Where do I start!
Ok monthly updates failed, a mixture of racing, holidays, racing, training caused a somewhat lack of time to produce these, something I really want to change, my website gets daily hits and I need to improve for the visitors.
Since the last update, I have done a lot! So to play catch-up up I will keep each event separate and to the point.
Midlands XC RD2 - Eastridge
Following on from Woodies I headed to round two of the midlands XC, it was about 500 degrees that day over at Eastridge, the course was tough, good solid climbs followed by good downs, it was a little treat. I cannot remember why now, but all the female categories started together, it was awesome to be fair, I pushed hard and got up front early, this allowed me to watch the elite / expert women and learning from them. I focused on my climbing (as at Woodies I struggled so much) and found a good rhythm, I crossed the line in first so all happy about that.
UK National Champs - Kirroughtree Forest
What and awesome venue, I loved the course, good climbs and super downs, nothing else to say really on that. The weather was somewhat changeable, practice on Saturday was fairly dry, we had heavy rain from afternoon and overnight but the course workers did an absolutely fantastic job of getting the course ridable for Sunday. I headed to my race, got a fairly good start, I slotted into 3rd, I pushed hard all race and managed to cross the line in 3rd, really pleased with how I rode, it was awesome to finish off the national series this way and after my disappointment from Woodies it was a much needed improvement.
Hope XC RD7 – Leeds Urban Bike Park.
Last minute decision to race, we headed up early on Sunday morning expecting the race to be at the bike park but unfortunately it was just round the corner on a disused golf course. The course itself was fun; the sun was shining so all was good. I pushed off the start and tried my hardest, for some crazy reason my chain kept dropping, I just worked hard, put my chain back on, worked hard and finally I crossed the finish in first, and happy to take the win given the issues I was having.
Welsh Enduro RD5 – Llanfyllin
Something new to me, outside of the XC series I wanted to try something new so a round of the Welsh Enduro was trialled. We arrived on the Saturday for the practice day, it was good to get out and preview the stages, and it was a revelation for sure. The trails were super dry and dusty, no B lines, every feature has to be hit, not being someone who is confident to “Just Send It” I am glad I went to the practice day, I got down all the stages, some slower than others but I managed it. During Saturday night and early Sunday morning we had a fair amount of rain, I headed up to complete a practice stage to warm up and to see what the weather had done to the trails and actually I think the rain really helped them. I set off on my race lap, I tried my hardest, going fast where I could and played it safe on the stuff I was not so confident about, after all the riders had finished and the times calculated I finished second overall. I was happy with this, my stage times were ok and my overall time was competitive overall.
XC Inter-regional Championship – Cannock Chase
Oh my last update, awesome if you have gotten this far, thank you.
A few months back I applied to be considered for the West Midlands XC Interregional team, lucky I was selected. I have never done this event before so having the opportunity was something I wanted to make the most off, its the top XC riders from every region under the age of 16 so you know the competition is always going to be tough.
The event was made up of 4 events, a skills loop, Short track, Team Relay and XCO Race (1 hour). Points from each event would be tallied up; they would give an overall score both individually and team. The course was utilising parts from the Commonwealth course so that was super cool, I could write a lot about this event but due to the length of this update, so far I will keep it brief. Skill; I know I’m not terrible at skills, but I’m also not the best, I ranked 10th overall out of 57 (Boys / Girls mixed), 4th Short track, 8th Team Relay and 5th in the XCO race. I was super happy with my performance all weekend, individually I finished 4th overall and our team finished an awesome 6th out of 13, hopefully I get the opportunity again next year and we can get the team a bit higher.
Big thank you to everyone who supports me, next event is Welsh Enduro RD6 @ Llangollen .
As always, a massive thank you to my sponsors;
Bike Guru Derby
Full Throttle Racing
Halo Wheels
Recoil Suspension
Squirt Cycling Products
Links can be found under the partner's tab.
Thanks for reading.
Mazie