Rock UK

Im very much looking forward to spending the weekend with existing and new team riders :)
Off to the Borders of Scotland in Feb for Team launch and a weekend of fun

:)

TEAM BIKES FOR SALE

BIKE TWO

Moda Carbon Encore team bike
This bike has a brand new frame never sat on and the equipment was only used at the teams photo shoot,
Frame brand new – 16.5in, LDC High modulas CarbonForks Reba SL Team forks with 100mm motion control poplock. Shimano XT disc brakes.Shimano XT chainset and gears Carbon bars and stemAll cables and hoses in Goodridge custom white.American classic 350 wheels, In immaculate condition.£1250

BIKE THREE

Moda Carbon Encore team bike
Frame - 16.5in, LDC High modulas Carbon This bike has been completely stripped and rebuilt.
New bottom bracket and inner and outer gear cables, new disc pads. New chain.
new set of Kore handlebars and stemForks Reba SL Team forks with 100mm motion control poplock. Shimano XT disc brakes.Shimano XT chainset and gears All cables and hoses in Goodridge custom white.American classic 350 wheels, In excellent condition. £1200

BIKE FOUR

This is a custom built Moda Rondo, Triple Butted 7005 Aluminium, size 16.5Forks upgrade to Reba SL Team 100mm with Motion control Poplock
Magura disc brakes.Shimano XT chainset and rear mechUSE carbon bars and USE stem. Carbon seat post.All cables and hoses in Goodridge custom white.American classic wheels (not raced on).In immaculate condition.lighter than the standard model
£850

All bikes have only been ridden by female riders with no abuse, and serviced at every event.

Contact - wxcmtb@aol.com

Newnham Park BMBS XC by Emma Cutler

I arrived on Friday in time to ride the course, was not expecting it to be quite so hilly. I had heard about the infamous pipeline section however and was slightly worried about how I would manage that. However got to the end and realized I had gone down it without even knowing and it wasn't too difficult. A few sections I rode over a couple of times to find a good line. It seemed ok, I just hoped I would be strong enough for some of the steeper climbs.

The start of the race was quite nerve-wracking. I don't really know many of the people who regularly race there, but I tried to look around at who was in my category. I was glad to be standing with my team mate Magali Jimenez and we wished each other the best of luck before going into our starting position.

The race started through the first river crossing, having started near the back people converged in front of me so I decided to run through this one. I climbed the first hill but saw several of the vet ladies disappear ahead of me. Trying not to be discouraged I continued at my own pace. I believed that one or two of the ladies in my group were behind me. Sometime later in that lap I passed a lady who had been next to me at the start. I continued at the fastest pace I was able, managing pretty much any of the technical parts and enjoying the fast downhill section towards the end. The second lap went much as the first although after a couple of the hills I was having a serious problem with sweat running into my eyes. At one point I was unable to see at all and my eyes were stinging, but removing my glasses for a while and wiping my eyes managed to clear them with the downhill breeze.

The final lap on one of the later climbs I recognised another of the very fast vet ladies as she smoothly overtook me on an uphill, so assumed she had had a mechanical of some sort. The descents at the end felt great now I knew exactly what to expect and tried to make up for lost time on the uphills. Overall I was pleased with the result having never raced at a National XC Race and only started racing this year. I had a great time, raced on a World Cup course and have something to tell the grandchildren (haven't got any quite yet!)
Thanks also to my husband for his support.

5th place vets

Bedgebury Insomnia BHF 12 hour solo endurance race by Emma Cutler

I was really looking forward to this race as I had watched all the excitement last year and wanted to join in, this was my first attempt at a 12 hour race and overnight as well. 8 PM waiting to go and thankfully it wasn't raining, although very cold, and the forecast was good. My left knee was feeling a bit sore as a result of a long training ride and I was a bit concerned as to how it would fare. Starting the race was a fight for position, always a mental blur to me! I knew the course went onto the first bit of singletrack via a small steep run up and was hoping to get there as quickly as possible as it would not be easy to pass anyone on the singletrack. Unfortunately some others stopped in front of me so I had to push up the first run up but luckily got a good start on the singletrack anyway.

I had decided beforehand to try and keep to a slower speed particularly on the climbs and drags so as not to tire my legs out too quickly, it was going to be a long night. I did the first 5 or 6 laps without too much trouble, stopping briefly a few times to quickly eat/drink something or change bottles or add clothing and put on a knee support bandage. Sometime during a stop Keith informed me that they were having problems with the timing, he said I was in front but we had no idea who was behind me and how far etc.

During the seventh lap I started to feel really tired. I tried to focus on the thought of some hot food at the end of that lap. After a brief respite, I jumped back on my bike and felt much more lively! I had really wanted to do another 5 laps after this but realized time could be a bit tight and still didn't know where the second place female was.

I decided to split the final laps into two lots of two, giving myself some tea in between. I managed a fairly decent couple of laps after the food, this race seemed to be all about eating extensively and drinking tea which was fine by me. I hardly saw any other riders and was starting to think I was on my own, strangely enjoyable! During my final two laps it began to get light which was wonderful after the grimness of the early hours. I sped up and really started enjoying the last moments. On my final lap I passed a female rider on a hill who seemed to recognize me and congratulated me. Later I found out that she was the second place female and had chased after me going out on my lap 9 but luckily I had lapped her. I started getting towards the end around ten minutes before the finish at 8am and slowed down. Since no solo female riders had overtaken me I believed I was in front. Got to just before the finish line and lurked for around five minutes or so, heard the siren and finished the race at dead on 8am. 11 laps, painful but hilarious at times. Having finished and realized that the timing was still up the chute, I said a few “words” to the timing systems operator and went on my merry way!

Final results were 1st place solo female, (3rd solo person overall), and 1st place fastest lap for a female
Big 'Up' to the Bedgebury Boars for all the voluntary time and effort spent on organizing this race and the wonderful marshals who kept everyone safe and entertained through the long night.
Thanks to Keith WXC Team Manager for all your support and ay-up lights were literally brilliant

