I’ve long been a fan of the more ‘traditional’ XC race format, but as I’d done it for many years non stop I kind of got burnt out with the whole race scene and I’d taken a few years off to just enjoy my riding. The last few years my emphasis has been on endurance events and we’ve had teams in Mountain Mayhem, S.I.T.S., 24/12 and The Big Dog. The trouble is racing has a way of getting under your skin and getting you involved again and as our local race The Goodwood Spring Challenge came round again I inexplicably found myself on the startline again, ready (hopefully) for action.
As you may have read elsewhere on here my Cove Hummer had been mercilessly plundered to build up my new Titus El Guapo. This left me with a dilemma as 160mm of travel isn’t conducive to fast XC times. Fortunately I managed to wangle the Whyte 19 demo bike from Quest and I was looking forward to riding something at the opposite end of the spectrum to El Guapo!
El Guapo
Whyte 19
The G.S.C. has a nice relaxed vibe and definitely feels a bit more like a ‘local’ event, unlike the larger Gorrick events. It’s always nice to catch up with a few old faces you haven’t seen for a while and you can usually be assured of running into loads of people you know. We had a pretty good turnout this year with Myself, Andy, Josh, Tim, Dillon, Andy H, Damo, Kim, Uncle Phil and Alex (sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone else) all taking part across various categories. Not to mention John not taking part for some reason 
Officially being an old git now I lined up with Tim and Damo for the veterans race. There is some lovely flowing singletrack on this course, not to mention some long draggy climbs. Fortunately some had been cut off this time round, bring the lap down to a more manageable 5.5 miles.
I won’t go into a great breakdown of the racing, if you want all the stats you can go to the results page here. Unusually though I was feeling pretty good and ended up in 11th spot which I am very pleased with.
The Whyte 19 once again proved itself to be a faultless performer. Being a whole eight pounds lighter than El Guapo it was literally like having a couple of extra gears or a rocket up my bum. It was nice to be back on such a nicely handling hardtail and it reminded me of why I like hardtails so much. The direct feel and instant response to mashing on the pedals was great. So I really must make the effort to get my Hummer back up and running next week, it’s going to be lightened up and made a bit more racey now I have the El Guapo for moments of madness…….
