I came into the 2nd round reasonably confident that my riding was up to scratch after a surprising 7th place in masters after Rd 1, but after arriving on the Friday afternoon and hooking up with a fellow rider and friend Pete Lloyd and checking out Stages 2,3,4 and 1, I soon realised Rd 2 would put my fitness and stamina to the test, with every stage throwing something different at us, from natural stages with their fair mix of mud, rocks and roots, to fast flowing trail centre descents, with lovely doubles and tabletop jumps, that's if you still had the energy after a 6 min stage?!.
After a fairly long and very testing afternoons' riding on the Friday, it left Saturday free to chill out a little, check out stage 5 which would be our seeding stage for the Saturday afternoon and final stage for race day on Sunday. Seeding soon came around and it was time to start racing which always seems to make me more nervous than the actual race itself, and just as the nerves got worse it was time to line up.
The seeding run itself went ok, even though I did manage to get a chunk of mud in my eye on the first corner, but after a quick wipe it was down the fast motorway section and into the trail centre jump section, which I was lucky enough not to crash on after a foot came out of the pedals mid air much to amusement of the photographer. Then into a wooded section, and out onto the long bottom section of the final red descent, which is always good fun with its double and tabletop jumps, along with some great cheering spectators. After just over 6mins of sprinting seeding was over and I was sat in 25th place. Happy with the seeding, but still wising I was a bit further up, we packed up and went for some well earned food and beer at the Steak house in Glentress.
Race day turned out to be a bit of a battle for myself and fellow racers alike, with stage 1 going pretty well even with a close brush with a tree midway through the wooded stage. Stage 2 turned out to be a nightmare even though I was confident that a steady pace would get me through this stage, but how wrong I was, as the stage was completely different from Friday's practice, and after hearing fellow racer Jonathan Adam-Martin from team Trailhead close behind me I tried to up the pace which ended up with a over-the-bars a meter from the finish line, and like most racers I hate being caught, so after a small hissy fit with my bike I composed myself , straightened my seat and popped my brake lever back to a working position and headed to Stage 3.
Stage 3 was a real slog, and again I was passed by Jon, but managed to pass two riders as well, so it kind of equaled things out a little. Stage 4 had to be the highlight of the whole race, with a freshly cut natural section at the top, which I was lucky enough to find a straightline through the muddy turns, and then onto the trail centre section where, even though again I was caught by Jon we traded places throughout, with cheeky passing moves past Jon on the black rock trials section. Then it was into some of the most technical, steep descent I have ridden in ages, with the mixture of mud, rocks and roots proving to be a fun challenge, and after overtaking around 8 riders on the whole section I crossed the finish to stage 4 right on Jon's back wheel.
After a long slog up what seemed the longest fire road in the world, I was sitting on the start line to Stage 5.
Putting all my mistakes behind me from previous stages I fired out of the start gate, and down the first part of the stage, making sure I stayed attached to the bike at all time over the jumps. After a little slide entering the lower wooded section, I was soon into the final bottom section, and with my legs and lungs on fire, I hit the jump section and final turns, before skidding into the arena and into 24th Place overall in Masters.
Even though I would of liked to have ranked a little higher up the leader board, I was happy with my result and happy that both myself and my Whyte 146 XI survived this grueling round.
The kit used for Rd2 of the UKGE included Intrepid Apparel Campaign Short and Classic Race Jersey Schwalbe Super Gravity Tyres, Osprey Zealot 16 Pack, Fibrax Sealed Cable kit, and Torq Rhubarb and Custard Gels.
Thanks to all my sponsors Intrepid Apparel, Osprey Packs, Schwalbe Tyres, Fibrax Ltd, Whyte Bikes, Ergon Grips, Torq Fitness and Invisiframe.
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