Great Yorkshire Enduro

At this point I should insert the typical 'I was fatigued from the previous day, blah, blah, blah', but seeing as I was substituted in the team relay for elite cat. rider Christian Aucote (Moda Bikes), Phil and Niall were having none of it. Stood alongside us on the front row was a pretty intimidating line up of riders including Ryan Sherlock (Cycleways/ZipVit/KCNC), Lee Williams (Wiggle), Matt Dennis (Swinnerton Cycles) and Stephen James (Moda Bikes). It may have been called a non-competitive event, but the sprint to the singletrack was still pretty fierce!

Off round the World Cup course at break neck speed, up and over 'Martin's Mound' and skittering down 'Worry Gill' before straight lining it past the 'Bus Stop' (or Ambulance Stop as it should now be known...) and out onto some new trails, Phil and Niall's talk of cruising round was a blatant lie as they shouted hello to me from halfway up the switchbacking singletrack climb while I chased after them along the valley floor!

Having come a cropper on some Dalby boardwalk earlier in the spring I'm glad we were treated to another hot and sunny day, because the stuff is lethal if there's any hint of moisture in the air! The long section of it that took you down towards the ace Dargate slack descent was good fun, but annoyed me the same as distressed denim does - why falsify something to make it look worn and faded (i.e. wonky and rickety) when it's obviously new? Backwards engineering?     

After the first lap fun and games, things got pretty quiet out on the course, so it was good fun yo-yo-ing for position with Anthony Morris (Evans Cycles) for the next two laps. His "Have you got a motor in that thing like Cancellara!?" comment had me chuckling. Gotta love the inertia of the big wheels - power to your pedals!

With team soigneur Donna absent for the weekend, we were without help in the feed zone, but my pause to grab a bottle on the 3rd lap didn't take too long as my lap times were all within 45 seconds. Now that is pacing like the diesel engine that I am! And talking of laps, it may not be the same challenge as a single loop marathon, but it was still long enough to reach some proper Yorkshire trails, while short enough that you could stick to waterbottles and ride light. 4 laps also allowed you to learn your lines first time down the rocky descents, off the brakes second time round and full gas third time. Still never cleared the rocky climb up Tom Milners Grain without dabbing at the same spot every lap mind you!

All credit to Lee Williams (Wiggle) who absolutely blazed round to take the win. Stephen James (Moda Bikes) took second, James Lister (Torq Performance) 3rd, Niall 4th and me 7th. Phil has already called shotgun to be on the subs bench for the team relay at Newnham, so that's my name on the start sheet. Maybe I'll do the night time 'cross as well and go for the clean sweep of 4 events in one weekend!

Thanks to Xcracer.com, Gary Fisher, Exposure and Accelerade for their support this year, Pedal Power for prepping my Superfly and Joolze for the pic.

 

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