BMBS Final round Newnham Estate, Plymouth

Carla Haines

The final round of the national series had come around so fast. I was excited, very nervous but a bit sad that it was the last event of the race season.
Looking at the start list there were 5 international riders so I knew it was going to be a very tough race...however it would give me a little bit of experience of the standard at World Cup events.
Friday
I rode over to Newnham, as I don’t live very far, and pre rode the course. It was shorter than I expected, and quite hilly but I did like it. The ground was greasy in places but still dry, so decided to keep the Kenda Small Block 8 tyres on. .
Saturday-Race Day
It was an earlyish start, 7am, for a good breakfast and pack the car. I was really nervous for this race, I wanted to do well as it was the last one of the series.
My preparation was great...everything was ready in good time so there was no last minute rush. I had a good warm up so I was fired up and ready to go.
We were called up for gridding 20 minutes before...I was number 16 so my number was nearer the end. Standing at the start line I was surrounded by some of the worlds best riders, in front of me was Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå, the multiple World Champion.it was amazing and so nerve racking!! I had such a mixture of feelings I didn’t really know what to think...but just to focus and race how I normally race.
The whistle was blown and off like a rocket we all went. My start was ok at first until I got to the river crossing where I had to run with my bike. Some of the others rode through but a few didn’t. At this point there was a gap between myself and the leading bunch. The short steep grass climb was near the start was really hard so I just kept going as hard as I could.
By the time I reached the very top of the climb the pack had made a much bigger gap, but I could still see them in my sights. My aim was to catch up and work with the last few riders round the course.
My weakness is climbs which I really needed to work my socks off in the race. I was slowly gaining on them by the 2nd lap. We worked together a bit but then I made a break from one rider. After that I didn’t see her, so I my next target was to gain more time on the other riders and also not get lapped by the leader.
On the 4th lap I was starting to get a bit tired..and my mind was drifting a bit. To stop this from happening I tried descending differently. The sections I usually braked on I didn’t and I went harder into the corners. This kept my mind switched on and started to get back into race mode.
On the final lap..I had realised I didn’t get lapped by the leader which was good news...but I still had to keep my head in the race. The final descent I knew I wasn’t very far from the finish so I went as hard as I could for the last flat section.
I was so tired and glad to finish. I had a good race and was quite pleased with my result. I ended up 12th and also got some more UCI points..which is step closer to racing at world cups.
I’ve had a really good season in my 1st year elite and I’m looking forward to next years racing already.
The final round of the national series had come around so fast. I was excited, very nervous but a bit sad that it was the last event of the race season.
Looking at the start list there were 5 international riders so I knew it was going to be a very tough race...however it would give me a little bit of experience of the standard at World Cup events.
Friday
I rode over to Newnham, as I don’t live very far, and pre rode the course. It was shorter than I expected, and quite hilly but I did like it. The ground was greasy in places but still dry, so decided to keep the Kenda Small Block 8 tyres on. .
Saturday-Race Day
It was an earlyish start, 7am, for a good breakfast and pack the car. I was really nervous for this race, I wanted to do well as it was the last one of the series.
My preparation was great...everything was ready in good time so there was no last minute rush. I had a good warm up so I was fired up and ready to go.
We were called up for gridding 20 minutes before...I was number 16 so my number was nearer the end. Standing at the start line I was surrounded by some of the worlds best riders, in front of me was Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå, the multiple World Champion.it was amazing and so nerve racking!! I had such a mixture of feelings I didn’t really know what to think...but just to focus and race how I normally race.
The whistle was blown and off like a rocket we all went. My start was ok at first until I got to the river crossing where I had to run with my bike. Some of the others rode through but a few didn’t. At this point there was a gap between myself and the leading bunch. The short steep grass climb was near the start was really hard so I just kept going as hard as I could.
By the time I reached the very top of the climb the pack had made a much bigger gap, but I could still see them in my sights. My aim was to catch up and work with the last few riders round the course.
My weakness is climbs which I really needed to work my socks off in the race. I was slowly gaining on them by the 2nd lap. We worked together a bit but then I made a break from one rider. After that I didn’t see her, so I my next target was to gain more time on the other riders and also not get lapped by the leader.
On the 4th lap I was starting to get a bit tired..and my mind was drifting a bit. To stop this from happening I tried descending differently. The sections I usually braked on I didn’t and I went harder into the corners. This kept my mind switched on and started to get back into race mode.
On the final lap..I had realised I didn’t get lapped by the leader which was good news...but I still had to keep my head in the race. The final descent I knew I wasn’t very far from the finish so I went as hard as I could for the last flat section.
I was so tired and glad to finish. I had a good race and was quite pleased with my result. I ended up 12th and also got some more UCI points..which is step closer to racing at world cups.
I’ve had a really good season in my 1st year elite and I’m looking forward to next years racing already.

Irish National Marathon Championships, Plus - Cait Elliot

After racing in the British National Series race in Plymouth and finishing top 10 in a field of quality Internationals on the Saturday we had a 3 hour drive to Bristol after the race, a 2 hour delay with the plane, missed the bus from Dublin airport and finally getting home at 1am absolutely exhausted - great race preparation for the Irish marathon championships the next day. I had to be up at 6.30 on Sunday morning for a 3 hour drive down to Ballyhoura, unsure if I'd be able for racing but decided that if my legs felt in anyway functioning I’d at least try and get around the course.
Warming up I felt tired but able to ride, and after the disaster the day before I suddenly found a sense of purpose, I was going to win this thing if it killed me, I had to salvage something from the weekend. I was testing some compression wear before the race from new WXC team supporter Compressport and can highly recommend them, it really helped speeding up recovery.
We set off up a long fire road climb and as loads of over enthusiastic guys went shooting past I rode on Ciara McManus’s wheel, letting her set a steady pace. I moved in front but was careful not to get carried away, I decided riding conservatively was the best option since I wasn’t sure how long my legs would last after yesterday.
I started to pull away from Ciara and settled into a steady rhythm, concentrating on my own race. The course was a nice mixture of fire road climbs, manmade trail centre single track, and rocky or boggy moorland tracks. I’m not normally a fan of trail centres but the first descent was great, super fast berms and jumps that really got the adrenaline flowing without using much energy – perfect for tired legs!
Some of the climbing was tough, technical rocky sections that required a lot of effort and seemed to go on for a long time. After about an hour of riding with the guys, Ciara suddenly appeared on my wheel out of nowhere on a climb. That scared me; I had to force myself to keep it steady rather than panicking and trying to shoot off. At the top I got ahead of a couple of guys so that I had a bit of a buffer, and then went hard on the descent to try and get away. I think I needed a kick up the bum and it meant I had to stay focused for the rest of the race. My one bit of good race preparation was to write on my handlebars where the big climbs and feed zones were on the course – why I haven’t done it before I don’t know, but it was incredibly useful for pacing and pushing myself as we went along.
Some of the open mountain trails were really boggy, with several gigantic puddles. Organisers MBCC did a great job of marking them with signs to warn you how deep it might be. At one point a sign said ‘deep but doable’ – ok I thought, I’ll ride it, my feet were already soaked. I didn’t expect the water to go up past the top of my forks though; I might have been better swimming!


By the last long climb I was starting to hurt a bit but my handlebar note told me there was a big long descent to the finish, so that made it much easier. I was making up lots of places against the guys too as people started to struggle and blow up. The last descent was worth it all, a fast swoopy single track that seemed to go on forever. I was pelting along, riding on my limits with the thought of a new jersey giving me a new found fire in my legs. I caught a couple of guys in front but the narrow trail meant it was impossible to pass. I got a bit frustrated but in the end gave up trying to pass and enjoyed the ride down with four of us riding on each other’s wheel. As the finish came in sight I couldn’t believe it when we were directed into a little finishing loop that included a slight climb, it was a killer and the final nail in the coffin for several people who ended up off the bikes with cramp despite being less than a minute from the end.
I was delighted to cross the line winning my 2nd National championship title and making me feel a bit better after the day before, and good to end the season on a more positive note.

Soutern Area Champs - Magali Jimenez, Masters Bronze medallist

Pre race preparation

Having injured myself at home a couple of weeks before the Southern XC Champs, I wasn’t sure I would be well enough to race. But Pippingford being such a great venue and being only two weeks before the next round of the BMBS I thought I would give it a shot.

