The results round-up looks like this:
Chris R- 3rd Vet
Nick P - 5th Vet
Ben - 7th Sport (he had his cast taken off especially to race we hear!)
Paul - 2nd Open
Chris G - 24th Sport
Lee - 5th Go Race
Ross raced both days, but he's now so tired he can't get to the phone to tell us how he did...
Ben seemed justifiably pleased with his return to racing:
"I took 7th in sport cat. Happy with result as I've only had my pot off a week.
My descending was camp to say the least cos I was scared of stacking it again!
Great day with the team, gazebo looked grand. I had a wee dram of rouge with my steak n chips and no injury!
The SRAM x1 is absolutely fantastic,
No mud clogging no chain suck, no fuss! Mint."
Nick P also enjoyed his day out by the sounds of it:
"After a smashing week of 13 000 ft of climbing, 10 KOM's on strava and 100 trophies for fun in Pembrokeshire, Brechfa Forest and Penbrey Country Park, Friday and Saturday would have to be rest days after this holiday as I wanted to make a strong comeback into racing this year.
I arrived early but Josh was too tired to race so I went off and did half a lap and decided it wasn't worth getting race bike too muddy before the race,
Mental preparation was paramount today with some new race prep plans and a new MTB roller session to do. The race was at 11.30 so at 10.30 I started building up on the rollers with stretching sessions in between and I was ready. 3rd for the series last year so should get good grid ding .
On the first climb 5 of us stayed together and stayed the same for rest of race bar positions with me just behind team mate Christopher Rathbone. We juggled positions a few times together but he left me on a descent. At the top the long grass climb (the muddiest climb) I was off running rather than on and off like others were. By the jumps the Rocket Ron 2.25 acted like a ski and I had to guess which direct the bike was going in. We had the usual rock and rollers which was fun, I stayed behind top rider Anthony White for another 2 laps with the running mud section allowing me to keep with him as he was trying to ride it. On the last lap he ran and made it harder to keep up as he is an animal climber. 17.34 was fast on our first lap and we settled into 18 plus on lap remaining laps ,
As we entered the last descent rollers he was starting to get away and I finished a minute down and 1.30 min behind Chris.
So - very happy with legs for this one and that I felt good on the last lap"
Ross went for the 'crazy man of the weekend' award by racing both days - XCE on Saturday and XCO on Sunday:
"I got 10th on the sunday, the course was tough and was more of a cyclocross course with lots of running up the big hill every lap because the deep mud made it unrideable at any speed at all, this didn't really suit me but was a fun race to do! We set off with the expert category so from the start I lost track of my position in the junior field so just tried to ride my own race.
Saturday was the day I knew I would do best on because the short eliminator sprints really suited me because of the short sprints and BMX track which I used to ride on before I even rode a cross country bike! I got 2nd in the first heat, 3rd in the second and won my final heat, this was enough to put me into the 'A' final and guarantee me a top 8 senior result. I managed 1st junior and 5th including the seniors and vets as all 3 categories raced together.
I was pleased with my eliminator result but I would have liked a better result in the sunday XCO race, hopefully my form will come with more training after exams! "
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| Race Face Rathbone |
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| Spookiest podium location ever?! |
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| Ross in action |
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| Lee in 'full flow' as he describes it! |
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| Chris G, pushing hard even near the end |
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