Well lads
Just thought I'd do a little write up for the benefit of those not on facebook.
So arrived in Scotland on Tuesday Night/Wednesday Morning aiming to be ready for practice on Wednesday. We arrived in Innerlethan at 1.30am to a closed hotel and we had resort to sleeping in my tiny little van. Not an ideal start but anyway we eventually got in to the hotel later in the morning and got a few hours kip in before setting out to practice stages 1-4. stage 1+2 were using the Innerlethan DH trails where-as 3+4 used some natural stuff over near the golfcourse.
On Thursday we practiced Stages 4-8 which were in Glentress and were more trail center type trails with the odd techy section thrown in. Lots of fun!
Friday was a rest day but I used it to go back to Stages 1+2 again to ride them in the wet as the weather had changed from Wednesday.
Saturday I started at 9.35 in Peebles and we had to cycle to Innerlethan on the greenway which was included in our transition time. The transitions were very relaxed and there was plenty if not too much time allocated for them. Ended up being over a half hour early for most of them. I had the usual Stage 1 hiccups and made a few silly mistakes but still managed to get it pretty clean with no incidents. Stage 2 was my favorite of the day as it was balls to the wall pinned for most of it and it was going perfectly until I got a flat near the end and tried to ride it out. I had no traction in the rear for the last corner and lost control and went trough the tape. Managed to skimp over the line in the end. I was in a bit of a panic then to try and get it repaired but managed to get to the tech zone and got a tube in it. I was watching the clock and pelted off up to stage 3 thinking I was going to be tight for time. Ended up that I was 10 mins early when I got there but at this stage I was wound up and thought I could make up the lost puncture time on the stage. Didn't work like that! This stage was tight and techy and there was no room for error. I went in too aggressively and fast and ended up on the deck a few times. Had to have a little chat with myself on the way to 4 and remind myself to enjoy it and stay relaxed. That worked, and ended up having my best stage of the day and finished on a bit of a high. I was 177th at the end of day one.
Sunday saw the race day being cut from 4 stages to 2 because of adverse weather. The stages that were run were stage 5 and an extended stage 8 which was already 5km long. The transitions were relaxed again and there was a shorter greenway between Peebles and Glentress. Stage 5 was a sloppy monster that had bore no resemblance to the stage I practiced on Thursday. It had turned to s**te with all the rain from the night before. I tried to keep it as clean as possible but there was little or no traction in the corners and I just used the ruts to guide me around. The middle of the stage had this tacky mud/clay that stuck in the front wheel which locked and sent me over the bars. I managed to clear the wheel a bit and forced the bike to the end of the stage. Stage 6/8 was the longest of the weekend. Think it was working out at a 12 min stage for the fast guys. This stage suited me as there was a lot of pedaling and a few steep climbs. I kept it very smooth and felt really good and caught 3 other riders. I clipped a tree near the end though but didn't lose too much time and finished it happy enough with how it went.
At the end of the second day I had jumped up 10 spots to 167th just behind fellow Irish man Jamie Whelan. So it was a mixed weekend but I defiantly learned an awful lot and now know what parts of my riding I need to concentrate on. I wasn't too happy with the result to be honest, but that's racing I suppose and you just have to keep pushing on regardless of what happens.
I want to thank everyone in the club for their support especially Ian and Mark for making getting over there a lot easier. I was very proud to be wearing my club colors abroad and can't wait to do the same for France in July!
Cheers lads!