We arrived at Pippingford a few hours before my race start so that I could go for a practice lap to familiarise myself with the course. The weather wasn’t great but having my two year old daughter jumping up and down and playing next to me while I was getting ready helped me keep my mind busy so I didn’t even notice the rain!

I went for a practice lap with my co-team member and elite rider Carla. She obviously knew the course very well and was warning me of any potential hazards on the way. It was nice to be looked after for a change! I immediately found it more technical and challenging than my local rides and thought to myself that it would be a tough race. I had raced parts of the course at the 8 hour Muc-off earlier in the year but the Southern XC Champs course also happened to be the course of the National champs so it had to be a tough one. The hills were demanding, especially the long grassy one at the end that never seemed to end. There were lots of slippery roots, a river crossing and off camber corners, i.e. a great cross country course! There were also good downhill sections where I could get a good speed to compensate all the hard work on the hills.

Although I am not as clumsy as I used to be when I started mountain biking a few years back, I crashed on my practice lap but thankfully I didn’t do any more damage to myself other than few cuts and grazes. Carla was here to pick up the pieces and we were ready to finish the lap. I wasn’t sure what to think about the course especially after my crash but I tried to stay focused and relaxed before getting on the turbo for a warm up.

The race

A few words of advice from coach Trevor and his usual “don’t worry you’ll be alright” and it was time to go to the start line. We were six ladies in the Masters category on the same line all waiting for the whistle to blow. At that time I was just thinking “don’t mess up your start”. And when the whistle did blow we all pedalled as hard as we possibly could on that grassy start before entering the single track. I thought I had a good start up until the first hill when few girls started passing me. I was going flat out but my flat out was not as fast as theirs so they left me behind and I was the last one to cross the line after the first lap. However, I tried to stay positive and remembered what Trevor had told me just before the start and I kept on pedalling even harder. I knew at that point what he meant by racing hurts. But thankfully I had lots of support from my daughter screaming “go mummy” every time she would see me and from Trevor who was always appearing somewhere in the woods to a shout few words of encouragement.

And so I kept going until I could see in front of me a girl who had passed me on the first lap. She was skidding on the roots and looked really tired. I knew they couldn’t possibly all keep up with that pace! I passed her and heard her for a while in my back wheel going uphill. Then I looked behind again and she was gone. I then got to the point where you could either go down a few drops or take the alternative route. I decided to be reasonable and went for the alternative route - which was not so easy by the way – and I passed another girl who was coming from the other way. I couldn’t believe it I was back in the race! The training was obviously working and I was thrilled! The last hill was very painful but I was feeling a lot better as I could see the finish line. I finally crossed the line and took the bronze medal with a big smile on my face. That was a great race and I’m glad I did it.

The aftermath

Soon after crossing the finish line I was congratulated by the gold and silver medallists which was nice. We had a quick chat about the race, children, etc and agreed that we were happy it was over although we really enjoyed it.

This race was important to me not only because it was the Southern Champs but also because I had the opportunity to race a good course with strong riders who I usually race with at the BMBS. So in a way it was a good rehearsal for the next round of the BMBS. I had a good and smooth race with excellent support from family and at the feed zone from Keith. It was a positive experience which has helped boost my confidence for the end of the season and for many more races to come.

SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN BIKE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010

This was the final mountain bike race before the last round of the national series race. My aim was to win it and become Southern Champ for the 3rd year running. I had already won the series but this would be a great bonus!
I travelled up Friday, camping and pre rode on Saturday morning. The weather could have been better...but have raced in much worse conditions then that so I wasn’t to fussed.
I did one lap and decided to change my tyres to Kenda Nevegal. It was a little muddy in sections, which needed a bit more grip. I then did another lap after changing them do see whether I made the right decision, and it was.
The course was the same as the National Champs, apart from one bit, so I remembered it quite well. I really liked it; it had a mixture of single track, hills and technical sections, which was good.
After pre riding I had my breakfast and slowly prepared my race equipment.
My preparation was really good...I didn’t have to rush around last minute. I had a good descent warm up and was ready to start the race.
I wanted to have a good start and lead the riders out..., which is what I did. One of the expert riders passed me before the single track, but I knew I could stay with her. When riding up the first fire track climb a masters passed me and slowly made a gap. I gained on her when descending a fast section and then passed her when she got stuck on one of the roots.
I was confident I could ride harder and gain more of a lead. I pushed myself on my strengths and worked even harder on my weaknesses, which seemed to go down quite well.
By the 3rd lap I was still in the lead and many of the riders would be finishing as I had an extra lap to do. I did notice I slowed down slightly as there were no other riders ahead of me to chase, so I used the men to push me instead.
Climbing up the steep grass hill to the finish I was exhausted. I was the Elite Female Southern Mountain Bike Champion!!
It was a great course and race and was really pleased with how it went.

Now its time to prepare for round 5 of the British Mountain Bike Series in Plymouth- 25th September!

SOUTH WEST SERIES ROUND 4

BY CARLA HAINES

The final round of the South West series was now here. I was looking forward to it as there has been quite a gap since the last mountain bike race I did (Bontrager twenty four/12).
I pre rode the course and really enjoyed it. As it had rained it was quite muddy in places but still dry in other sections. I kept the tyres I was racing on (Kenda tubeless small block eights). They seemed to grip quite well even in the wetter parts.
My bottles were already made up and I was ready to race. Us females went off last, which was a bit of a shame but also good as well so I could pick people off one by one.
The whistle was blown and off we went. My start wasn’t the greatest; Jane Cummings (vet winner) was off like a rocket so stayed with her as much as possible.
We caught up the slower riders of the vet men so did get held up quite a bit on the single track. There was a technical section near the beginning of the course where riders were coming off in all directions; it was quite hilarious but a bit frustrating as I just wanted to get on and race!
By lap two, every one had spread out a bit, which was good, so then I could use people as targets to pass. I dropped my bottle a quarter of the way in to the 3rd lap. I got really thirsty that I slowed down a bit.
On my last lap I grabbed a bottle from the feed zone and drank it like anything!! I felt hydrated again and went as hard as I could for my final lap. With about 800m to go to the finish I could see a fellow training partner up ahead. I rode up and sat on his rear wheel and hung on as much as possible all the way to the finish.
I was quite exhausted and pleased I put in the extra effort to the end.
A great course and have enjoyed the whole series.

British Cross Triathlon Championships; Nicola Duggan

I had been looking forward to this race for a long time, I won it last year and the announcement that it was to be the British Cross Tri Championship this year made it a big target race for me this year.
Athletes from all over the UK attended, including several other pro Xterra racers. The race was covered by the BBC’s Adventure show so there were plenty of film cameras around the race site at St Mary’s Loch. I had a pre race interview with a presenter of the show asking about the course and conditions and potential rivals!
swim Conditions were wet, with rain showers during the morning. The race started at 2.30pm in the 16 °C loch. I swam hard at the start to gain a good position in the field and before long forgot about the cold. I exited the water in a good position.
bike My transition was unfortunately quite slow, and the cameras were there again, but I set out on the mountain bike course 3rd female, about 30 seconds behind the two leaders. The rain was quite heavy, but that suited me as I don’t mind a muddy MTB course! I caught and passed the other two females fairly easily on the first climb, and continued to push hard for the whole bike course in order to gain as much time advantage as possible before the run. I ended up in the river on the first lap in the river crossing, and at some point lost my water bottle so became slightly dehydrated as the race progressed. The downhills were fast and varied between rocky tracks and boggy slopes, but I kept focussed and enjoyed the course too.
I came into T2 with around a 9 minute lead over 2nd place (although I didn’t know at the time), and set off for the 10k run course. This was flat beside the loch for the first half (with a few stiles to climb over) then up a fire track through the forest for a long climb to the top of the hill. I kept running as fast as I could (difficult up the hill!) and was relieved when I reached the top without being caught!
run I enjoyed the final descent back to the finish, down a track across the moor with the transition field in sight, and was very happy to finish in first place and take the British Champion title!
After another interview, I could relax and enjoy the evening with the presentations and the hog roast and a good chance to catch up with Xterra friends!

