A win at the Midlands XC at Sherwood Pines had increased my self belief no end (I was ungridded, had tired legs, crashed and still got across to the front 3 riders and wore them down enough to break away on the final 3rd of the last lap and win by just 8 seconds !. A win is win and it was my first of the year at that level
.So after a horrible drive down to Plymouth Friday night and a less than great nights sleep, Rachel and I arrived at Newnham Park, a venue I have never visited before but steeped in MTB legend. Talk of big climbs, river crossings and the dreaded Pipeline technical section had me more nervous than usual.
A warm up lap showed me that the course really suited me, straight out of the arena into a climb of couple of minutes across a grass field, fast singletrack section, twisty bit through the trees into a two way drop off (left was a little dangerous but fast. Right was a steep drop into soft loamy soil but direct) I chose left !. This spat you out onto a section of fireroad through a river crossing and straight up into a monster climb. Think shingle and a gradient of about 15-20% it was so loose. Some more swoopy bits at the top of the hill led to a fast flowing downhill section. Back into another loose climb, this time soil and roots. The dreaded Pipeline descent was next which is just a rutted carved up hillside into a right hand bend (picture brakes locked but no control of speed whatsoever, it was a case of controlled skidding). The bottom of the descent had hay bales around it and they needed it ! (I think that is were Liam Kileen crashed out
). A quick blast down by the end of the river and across it some 1km down and finally a grassy drag back into the arena. About 8km I think. This course made me smile more than any other this year it really is one of the best .The warm up on the turbo showed that I was firing on all cylinders and I wanted this to go my way. I was psyched up and ready to go
.Bang goes the gun and although gridded and I am soon pushed into about 15th position, but with a climb straight away I just rode threshold and did not go into the red.
Some of the others guys thought different, as they shot to the front and blasted away from the usual winner Martin Delves (he has won every race this year). I thought that wont last....
... It didnt
By the top of the first hill I was over taking hoards of other riders. I guess they thought "last race of the season, death or glory" 
.Up into 7th I beasted some of the riders around me to push and keep the front guys in sight. A few climbs later and it was hurting already but 3rd place was in sight. Myself and the 5th placed rider were swapping places with me leading the climbs and him rattling down the descents. I had to shake this guy off but sort of needed his help to reel in the unknown 3rd place rider. By lap 2 I attacked on the climb out of the arena and that was enough to get a good gap, up behind 3rd place and I sat on his wheel. Out of every corner he would jump up and sprint but it was weak, as his first 2 laps had taken their toll and after I asked him "how you feeling, can we catch 2nd" he made no reply so I went round him and chased hard to catch Luke Eggar in 2nd.
The 3rd lap was spent on my own but by now I was amongst the Expert riders, some of them would try to defend their position or make a race with me where there was none. This becomes a bit annoying when you are desperate to catch someone up ahead. It took my concentration away from the task in hand. A little unintentional airborne moment shocked me into getting my race face back ON
. At the end of the 3rd lap and up ahead some 40 metres I could see Luke Eggar, his head down as he started up the climb out of the arena. A quick blast in the big ring and up onto the climb, as I turned the corner he looked at me and got out the saddle to accelerate but it was long grass on the hill and it really sapped your power. I stayed seated and 2/3rds up the hill I was on his wheel "Hello Luke" I said. He was literally crawling up the hill in the granny ring by this point. "Have you blown" , he didnt answer " are you ok" no answer. As I came round him I looked at him and I have never seen someone so shot to bits. He was suffering for going super hard for 3 laps and now the 4th lap (which sport riders rarely do) had finished him off, hung over the bars actually ruined. I shouted to keep pushing as 4th and 5th were chasing hard. On the the final lap and with glimpses of Martin through the trees I pushed hard to close the gap but it was futile. In the end I just did not want to get caught and passed by the Elites . My last lap was the fastest of the sport catergory, its a balance between pushing hard in terms of pain but without overcooking it on the technical sections in the rush to claw back a few seconds. The End was in sight and to many peoples' delight I sprinted for the line and almost collapsed when I was done. I was so knackered I couldnt even style it out on the line for my best result of the season 
.But hey ho, job done. I was pleased, Rachel was pleased, my coach was pleased and lots of people I didnt know were cheering me on which was great as they knew my name (I think they just want someone/anyone to beat Martin !)
The icing on the cake came a few hours later when they annouced the series standings. Before the race I had no chance of getting in the top 3 without the one of the two ahead of me getting a DNF. As it happened Luke had stopped on his final lap and sat down for a short while. This meant he fell into 12th place. My 2nd had put us equal on 201 points a piece but as I got the best result on the last round I went ahead to get 3rd in the BMBS XC Sport catergory.
So 2nd in the Southern XC series, 2nd in the Gorrick series, 1st in the Beastway series; 3rd in the BMBS (NPS) XC series, 3rd at National Champs, 2nd in the Southern Area Champs, and 3rd in the National standings for Sport. Job done, hard work but roll on next year. Expert catergory.
Finally I was approached by a team and asked if I would ride for them at enduros and XC. I didnt turn them down but Sylv and I have got big plans to tear up the XC next season...
I have an Elite licence to get.
