Beastway 19/7

[Wal]

What a race!

I must have been spending too much time on the road lately, as my bike-handling skills were rusty, to say the least. While Beastway isn't super-technical it does punish you for mistakes, and each overcooked cornering manoeuvre had me busting my lungs to accelerate back up to the guy I was chasing and avoid being overtaken by the rider behind, who had taken a better line.

Overtaking is very, very difficult and if you do go for a pass, you'd better be sure you can make it stick. Twice I came unstuck while attempting to pass and I'm still nursing the scars. An over-the-bars excursion into the bramble left me looking like I'd been in a fight with the family cat, and an argument with a protruding branch left an impressive battlescar across my chest, not to mention a destroyed race jersey.

All in all though, a great event and there were smiles all round at the finish. It's such a pity this superb venue will soon be lost forever.

[Kevin Rynne]

I know what its like, struggled for a few races, mainly due to not being able to keep up with others through the slight technical stuff, and having to chase hard only to be overtaken by the same riders on the corners again, then lost my nerve after chashing!