Bontrager tentyfour 12; Rickie Cotter

What a coarse! This is my new favourite coarse lots of singletrack, wet roots and sum really good descents-what more could you ask for!
We had a lovely downpour of rain on Friday night just to soften things up and make those roots a little bit slippier.
I was really pleased to have a bike start I had my best start and then my saddle slipped on the rails, slightly annoying but no biggy. My heart wasn’t in the race and I struggled to get my mind in the right zone, which is surprising because I like riding in the rain and can handle mud /wet roots and I was only doing a 12hr.It wouldn’t effect my performance too much, in these situations I just let my legs and lungs do the work and they never let me downit's a good test of character when you still have to race but your heads not focused.
I went steady and just concentrated on my riding, in the rain you couldn’t afford to make a mistake, choosing the right lines into the mud and committing to the roots by hitting them with enough speed was essential.
When it got dark the mist made seeing really difficult and the rain didn’t help visability, it was still warm so it wasn’t bad.
I managed to win the race but my mental performance was rough luckily my physical performance did the work and was acceptable.

Note to myself: remember to bring my mojo for the next race.

British National Championships; Jessie Roberts

This weekend was the National XC Championships, a race that is normally the biggest and most anticipated race of the year. I had heard a lot of good things about the course from my team mates as they had raced on the same course at the Southern XC a few weeks prior to the nationals. Pippingford was a really testing course, fast bermy descents, quarry section and lots and lots of climbing. I spent a few hours on the Saturday pre-riding the course and practicing the sections I was struggling with until they were mastered. We spent quite a bit of time at a small sharp climb in the quarry section. However after watching a few of the elite men’s lines, I discovered that it was actually quite easy.
Hollie and Gretel raced on the Sunday morning, whilst Rachel, Carla and I had to wait till 2.30pm to race. I normally like racing in the morning, so that I don’t have much time to get nervous. The U23’s race set off two minutes behind the senior women’s with the men just a few minutes ahead of them. There were only 6 of us in my race so even though I had a shocking start not being able to get my foot into the pedal I was still able to make up the places and go into the first descent following Lily’s wheel. I seemed to take all the bad lines on the first few descents which I had perfected the day before, which was really frustrating. Also normally my climbing is where I make up time, but my legs felt heavy and unresponsive. Even now I’m not sure what happened on Sunday, all my preparation to the race had gone great, my legs felt good pre-riding the course. Looking through my lap times, it was clear that something had gone wrong, usually my lap times are very consistent but this time I had got slower and slower and slower! I just had one of those days. I kept plugging away throughout the race and was really pleased with second. results.
I just want to say that Carla was unfortunate to puncture on her second lap as she was flying and I think we would have had a good battle for the podium positions.

Irish National Championships; Cait Elliot

The Irish National Championships held in Djouce woods in Wicklow promised to be one of the best courses and events of the year – and didn’t disappoint. Although I’d comfortably beaten my competitors in several races this year, I was feeling the pressure on the start line with my heart pumping as if the race had already started. I had a jersey to defend and after messing things up a bit last year I knew not to get complacent, there’s always a risk of a bad day, a mechanical or crash ruining things.We set off up the hill of the start loop and I got squeezed into the inside line and forced out the back. It took a sprint out of the last corner to overtake 3 people and get ahead as we hit the singletrack climbing. From there I just put my head down and pedalled, trying to catch and overtake the juniors who set off just ahead of us.The course was brilliant, real mountain biking at its best. It was a long lap with lots of climbing, mostly on technical singletrack, and each time followed by the reward of a brilliant descent. There was plenty of variety, some fast flowing trails, others rooty and steep, all made slightly more difficult with overnight rain greasing things up a bit.Into lap 2 and the others were out of sight. I was really enjoying myself, feeling good and cruising around. I dropped my bottle on the first descent which could have been disastrous but luckily I screamed for water at the 2nd feed zone and some kind person handed me a bottle – I was parched by that stage and the last climb would have been nasty without it.Towards the end racing against the men in masters and vets kept me entertained. I was doing ok but not quite the same as racing girls, it was a very physical course and I struggled to keep up on the faster technical descents that required a lot of upper body strength (back to the gym in the winter!).
The cheering crowds and clanging cowbells up the last climb and round the singletrack to the finish made a great atmosphere and took away any feelings of pain that were setting in. So I finished first with a decent gap and pretty pleased with my performance. It was a funny race, more about being composed and riding cleanly than close fighting and pushing myself as is usually the case. The only downside was getting whisked off to the drugs test caravan the second I finished, a bit of an anticlimax since I missed watching the men’s finish and catching up with people.I think the prize giving and podiums were my favourite part of the day – a new jersey, a huge trophy, a bouquet of flowers and best of all champagne to spray all over everyone. Great fun! A massive thanks to everyone from Epic involved in organising the race, there was a serious amount of work there. The atmosphere, the trails, the onsite entertainment, the cheering spectators made the biggest and best xc race I’ve been to in Ireland.

Hmmm remembering the pain from the last 24hr solo I questioned for a moment why I was doing another one but then it came to me...I liked the pain. There is no logical reason to ride this sort of thing other than to try and beat other silly people who also think it's a good idea and too really push the boundaries to try and find your limits, the ultimate test of endurance-why else?
If your really short like me then a running start is never good especially in spd's. I started on the front of the line and managed to stay in the top quarter as we mounted our bikes. First lap craziness followed and I really had to reign myself in and remember this is a long game. After a few laps I found my pace and started to focus on getting the fluids and fuel in.
This course seemed to have a fair amount of climbing some of it quite steep, it was really dry for the majority of it even some dust. Braking bumps were giving my arms a beating but I guess with this amount of traffic braking bumps are inevitable
I was looking forward to the night it brings an air of dread to most but I really like the complete feeling of solitude and you have to get your skills perfect, no room for errors in the darkness. Not forgetting the amazing sunset it reminds me why I love to ride.
As dawn broke early, around 4am, realising you have 10hrs left is quite grim but I got my head down and rode through it and it hurt, a lot!The last few laps required some stern words to myself and just to keep moving was becoming quite an effort.
Carla and I finished together and for once I was happy to stop pedalling. Would I do it again? Hell yeah!!

