood protein and a gentle spin on the turbo on Monday morning.




Being a realist, I know that I am not up to the standard I need to be to be competitive in Expert. Without taking anything away from the riders who were there, some of the top riders in the category were not present and the high attrition rate at this race meant the leading pair at the end of the first lap failed to finish. Having said that I can still take positives from it and it is a great result for me so soon after my comeback! I have now got a few weeks off racing to prepare for the extra mileage and technical challenge of the Dyfi enduro. Hopefully I can use the time well to build endurance and get some more strength in my back.

PS: Thanks to Chloe for bottleing and Corby for the encouragement, along with Jason and the rest of the C-B team for their support!