BIG WELSH WEEKEND

Well it certainly was big (and very warm indeed). Summer like conditions made it difficult to stay hydrated as a spectator, let alone a rider.

In the weeks running up to the race we headed out to the Purbecks in Dorset for some extra hill training. We did the right thing, but possibly another years worth of hills would have done the trick.

The course itself was well laid out. Numerous steady climbs linked by drops into tight singletrack, and even a couple of rocky river crossings. Two significant hills led to the top of the course for great views, leading into a 2km elbow wrecking descent back into the arena.

We now believe Rich made the best decision of the day. A Southern XC race the following weekend meant he decided to enter the open and do 2 laps instead of the 4! A superb result in 6th place as well.

On the first lap, Darren Shepherd left me for dust up that last big hill, even though his race set off 2 minutes behind ours! The pace he set was blistering, but maybe a bit too much in that heat, losing that lead and finishing 6th in the Veterans. Michael Radburn (Owens cycles) did well and got a 25th place in the same race.

I finally got got round in under 2 hours and 41st place in the Masters. Still blown away by the level in that category and clearly much more training and learning required…

Simon

Results: TimeLaps
Photos: Joolze Dymond

Related posts:

1. British XC Round 4 Video
2. British Mountain Bike Series Round 5 - Newnham Park, Plymouth
3. 2010 British Mountain Bike Series dates and venues

Tags: British XC, Mountain Biking, Wales

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 9:09 pm and is filed under Cross Country. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.