Having been chosen as part of the team relay Mountain mayhem was finally here and I was really excited.
The morning of mayhem arrived. Off I went to sign on then pre rode the course. It had rained a bit at night so changing my tyres may have been a possibility. The course was great; good climbs, fast single track, open fire track and a few techy sections. After completing one lap I decided to change my front tyre to Kenda Nevegal and leave the rear one Small block eight.
A quick stroll around the arena, we met a few of our sponsors, Kenda tyres and Osprey hydraulics and had a quick chat before the race started.
Before starting we had a team meeting to discuss the break down of laps and how many we were doing etc. Once this was finalised it was time to race! I was chosen to start, which included a half-mile run!!
I was on the start line 30mins early with teammate Ricky who was competing in the 24hour solo!! I was getting more and more excited and had a huge adrenaline rush. Thousands of competitors were at the start ready to race.
The horn went and off we ran. The route was pretty basic but quite difficult running in mountain bike shoes! In to the transition area, I grabbed my bike, ran to the mount line and off I rode. He first lap was really fun-there were ques entering parts of the single track in the woods because there were so many riders! It was quite amusing in a way as well.
It took me just over an hour to complete an 8.8mile lap including the run. My teammate Rachel was ready in the transition area as I was riding into the arena. I passed the baton to her, and then off she went to complete her lap.
I had a couple hours break before I was next to go so went back to the team tent to relax. The atmosphere was great and we were already leading the Open Women’s team category, which was great. But we had another 23hours of racing yet to be done!!
It was very close the first few laps into the race, but we were slowly, gradually increasing the time between 2nd place and us.

Preparation for events like these is a priority. Taking on as much fuel as possible through out the day and night was essential to keep energy levels up. Spare kit in case the weather/temp changes especially at nighttime is key.
Riding at night time/early morning was great fun. Some marshals had music playing in their tents and were so encouraging through the tough parts of the race. Riders had Christmas lights wrapped around their bikes, others had bells and even some were on Uni cycles!!!
Three quarters into the race I was up and ready to rock on and get some laps under my belt and gain some more time on the other team. At this point we were leading by 28 minutes. The sun was shining, music was playing, we were winning what more could you want in a race. I stayed as focussed as possible and tried not to let lack of sleep take over me. That lap was completed in a reasonable time and we were still in the lead by quite a way.
The team were so encouraging I wanted to go out and do more laps, but I did have to wait my turn.
With an hour until 24hours of racing was complete, I was able to get in another lap and finish it for the team. Team mate Rickie was also winning and leading by 2 laps which was amazing! I caught her on the final part of the course so we decided to finish together. As we rode in to the arena everyone was lined up along the barriers cheering and clapping. I was so proud at that moment and pleased that we were in one piece and had two wins.
We collected medals at the finish line a rode back to the team tent and handed them out.
Out of the whole 24hours the team only had 2 mechanicals, which is very good going! We couldn’t have asked for better weather, dry and sunny by day chilly but clear sky at night!
Thank you to Weldtite for their support through out the whole weekend and also to the best team, WXC Mountain Bike Team UK for all their hard work and effort.
Bring on Mayhem 2011!!

Stolen Bikes

Fifteen bikes – worth approximately £40,000 – were stolen from the Margam park campsite between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

Team Mechanic Mike Jenner said: “Our team were unfortunate enough to lose two bikes. Both bikes were locked down and hidden away in the team area with two of the team sleeping no more than six foot from the bikes.”

“Can you all please keep an eye out for the following bikes:

“One was a Moda Encore Medium (17.5 inch) carbon hardtail. Had a Garmin fitted, full XT group, Magura Marta in Black, Magura Durin 100R in white, American Classic White wheelset with tubeless Kenda tyres, Blue Bike Pure headset spacer on top of the Barelli stem, and the name ’Cait Elliot’ with the Irish National flag on stickers on both side of the frame.

“The other was a Moda Canon Small (17 inch) carbon full suspension
Full XT group, Magura Marta in Red, Magura Durin 100R in White, American Classic White wheelset with Kenda tyres, Blue Bike Pure heasdset spacer and the name ’Carla Haines’ with the English National flag on stickers on both sides of the frame.”

50k Enduro - By Carla Haines

I was really excited for this event as I have always enjoyed competing in them. My mum dad and sister were also racing which I was pleased about.
I woke up at 7am again and packed my drink and equipment in my Osprey bag, which I was going to wear for the race. My calf was still a a little stiff but the previous night I freezed it, warmed it up and stretched.
I made my way over to the team tent and to find out that my team mates (Cait Elliot) and my bike had been stolen that night!! At first I thought they were having me on, but the look on everyones faces told me different. I didn’t know how react so I went back to my parents and just burst into tears. I was angry and upset. These thieves don’t know how much these bikes mean to us riders. I then found out that at least 8 other bikes had been stolen that night.
There was a whole different atmosphere around the arena which was fair on the organisers and competitors.
My mind felt so exhausted hearing the news.I was definitely not in race mode. 20 minutes before the race my coach and James from Weldtite the teams sponser found both me and Cait a bike to race on!!
I was really pleased and excited. It was a last minute rush to get ready but I managed to get a position very near the front. The gun went and so did all of us riders. I had a really good start and stayed up there for quite a bit. There was long steep rocky climb near the beginning which I knew I was good at so I passed a few people who decided to walk up it.
I was riding with two juniors at this point Nat Jarvis (Colnago Skins) and Bruce Dalton (Sherwood Pines). I was quite chuffed to be riding with them as they are pretty nippy riders. There was one female I was aiming to beat (Ruby Miller, Forza Race Team). I was quite near her around the course and at one point passed her on descent. She is a very good climber and passed me on the final long climb which took you right to the top of the mountains. There were a few really good descents were I could gain on her which I did. Unfortunately Jarvis had my problem on the first lap, his chain snapped to had to stop which was a shame.
When finishing my first lap of 25km I could see that Miller was only about 30 seconds to a minute in front of me, which pushed me on. Dalton had stopped to get a second bottle and by this point I was quite a way ahead. I stayed slightly back on the first climb but could see that she was tiring. Once at the top descending down I passed her again. After that there was no sign of her. On the climbs I stayed behind a male that was good so that I could gain a little bit of time.
Once reaching the summit of the last hill it was the point where I accelerated and I had about 20-30 minutes to go. It was the hardest part of the lap but had a huge adrenaline rush because I was in 3rd position. I didn’t want to get too overconfident so concentrated on my riding all the way to the finsh, going hard on my strengths and even harder on my weaknesses.
I got to the finish in one piece and was so pleased with my performance. I definitely made up for the previous days race, but that was now out of my mind.

My team mate Cait got 2nd! Two podiums in one weekend...oustanding!

