Midlands XC round 4 - final

We hadn't originally planned to race the final round of the Midlands XC this year since it was at a venue neither Chris nor I are particularly fond of - Sherwood Pines. There are just not enough hills here so the races tend to end being more like road races with those who get into the front pack the most liekly to win. When the series standings after round three came out however, it became clear that I was in for the series title in the expert category and Chris had a chance in the expert men's series so we thought we would come along and give it a go. Nadine Spearing and James Hampshire have again put on a good set of races this year. They have been technical and challenging. That said, the women's categories have been a little disappointing on the attendance front and it would be really great to see more girls racing this series next year. It is after all pretty accessible both from the north and the south.

Anyway another reason for us going to race at Sherwood is that we can stay at Chris's parents in Nottingham. So the morning of the race we only had a 45 minute trip up the road to get to the venue. After signing on we went to take a look around the course. It was actually pretty good for a Sherwood course with the usual twisty singletrack as well as a few ups and downs and a good little steep and loose descent. The only really bad bit was a wide track which because of the recent dry weather had become a sand pit and since I generally lack raw power was a really slog.

I was pleased to bump into Ruth Owen-Evans (Yeti/Chris King) when heading back to the car to sort out my drinks since this meant there was another person in my race. As well as Ruth, Jenn O'Connor (Altura Patterson Training) was lining up in the Elite category and Hollie Bettles (XCRacer.com) who I seem to end up riding with at Midlands races in the youth category. At the start we were disappointed to see we were going to be set off behind the Open Male category which meant a few hold-ups in the singletrack. But despite this spirits were high and the 18 or so girls all set off together. At the start I made a real hash up and ended up cutting in front of Ruth (sorry!) but then having got going I was shoulder barged by Danielle Rider. She did apologise but I lsot my rhythm rather. Jenn unsurprisingly took the lead comfortably with Danielle and Hollie following and me behind.



On the podium for the overall complete with tasteful green glass plate
By the time we hit the back of the open men I was with Hollie again and we were working our way towards Danielle. Then disaster, on the sand-pit section I was taken out by one of the male riders and took ages to get up to speed again because of the terrain. For the rest of the race I was chasing down the other girls. I passed Danielle on a corner at some point in the first couple of laps and could see Jenn riding with Hollie on her wheel just ahead of me in the singletrack. She had a lot more power than me on the wider tracks, but it was pretty pleasing to be able to see her going about the same speed through the trees. It was good to have a bit of a carrot even if she did eventually disappear. In the end I finished about four minutes behind Jenn after four laps, winning the expert race and the series. She took the Elite race and series, and Hollie and Danielle the same in the youth and junior races.

Chris seemed to be having a good time in the pits chatting to Paul from SIP events and Trevor Allen from Bath University and whilst I waited for my podiums and chatted to his parents they went out onto the course for a warm-up lap. At 2.30 the boys were off. There were six guys in Chris's Expert race and about the same number in the Elite race, so not a massive field but there were a good number of sport riders. Chris as usual did not have the best start and I had a nervous wait to see whether he would make any places up early on. After less than twenty minutes the lead elites came through in a group and a few minutes behind them the lead expert. As usual Giles Drake had ridden a storming lap and was off the front by some margin. Chris came in a couple of minutes behind him but was looking pretty good and took another bottle - something most riders weren't bothering with. He was less than 10 seconds behind James Hampshire. They have been battling it out a bit this year so this was definitely a good sign!



Status normal for Midlands XC Expert Men - James and Chris off the back!


Over the next four laps the situation did not change much, but as usual Chris was getting closer and closer to James through the singletrack. Unfortunately on the 4th lap his saddle rail snapped and fearing a saddle spearing Chris decided to stop and not take the risk. When I spoke to James at the end he said he had been looking forward to a last lap battle so it was a shame. As Chris was having a massage, Nadine informed me that he had managed to scrape third in the series. So, despite the disappointment of not being able to finish the race there was something to be pleased about. The winners of the men's races were Rob Friel (Raleigh Avanti) Elite, Giles Drake (MSC bikes) Expert and Serge Hunt (Petracycles) in the sport race.



Some consolation for a broken rail :).

Thanks to Nadine and James for organising the series. Hopefully it will continue to be a fixture for years to come.