After a slight change of plans I ended up in Plymouth for the weekend, coincidentally the same weekend as a race. With my 30th looming it was a perfect excuse to compete in my last race in the Sport category.
When living in Plymouth I was used to riding the Soggy Bottom winter series which was an enjoyable but muddy blast around the Newnham estate. The Fully Sussed series is run by Jay and Maddie Horton who have created an exciting and challenging xc loop around the park. The course has a mix of terrain from fire roads to rock sections to rooty off camber sections. With a lot of the singletrack sections being new it was going to be a struggle for grip which combined the droves of entrants it was going to make for interesting riding.
Waiting at the start line I can't help feel that I'm a little out of my depth. The practice lap proved more technical than I remember xc races being, perhaps I'm used to road racing and enduro events but I knew this would be more difficult than first thought. The first section was a fire road up to the top of the hill which then dropped down into the first of the virginal singletrack sections. I didn't want to get held up by bottlenecking so put a little bit more effort into it. Fortunately my practice lap showed me where things could go wrong for some riders and luckily I was right. I was able to start overtaking people on higher less obvious lines but the inevitable hold ups soon started until we dropped down onto the next fire road. The second climb and the flat singletrack sections through trees were fast and flowing and allowed for some more overtaking.
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| Fast and for the first time in ages DRY singletrack |
The next few sections were winding with mech destroying boulders to keep you on your toes. Quite literally in fact with constant dabs for stability due to the terrain and course routing. Eventually we arrive at the run up to the Bear Pit which I had heard about but never experienced. A narrow entrance between a tree and a steel frame shows war wounds from the wide bar brigade. A tight rooty S-bend down into a small steep drop off and the worst is over, it ends with an off camber rooty slope and then the pounding within the rib cage can ease until the next lap.
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| The Bear Pit - it felt a lot steeper! |
The first lap went pretty well considering, taking it steady working my way up through the riders whilst being a little cautious on the slippery tracks. The second lap was meant to be a little quicker, unfortunately a tumble on the first singletrack section put pay to that. Whilst overtaking the person in front is the idea taking my bike normally helps. A bar straightening later and I'm on my way again. Luckily I managed to retain my position.
The remaining laps were generally problem free with only a tree hugging moment to complain about. With last weeks Dyfi Enduro my legs were suffering a little and I suffered from cramp towards the end but I still managed to come in a respectable 8th. I'm glad I competed and rode Newnham again before the Bontrager Twentyfour12 even if a lot of it won't be included. I don't think the xc events are for me, I find the longer rides of the enduros more enjoyable ... that said there could be a possible first xc race in Masters category in June! Riding is riding at the end of the day.
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