BMBS rd 3 by Cait Elliot

Due to flight difficulties I arrived at Margam late Friday night, missing the practice day, so I intended to get up early and do a lap before the race at 10am. However, I woke up to heavy rain at 5am, which continued all day, so I decided it was better to stay dry, warming up on the turbo-trainer and racing the course blind. It probably didn’t matter too much since the trails changed so much from their dry, dusty condition the day before.
There was a strong field of international riders braving the cold and wet to line up at the start. I had a terrible start, my handlebars got tangled with another rider and I had to fight to stop myself being wrestled to the ground. Luckily I stayed upright and there was a fairly long open section before we hit a single-track climb, so I was able to make up lost time. By the top of the climb I’d managed to move up to 5th place, and since I had no idea what was coming up on the course, there was an extra incentive to stick to the wheel of the person in front.
Conditions were treacherous, it was raining, and the trails had turned to thick, slippery mud making it very difficult to have any kind of control over the bike. In between were several long fire road climbs, which suited me well. By the end of the first lap I was in 4th, following Lee Craigie and Lilly Mathews, and feeling strong. The conditions made the descents very slow and awkward, I had a few moments of sliding down steep banks on my behind, but at least there was time to recover before the next hard climb. On lap two, Lilly stopped with mechanical trouble so I got ahead into 3rd, gritting my teeth to try and take advantage and put some time into her.
It didn’t last too long though, by lap four she was on my tail, and got ahead as I got stuck behind a junior dabbing on a narrow kicker. I caught her again on a climb and it was a bit of a cat and mouse game for a lap. On the last lap someone shouted that I had a 12 second gap, but soon after the track looped back on itself and I saw her several minutes behind, having had a puncture. I’d been preparing myself to try and kill it on the last nasty climb so it was a bit of a relief got get such a lead. I couldn’t believe my luck, all I had to do was hold my position and I’d be on the podium. The mud was getting harder to deal with, there were a couple of steep banks where I decided sliding down off the bike in a damage limitation effort was the best approach, but other than that I quite enjoyed the trails.


At the bottom of the final descent I glanced back and saw British national champion Sue Clarke not far behind so had to put my head down and power across and windswept muddy field to get to the finish. I finished 3rd, first podium in a UCI race, so really delighted with that. Big thanks to WXC for all their support thankfully didn’t need to use the tech zone! I enjoyed riding my newly pimped bike – brand new forks and brakes from Magura were really nice.

Midlands xc series rd 2 – Jessie Roberts

Last weekend we decided that I should race the Midland XC rather than test ride the National champs course at the Southern XC as Carla Haines was competing there and would pass on all relevant information.
I did a quick practice lap of the course making it to the start line with minutes to spare. I didn’t have time to change my bottles before the start but luckily there was still enough for a lap.

Due to the weather being amazing I knew I would have to
make a serious effort to drink plenty as dehydration could happen very easily on a day like that.
The course was brilliant! Lots of steep descents, big big climbs, off camber single track, river crossing - lovely! I think it’s probably the best course I’ve ridden all year
I didn’t really have much of a race plan, having had 3 hard weeks of training after the last round of the National series at Wasing Estate; this race was the last session before my rest week! Sometimes it’s hard going into a race with really tired legs and knowing that you’re not going to perform but it’s all about the bigger picture…!
First lap I tried to stick with the pack for as long as possible, but as soon as we hit the big forest climb I was slowly dropped. However I got into my own rhythm and started mixing in with the other men that were racing at the same time.
The main climb was in direct sunlight so that made it even tougher; luckily there were some nice descents afterwards to recover on. 5 laps later I was finished and it was time to enjoy the sunshine. It was probably one of the hardest races I’ve done, but I loved it! Bring on next weekend at Margam where hopefully I will be fresh and my climbing legs will have returned!

Big thanks to the organisers of the event; hopefully XC racing will return to Mansell Lacy next year! Also thanks to WXC mtb team UK for their continued support.

Jessie gained a 3rd place podium position and valuable National points.

SOUTHERN XC SERIES ROUND 2-PIPPINGFORD, EAST SUSSEX

BY CARLA HAINES-ELITE FEMALE

After a long journey, we finally reached our destination: Pippingford, at 11pm. The tent was set up and off straight to bed.
I got up at a reasonable time to watch the other races and go round the course. I did one lap to see how dry it was and if I needed to change my tyres or not. I decided to change just my rear tyre to Kenda Small Block eight and keep my front on Nevegal. I then did another lap, slightly harder, to wear it in before the race. The course was great; a couple of technical tricky sections and some nice single track and climbs, so I was really looking forward to the race.
It was an extremely hot day so drinking lots was essential! I prepared my bottles and other requisites that I needed for the race then started my warm up. It was an uphill start so I chose a gear that I could accelerate with but not too much of a low cadence.
All the women started off together: Elite, Expert, Master and Sport. My start wasn’t very good at all to be honest and it took a while before I got it back in again. Due to the fact that it was an uphill start, it wasn’t the fastest so I didn’t lose too much time and within a few seconds I caught up with the pack.
The first lap I was chasing and I managed to get on the leaders wheel at the base of the long climb and rode up with her. After the feed station there was a good single track section which I’m quite strong on so I knew the right place to attack. As I did so I slowly pulled away and was out there on my own.
Now my main competitor was the heat, so I made sure I was drinking plenty to keep well hydrated. I picked up the pace a little bit, strangely trying to keep cool. I had one final lap to go and at this time it was quite a battle, but staying focussed and concentrating on my riding I was nearly at the finish.
The final climb was the hardest bit and very draining. As I got to the finish the crowd cheered and applauded which was really encouraging. I collapsed on the floor and poured a bottle of water over me. I was relieved to finish but I did enjoy the race very much!
It was a good experience riding in the hot conditions because I learnt how to cope and push hard even though it was difficult.
I was so pleased with winning; it’s given me a bit of a boost before the 3rd round of the BMBS at Margam next weekend. My team mate Rachel Fenton also got 3rd so a successful weekend from the team.

24hr MTB Solo Championships – Rickie Cotter




My first ever 24hr and for me this was one of the events I wanted to win the most, my motivation through training has been the thought of taking home this title so I was going to fight for this one even though I didn’t know what to expect from such a long event. When I saw the jersey in registration it gave me goose bumps, every lap I could see it and every lap I wanted it that bit more.
The course was relentless you know a course is tough when you start looking forward to the long fire road climbs as it s a bit of a break! But the views were amazing and where it was so hot it was bone dry a rarity for Scotland!
I started with an air of caution but kept in touch with the leader. The temperature was nearing 30c during the day so I planned on making my moves nearer the night I had confidence in my night skills and my lights are always reliable so had to play it cool for the first 12hrs ready to bust some moves in the moonlight.
Had a puncture at 10pm but it wasn’t a problem, I lost a couple of minutes and that was my slowest lap. Then I started to do some work and put in 4 swift laps to take the lead and then dawn arrived and I entered a whole new world of pain. From then on it was a case of getting your head down and just keep pedalling and it started to get hot again which becomes a chore because your fluid intake has to be high. Every lap I took on food and then swapped my raptor 6 which seemed to be so important because of the sun.
Then, finally it was time to stop pedalling and my feet were so grateful, time for a lie down in the shade and rest with a great big fat smile knowing that I had achieved what I set out to do and that was bring home the jersey.

Rickie has now qualified for the 24 hour mtb Solo World Championships in Australia !!


Watch Out Australia here she comes……

BMBS Round 2 Wasing Park

So the week leading to the national didn't exactly go to plan with me, yet again, coming down with another bug :(..... Just my luck. Despite this my legs still felt really good and I was looking forward to racing hard :) all I had to do was stay positive!

We travelled down saturday afternoon to ride the course that evening but still feeling ill I only manged one very slow lap and decided to wait till the following morning before riding parts of the course again. Even from riding the course slowly I could tell I was really going to enjoy myself, with the short sharp fire road climbs and technical sections playing in my favour.

