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.