Sussex-MTB

I arrived at the venue, Crowthorne woods, on an over cast, dreary day. Inevitably we had some trouble finding out where to park, we ended up driving miles away from the start to park. I then got my stuff together and headed off to the start. It seemed so much longer walking! It became apparent that actually the long walk had been completely pointless and an unnecessary waste of time, because it turns out there was parking right by the start. Bummer.

Slightly rushed for time now, feeling nervous as all this was new to me, I went and grabbed a race entry to fill in, only reading it very briefly, which I would later come to regret. After handing it in and paying my fee I started to get all my kit on, with a few extra layers to keep me warm whilst waiting for the start. I was then hit with a dilemma, to take a pump and tube or not… After much debate I deemed it unnecessary seeing as I was running tubless and hadn’t had any issues with it since putting it on. As the race start neared I could tell I was becoming nervous, because of my constant need to go to the toilet.

I began to ride around a little and have a go at warming myself up, because the start of the race was drawing near. I found this hard, mainly because of the large amount of people that filled the area. I gave up earlier than I should of, and this is just one of the things that I have learnt from my first race and can benefit from for next time. I made my way to the line, on a slight up hill, so I tried to select a fairly low gear to give me a good start. Looking around me it appeared there was only about seven or so people in my category, however It still felt daunting. I stood on the line, with my dad trying to take pictures of me, which is really one of my pet hates. I hate pictures! However his sarcastic humour and jokes reassured me slightly, and took my mind of the looming race. As the commentator began to announce that the race would be starting in a couple of minutes, I had a last final check and gave my back tyre a squeeze, and thank god I did. It had gone fairly flat, I beckoned my dad over urgently and asked him to help me pump it up, but as I tried desperately to attach the pump it became clear the valve was not screwed tight enough into the rim, and Stan’s juice was pouring out, disaster! Luckily as I was panicking, wondering what an earth I was going to do, my dad a managed to keep a cool head and get the tyre inflated with literally under a minute to spare! I wish I had of decided to take a pump, because now I had another factor to add to my nervousness, what if the tyre didn’t stay up!? Luckily before I had too long to mull things over and worry, we were away……

Even in such a small category the start was immediately frantic, people fighting for the first few spots. Luckily I had a good start, and after the first 30 yards or so when the downhill began, I was tucked behind one person, happily in second. I was pleased with my start, but as soon as I hit up hills it was clear the pace was like nothing I had ever experienced previously. I could immediately tell after the first few climbs the person I was following was quick! I managed to stick nicely in behind him as I hit the single track. I very quickly felt at home on the tight, twisting rooty single track, trying desperately to stay with the person in front of me. As i continued to battle on, riding harder than I had ever done previously, it became clear to me the whole course was going to be full of technical, flowy single track with some short sharp climbs.

As I emerged onto the first fire road, in between the sections of single track, I was flagging slightly. I shoved the shifter roughly, and as always it immediately reacted, slipping into the big ring as smooth as ever. I made a small amount of ground up here, but still had a feeling of doubt as to how long I was going to be able to keep up. I turned off the fire road and onto the rough stuff, slightly clumsily now, as my body became tired. Luckily my bike, a kinesis maxlight, effortlessly smoothed the rough ground as always.. a saving grace for me. I battled on, digging deep to keep up, I had no concept of time. As I rounded yet another tight bend I rammed into a tree stump that was previously hidden from my view by the undergrowth, my weight was thrown forward, bashing my knee on my stem and landing on my bars as I hit the ground. Although this was a setback, a small part of me was thankful, because it gave me a couple of vital seconds to compose myself. As I pressed on I could see my rival in the distance, pushing on, and from this moment on I knew that I wasn’t going to see him again. A negative thought, another thing the race had taught me, not to think negatively. I rode on as hard as I could, finding it hard to pace myself now, with still no idea of time or how far I had left to go. I began to regret not having time to pre ride the course, I was thrown into obstacles I was unaware of until the last second.

I became aware of the start line looming nearer now, as I could hear people. A few seconds later I caught a glimpse of it through the trees, still trying to push myself, feeling happy in second place. I passed the line, and got some welcome encouragement. I felt a bit daunted now, knowing that I had to do another lap. It was here where I began to struggle, I knew I was in second place, with a fairly good lead over 3rd place I began to become slightly complacent. Every so often I would realise that actually I wasn’t pushing myself to the limit, struggling to keep a fast pace, another thing I will be able to learn from and I will benefit from in future races.

I was hitting people pre riding the course now, trying as hard as possible to get past them, shouting out occasionally, but feeling to shy most of the time, something again I have learnt from. I felt sluggish now; luckily I was coming up to a section I remembered from the previous lap, a flowy gulley full of banked sides and small rooty drops. Once again my Kinesis excelled here, as it does in all the varieties of terrain, obediently flying over the roots, a joy even when I was so exhausted. I rode on grinding towards the finish line. I knew now that it was very unlikely I was going to catch the leader, but pushed on never the less. I hit a familiar part of the course. Knowing the finish line was now near I gave it one last push, and crossed the line.

Feeling drained I shook the leaders hand, he had come in at around three minutes ahead of me, a great motivator for me to train harder and look forward to another race. I was then approached by an organiser who informed me I had ticked the wrong category in my rushed attempt to fill in the entry form. Luckily the helpful people timing the laps quickly corrected it and put my mind at rest.

I went back over to the other riders, a small group of them now as more people had finished. They were all very friendly and congratulated me, as I did to them also. Very pleased with my result, however I still felt a little regretful for not pushing myself as hard as I felt I could of in the last lap, however I learnt from this and is something I can try to do in the future. I left now, eager to get in the car and just relax, however not before letting a few family and friends know how I had done.

I felt I learned loads from the race, and am already excited about racing again and using some of the experience I got from today. I would thank Jp and Jim for all the advice, tips and the jersey. Really appreciate it.

Will