Sunday morning arrived all too quickly for my liking but feeling much better and still positive about my performance, I headed out to practise a few bits of the course and check my bike was working smoothly. Following this, a warm up on the turbo called my name and then before I knew it I was on the start line next to my main rival Katy Winton waiting for the gun to go off.

I lead from Katy through the first sections off fire road before she jumped in front going into one of the technical sections. Here I started to loose contact with Katy's wheel and pile up of girls in one of the drop off sections caused chaos which katy took advantage off and managed to get round quicker than me, putting in a gap between us. I couldn't get back to her and the gap was getting bigger so I focused on limiting the damage.

At the end of the first lap I was in second and still pushing hard to keep the gap the down as much as possible. Hunting down riders one by one I finished my second lap, still feeling very strong to be told by dad that katy was floundering. This ignited something inside of me. I went on a charge, attacking everything, which in places sent me veering off course instead of the preferred course.

I crossed the line in second only 4 minutes down on Katy which is a big improvement of the 7 from the last round and taking into account my week before I was veryy pleased with how it went. The course was superb with a mixture of everything, suiting me down to a tee!

A thanks has to be made to my fans dad, rich, james tom an laura who seemed to be on every corner of the course cheering me on :) and of course the WXC team in the pits.

All that's left to say is.......Bring on round 3 :)

SMBS round 1 - Carla Haines

The first round of the Southern XC Series was finally here.
I was really looking forward to it.
The weather was sunny and warm which made the course quite dry; although in some places there were a few wet sections.
As this was going to be a venue for the British Mountain Bike Series Round 2, it was a great opportunity to race on the grounds.
I was a bit nervous for this race but tried not to let it get the better of me.
I had the race bottles ready in order and a few gels to take with me. I started my warm up at a reasonable time so that my legs were limbered up ready to race.
I took deep breaths on the start line and stayed focussed. The gun went off and we all shot off together. I had a good start, accelerating as much as possible. My legs didn’t feel 100% as I got round part of the course. I didn’t let this get to me and tried to concentrate on my riding.


After a while my mind started to wonder and slipped out of race mode. This was hard to tackle with and I really tried to get back into it but it was a bit too late.
By the time I got on to my last lap I was psychologically tired but made sure I finished the race. I was disappointed with my performance but I still managed to get 3rd and I was pleased that I finished the race.
I am looking forward to Round 2 at Pippingford Estate 23rd May.

Muc Off 8 - by Rickie Cotter

Muc off 8 hour enduro


Had a great start on the front of the line but the smoke granade was a bit sketchy and the Le Mans start was quite long so I struggled to keep up with the guys. With a good bike position in transition I managed to stay out of the carnage on the initial descent, which was lucky, as the first corner was a hard left into a big puddle of mud.
The course had a lot of climbing, suits me, and a timed descent .The mud became a problem after a couple of laps it was more efficient to carry the bike and run through it was brutal on the legs and it smelt like more than mud! There were a couple of sections like this and after a dry week and a warm day they still managed to find sum bogs;)
I had 2 nosebleeds, which were inconvenient but not too much bother. Got through 5 litres of fluid, as it was really warm. Managed to do 8 laps, started to get really frustrated with the mud and smelling like poo, had a sprint finish with a bloke I won and he had a head start so that was satisfying.
I did win the race but I felt that I rode badly because I lost concentration a few times and wasn’t consistent in my laps and wasn’t smooth my timing was poor but it won't happen again because now I'm annoyed even though I finished on top.

So the racing season begins...by Jessie Roberts

Photo taken at BMBS round 1

The past month has been a very busy start to my race season. Having finally decided to make the move up to elite, I thought it was about time I actually started training properly. So instead of just riding my bike when/where I wanted I’ve been following a structured training programme constructed by my coach. My first year in elite is all about getting as much racing experience as possible and getting stuck into racing. There is no pressure on me to perform.
Having completed my first elite race I went into the university championships quietly confident. After two years of disappointing races at BUCS I was desperate to perform. After two nights of sleeping in a freezing cold tent in Scotland I was ready to race and get out of Scotland as quick as possible! I had done two laps of the course previous to my race with all my Uni friends. I am pretty lucky that I have a good group of talented mountain bikers to train with at University and they’re willing to help me when I get stuck on a hard technical section! The course consisted of a fast grassy start followed by some swooping single track, a big fire road climb and then some fun single track sections.
After studying the start list I knew that if I wanted to do well I would have to give it full gas from the start and keep going as hard as I could for as long as I could. I managed to get a good lead on the first lap and steadily increased my lead over the three laps. WXC swept the board with the podium with Meg and Carla in 2nd and 3rd.
The 28th of March was a day that I had been having nightmares about for weeks. It was my first national elite race. Unfortunately after spending several days with students I caught a gland infection and when I went to race I didn’t have any energy in my legs so I had to pull out after only completing one lap.
Feeling disappointed and lacking in confidence I returned home to Yorkshire for my Easter break. I had several days off the bike recovering and then I made a few trips to Dalby to ride the world cup course. The second time I took a friend to help me with some of the sections I was struggling with.
Easter Sunday was the opening round of the nutcracker north east mtb series. I am very happy that mountain bike racing has returned to my home county of Yorkshire. This first round happened to only be 10 miles from my house so, I pre-rode the course on the Saturday. The course would have been really fast had it not been for all the rain we’ve had recently, so instead it was very muddy and a bit of a slog. Despite knowing that that type of course doesn’t really suit me I got stuck in and gave it my all. Kate Potter and my team mate Cait Elliot were also riding. Kate went flying off from the start and I tried to stay with her as long as possible (that wasn’t for very long at all) Cait did a much better job at keeping up with Kate and had a very good ride. I rode most of the race on my own but was pleased with the fact that I actually finished the race which was a big improvement on the weekend before. Cait is looking very strong for the world cup in Dalby, plus she loves the technical stuff so I think she will be flying! It was nice to have my family there to support me; I think my brother liked laughing at me covered in mud. He likes the mud and rain so was in his element. In the Juvenile race Gretel was also racing. She had a very good race by the looks of it, so it was a successful weekend for WXC mountain bike team UK.

I’d like to say a major thanks to the guys from Nutcracker mtb series for putting on such a great event and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. I’d also like to say thanks to my team WXC and all our sponsors.

BUCS CHAMPIONSHIPS, by Carla Haines

BUCS XC MTB CHAMPIONSHIPS REPORT

Ae Forest, Scotland

It was a very long trip up to Scotland from Devon but it was worth it in the long run.The downhillers championship race was on Saturday and the cross country championship race was on Sunday.

When I pre rode the course I did at least 3 laps, I expected it to be very technical and hilly, but in fact in wasn’t as hard as I thought. There was a mixture of single track, fire track climb and a twisty descent.

After my ride I supported the other Plymouth Uni Students in the downhill race. It was a really good experience watching them and how the littlest mistakes could cost a lot of time.

The Saturday night was very noisy as some of the Uni’s were celebrating there success in the downhill event.

My race was at 1pm on Sunday, which was a good time to prepare myself and get everything ready. I was quite confident that Id do well, but I didn’t want to be overconfident as this would have affected my performance psychologically.

