After Round 1 of the Southern XC series there was no real doubt in my mind that Round 2 was a must. The course choice and organisation was excellent. Throw in a friendly atmosphere and you couldn't ask for better place to be on a Sunday. I made a slight school boy error a few months back by entering the Hargroves 4 hour enduro which I hadn't realised was the night before the SXC event so I was expecting the Sunday would be a mission to get out of bed let alone race a bike.
Having had our few weeks of summer, the rains returned returned the trails to their usual state. Driving up the farm lane to the venue the state of the racers cycling parallel to me made the course conditions apparent - muddy and knackering! After parking up I hobbled up to sign on before getting ready for some half arsed warm up.
It didn't take long until the the elites, experts, masters and sports are all standing shoulder to shoulder preparing for each categories staggered starts. Racing sports I'm the last to go, a small field this time with under twenty entries. Before starting I knew I wouldn't have the legs to go full pelt from the start [my idea of full pelt may differ from others!!] so I did my best to hold on to the riders in front. Having not ridden the course before I wasn't sure what to expect and with a short stint in the field we were into some narrow singletrack. I was held up behind some others with no real opportunity for passing. When the first fire road came I was able to overtake a few riders before disappearing back into the trees on some winding singletrack. The course was pretty flat until this point with only the mud to contend with but SXC manage to spice up the course by finding short sharp climbs. Coming to the end of my first lap we leave the singletrack for a small fire road incline that takes you to the finish line. IF on my last lap I was battling against another sport then a final sprint up the hill would be my best chance.
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| rolled down arm warmers make you look like an 80s throwback! |
My second lap felt good, better than the first with less riders to contend with although now overtaking on singletrack was a little easier although differentiating between sports and masters is a little difficult. The muddy sections were a getting harder with a few areas for respite. I was battling with another rider for the majority of the lap until I eventually I pulled away .
Passing through the start arena for the second time my legs were really hurting. They were fine when spinning along hard ground but as soon as I hit the claggy mud I was struggling. I could see a familiar rider lurking in the bushes behind me so I tried to maintain my distance. A little over half way through the lap he was right behind me and in a blink was passing me again. Efforts to try and stick on his wheel were in vein and I watched him disappear into as quickly as he was upon me. The climbs seemed longer than previous laps and the claggy mud was worsening. Eventually the final fire road climb came around but there were no other riders around which was a godsend given that I didn't have the legs to chase anyway.
I finished in 11th place moving me up to 7th overall in the series. Many thanks to Southern XC and all their team for another brilliant event. Roll on Round 3 at Wasing Park!
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