Rampant...ish

I seem to have neglected my blogging responsibilities lately. Unfortunately work has started to get a bit hectic recently and I have hardly found the time to train, let alone blog! Once everything settles down I will get back into the swing of it!

Two weeks ago it was the Ratz rampage at Checkendon. I wasn’t going to do it but my coach from www.Areufit.com suggested it would be a good training session. I did a 50mile solo on the MTB on the Saturday and was feeling a little tired on the start line on Sunday. There were about 6 experts and 2 elites on the start line. Off the start I sat in second in Expert while the Elites disappeared into the distance. After a few corners the pace appeared to be dropping so I put in a kick and passed the guy in front. I quickly made up some ground on the Elites but only got to within about 10 seconds of them. When I looked back the other Experts had already been dropped so I decided not to  carry on chasing the elites and just ride my own race. I got passed by a Merida UK rider on the third lap and lost about 20 seconds to him over the rest of the race. The course was flat and twisty with laps being about 10 – 11 minutes. Just over 50 minutes after starting I finished, unsure of whether I was 1st or 2nd. After a quick chat to the Merida rider it transpired he was in the Masters category and I had won the Expert race. I am pretty disappointed that this is my second win of the season and I still have not been able to celebrate when crossing the finish line! Still, I cant be too fussy, that is still 2 more wins than I had expected coming into the season!

Since this race I have struggled to find the time to train for various reasons. The new road bike has arrived and is all decked out in orange to match the team kit. It is just a shame Pronghorn haven’t released their road bike yet! This weekend coming is the 3rd round of the Southern series down at Crow Hill. I normally enjoy the course so fingers crossed I can get a good result as it will be my last race before my first national series race in Expert and the confidence would come in handy right now!