I had a good start; was positioned in the top 5 for the first sprint before everyone spaced out. We had 3 laps to do; racing as a junior last year in the national series with 3 laps, I knew how to pace myself. After lap 1 I was positioned 4th. I kept a good distance between myself and 3^rd and new which point I would pass her without tiring to early. On lap two, she crashed quite badly in front of me which in the end cost her the whole race. At this point in a way I was relieved but also thinking she may have got back on her bike and carried on, so I kept focussed and rode strong. By the end of lap 2 I took in a gel so that It would kick in by the time I was on lap 3.

My final lap I rode as hard as I could to close the gap between myself and 3^rd . I sprinted down the firetrack which was the last part of the course before the finish.

I was really pleased with my performance and it was a good, quick race the week before my first national as an Elite rider!

2^nd place was Meggie Bichard and 1^st Place was Jessie Roberts, both of which are my team mates, so from that point of view the team, Plymouth Uni and myself had a very successful weekend.

The other Plymouth Uni Students were very encouraging throughout the whole race and supported me in every way possible.

The weekend as a whole was most enjoyable and successful aswell; I would very much like to compete again next year and hopefully get another podium position.

BMBS round 1, report by Rickie Cotter

British Mountain Bike Series round 1
Sherwood pines, Nottingham UK

It was back up to Sherwood Pines for the first round of the series. As the enduro was cancelled I swapped events and thought I'd have a go at xc.

I noticed xc etiquette is quite different! Although I take my riding seriously I felt some people took it to the negative extreme - I'll let my riding do the talking and leave the masochism else where.

After excepting the eliteness of all it was time to get down to business, I was slightly disappointed in BC's decision to enter me in the sport category as I felt it was unfair on others in the category because I have done race's before and I found it extremely frustrating starting on the grid last.

At the last minute, on the line, I manged to progress to the front where I intended to try and hold my position into the singletrack. And I did.

From there I picked off riders that were in front and made it my aim to catch the expert women just to prove a point.

The course was a lot better than I expected and there were a few fun bits, I did have to get off at one point because there was a pile up were someone had fallen at the bottom of a dip and then some more people had landed on them, tried hard not to laugh!

I didn`t find the course too demanding and the pace was fine, I won the sport category but most importantly I learnt that I love riding and will never behave towards other cyclists the way some people behaved towards others at this event.

Gran Canaria Open Marathon 2010

As we rolled out of the ceremonial start I was feeling rather apprehensive about this marathon race. I’ve only done one Merida (and not the full distance at that) and a 100km in Thetford – not really the same as an 89km hilly race in 30^o heat. Still I had everything I needed to survive (thanks Chris!) and a race plan that should be foolproof – pacing! (thanks Jenny C).

The real start was a lot more hectic. I’d started pretty far forwards and thought since we were going up the road for at least the first few km I’d try and stay in a bunch near the front. I saw my HR shoot skywards immediately however and knew that the front group were gone including Chris, local Brit James Ouchterlony and the top girls. I found myself in the tail-end of the second group. I was able to draft these guys for a while but found that as soon as the road hit steeper switchbacks the pace was too high. I dropped off the back with a couple of others and found my own speed.

Hitting the dirt roads on the other side of an amazing stone paved bridge I started to move forwards in the pack – this is a good sign I thought. This climb seemed to go quite quickly and before long I found myself on a very fun dirt road descent. Compared to those around me I found I was much more confident at riding these roads at speed, floating over the occasional rocky patches and generally keeping a very good pace. My Moda carbon frame and reba forks soaked up the biggest of the bumps whilst also being stiff enough for me to get some good acceleration over the odd short climb.

I grabbed a bottle of water and downed a cup of coke at the next feed and got stuck into the next climb. This was more undulating than the last and the ups were steeper. Having rehydrated somewhat I found that I was again passing lots of people who had zipped away from me at the start. I had already seen the front men on an earlier section where the route crossed itself, but had not seen any of the women. I wondered whether I might be able to just sneak into the prizes. It turns out this might not have been a good thought!

On the descent back into Maspalomas for the first time (we were doing two loops because of earlier weather destroying some of the ‘extreme’ route). I passed one of the girls who had looked very ‘pro’ at the start. She had punctured on the descent and was pumping away at a new tube. Knowing there was still a long way to go I didn’t get too excited at this point, but did put my head down to make sure that I did not waste the advantage that the 40psi in my tyres and smooth riding (thanks Chris for the instruction in this) over the bigger stones gave me.

Hitting the road climb for the second time I was not feeling so good however. My right leg intimated it might cramp and I realised I had been drinking lots of water but had hardly touched the Torq energy drink in my camelbak. I guzzled as much of this as I could manage and like magic the cramp never set in properly. Hitting the dirt track again the unfortunate lass with the puncture passed me. I tried to jump on her wheel but she was clearly able to go too fast for my tiring legs so I told myself not to be silly and got back into my rhythm.

By the time I had done all of the climb-descend, climb-descend bits on this lap I was getting a bit bored. I had no one around me and had been riding for around 3 and a half hours. As I came down one of the rocky sections I saw that the same girl I had passed earlier with a puncture was fixing her wheel again. Reinspired I pushed hard again and it took her a very long time to get back to me this time in fact until just before the final descent. I felt pretty good about my descending by this point and decided to push her as much as I could – bad plan! On a right hand corner I lost traction with my front wheel and came down hard. I didn’t slide too far thankfully but my foot did not unclip and got twisted under the bike as I landed – ouch. I got up tested my weight on it and although painful I was still able to walk so I hopped back on the bike determined as ever. Cycling on it was actually ok until I hit left hand bends. Where I would normally put down my left leg and use the weight to turn myself I was unable to because of the pain in my left ankle. This meant I became the master of braking well before such turns so I could gingerly get the bike round with my right leg down – not ideal.

The worst section however was the river bed crossings. I could no longer get enough speed up to push through them so had to get off the bike and limp, very slowly across. I must have looked a sight, grimacing in pain but refusing to stop. By this point though I was so close to the finish there was no way I was stopping. When I finally saw the overpass which indicated I was on the edge of Maspalomas I was elated. A little prematurely it turned out as the final section into the Parc turned out to be a wasteland scatted with blocks of concrete which required hopping onto and sandy sections – I would normally be fine with this but just could not push hard enough to get though it.

When I finally crossed the finish line to see Chris grinning at me I was done. I told him I needed ice for my ankle and his face was a picture (I have had a number of accidents due to my competitive nature when MTBing in the past). So he and a lovely girl from the organising committee helped me hobble to the medics. Despite my protestations, lack of any money or any form of ID they insisted I go to hospital for a check up. Chris was left to find a taxi for himself and the bikes and I was panicking because I had the apartment key. It turns out Canarian hospitals are more efficient than their taxi firms however and I was able to beat him back and finally collapse on the sofa.

So what have I learned from all this. I needn’t have been worried about the distance, coach Jenny has prepared me well. I probably would have done quite well (5^th place), but that I should not go crazy trying to compete with people and ride beyond the limit after 70km in the mountains.

Thanks to Trevor and Keith and the WXC Mountain Bike team, to Moda Bikes, American Classic wheels and USE components. Also thanks to Goodridge cables, Torq nutrition and Daisy Amelia clothing.