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.