My first race of 2010 was reasonably flat and in the Open category to ease myself into the season. The same can be said for 2011 (although that was determined by injury rather than by intention). This year, my first race of the season was always going to be round 2 of the Gorrick series. With no elite category, I knew there would be some serious competition. What I didn't bank on was one hell of a tough course. My practice lap took me over half an hour to complete and although that was at a fairly casual pace, that's a long lap and 5 laps was always going to hurt.
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| "Oi! Youff! Pass me that bottle!" |
From the gun I got a reasonable start and was about 6th at the top of the first climb with everyone in front wheel to wheel. After the initial climb there was a long section of tricky but fast natural single track interrupted by a couple of short climbs and a tricky bog section. Once out in the open the course climbed gradually for about 500m. By this time I had lost time on the leaders after being caught behind some of the 'Open' riders. I put in a kick to get past the rider in front and quickly got a gap but the next rider was matching my speed and I couldn't close him down. The course turned right and up a very steep loose climb. I didn't realise Surry had scree slopes, but this changed my opinion. My knees felt like they were about to pop, you couldn't stand up and pedal because the back wheel instantly lost traction on the loose surface, you just had to grit your teeth, pull on the handlebars and push as hard as you could on the pedals. I genuinely wasn't sure I was going to make it up this climb 4 more times! By the top of the climb I had lost more ground on the guys in front but the first few sport guys had caught me so I pushed hard to get on their wheels to get my breath back. After a fast bermed descent with a couple tabletops and another very short steep climb, there was a fairly long flat section where being in a group really sped up progress. The lap finished with more natural single track before a fire road climb to the top of the final descent where everyone else took the slower wiggly route down. I took the straight route down a couple of drops and made up a good few seconds every lap on this. By the end of the lap I had caught and passed Scott Chappell and was up into 6th. At this point I was unsure if I was on my second or third lap, it felt like I had been going for quite a while already!
For the majority of the second lap I worked with a sport rider to maintain the gap to the rider in front and distance those behind but going on the third lap I was on my own and I think my mind must have wandered from concentrating on riding fast because the gap to those behind dropped quickly but my legs still felt good! Towards the end of the 4th lap my legs suddenly felt empty and Scott, who by this point had caught be but I was comfortably riding with, accelerated into the distance. I couldn't do anything to keep in contact with him and he was soon quite a way up the track. For the rest of the race I was alone and just concentrating on keeping going but not pushing too hard. I didn't want to blow up and not finish! The final time arount the scree slope I was suddenly on the wheel of the 6th place Expert but cramp set in at the back of my right quad and I had to collapse off my bike and stagger up the climb. At the same time I was passing a girl who was having exactly the same problem. Its a good job there weren't any spectators there, it would have looked a bit odd with both of us hobbling to the top grimacing! I think the rider ahead had bonked because I caught him again on the flat section and he didn't make any effort to keep up.
I finished 6th out of only 12 starters which I am pretty happy with although I was a long way off the winners time. The race took me 2hrs11 which is a good 40 minutes longer than the races I will be doing for the rest of the season. I surprised myself at how good I felt from the gun, somewhere I am normally poor, so that is very positive. I have just over a month until my first points qualifying race so with a good block of training, hopefully I can build on this race and get a good result then.
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