Hmmm... Not fast but to finish first, first you must finish!!
This last Sunday I return to racing after a short lay off, basically due to fatigue and having a young family! The venue of the return would be the Welsh MTB Champs at the legendary Coed Y Brenin.
After a long drive up, being constantly reminded how beautiful Wales is, I arrived at CYB and was greeted by a very Welsh view of dark forests, grey skies and some wet stuff falling (god I love this sport) but it was raceday so off I went to check out the course.
The course was very old school, with a monster climb and technical descent which featured many rocks, roots and rock gardens! Also we had three 'A' lines even though one had a quicker (by a lot) B line but overall it was a great course, if a little long at almost 20 mins a lap!
So with this in mind the 4 laps seemed like a good idea as I lined up in the masters race, (oh the joys of being older!) against some strong riders like Grant Levy.
Now, I would love to say it was a close battle but two things worked against me; a lack of fitness and time of the MTB, so it was a lonely race hanging onto 3rd place until the end, which meant a trip to the podium, a medal and prize money!!
This report pretty much sums up my race; start and finish at a solid pace and ride my tempo until the end with not a lot going on around, except for enjoying the challenge of big climbs and muddy descents when at your limit, but moving on its Builth Wells up next for the BCXC Series and a similar course. I know this one so fingers crossed for a more exciting race, and some fun with my new KTM Scarp.
I will let you all know how it's goes next weekend.
Keep it muddy!
Corby
Full results from Round 3 (also the Welsh Championship) can be found here - Results
