XC Racer Blog Post

Dalby BMBS 4

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BY: Niall Frost

Published: 7th July, 2010




5 weeks ago I was down and out, shell shocked by my complete lack of form and feeling rough as a dog.  That may in fact be rather insulting to a dog.

For the second year in a row I'd made a beginners mistake and raced on top of race on top of hard training.  Then came the period of rest (sleep and coffee, not a match made in heaven, but worked for me) with some holidaying thrown in for good measure.  I had been looking forward to the Dalby weekend for this whole time off and the awesome World Cup had added to the overall cachet of racing the purpose built course.  I'd even been for a cheeky practise or two in the weeks leading up.

Living so close I made it across on Friday evening and had time for a quick blast round the course with team-mates James and Phil.  Lines were discussed, hills cursed and several attempts were made at the climb out of worry gill.  General opinion was that running was the quicker option.  It wasn't that I couldn't ride it, oh no......

Come Saturday and I took another view round the course with an old team-mate, Mike Wragg.  Mike's a part time mtb'er and serious road racer so this was jumping into the deep end.  Despite him talking down his chances the only part of the track that foiled him was Worry Gill.  Itself a lesson in mind over matter if you have the time to convince yourself!  It was great to see the course dry from the Friday dampness and the grip levels had cranked up a notch, proving perfect racing conditions.

After general bike faffing and trying on our new 29er Crew kit it was all go for the 12.30 start of the expert race.  Nerves abound until the whistle went and all plans for a good start went out the window, I found myself boxed into the singletrack and it was a case of maintaining position until any opportunity arose to make my way forwards.

I managed to sneak past Douglas Shearer after Medusa's and then up on Simon Allard to the top of Jingleby Summit.  I was feeling really good about the pace and was trying to keep it steady while keeping a few of the leaders in sight.  Lap two started badly as I lost a full bottle straight off the bat, not what I needed!  I was still feeling pretty comfy and was always trying to hold myself back, worried that my lack of racing would show later on.  The singletrack was great fun and Medusa's is just a great little section to let the bike run off as the good lines seem to scoop you out onto the fireroad.  Such a pity (for me) it's followed by a large climb.  An unfortunate burst of sealant signalled a puncture on the drop from jinbleby and I lost a fair bit of pressure out of the rear tyre.  Fortunately both tyre and sealant binding to keep about 15psi in and saving me a costly stop.

Grabbing my 3rd bottle and beginning my 3rd lap I was gasping, slugging most of it down probably wasn't my greatest idea but I was slightly beyond rational thought by this time.  I had started that period of a race that everyone dreads, the part where you start going backwards!  For some reason despite my best attempts at "pacing" my performance was dropping off and I was making some silly errors on basic corners.  Some might say too much recent crit racing had dulled my bike handling.  Worst of all every time my co2 canisters jingled in my pocket I thought another rider was coming for the overtake.

I kept plugging away though and enjoyed (in my opinion) the best section of the course, the gulley after worry gill.  I've never taken so many different lines down one section, and it was a battle of nerve to get out the other end without touching the brakes.  Possible, if not an entirely predictable outcome each time and great fun to have the bike moving about at high speed.

4th and 5th laps and I was really blowing up the climbs and was set to get to the finish, a 9th place was an improvement on Margam's placing and I was feeling healthy again.  Initial feelings of disappointment were replaced by happiness that I'd ultimately returned what I'd recently put into training and felt healthy with it.  A good place to begin the rest of the season with so many important events coming up.

Team-mate James put in a good performance to grab 18th in the experts, although he was probably hampered by squeezing himself into the smallest tent ever seen. 

In comparison, Phil with the largest, most decadent 4 person tent all to himself stormed to victory in the afternoon in the Masters.  Fresh from victory in the Welsh Champs he was resplendent in the national jersey and it must have been the power of national pride that helped him to another win.  That and after a week in the alps he must have been climbing like a man possessed.

It's all go for the national champs now and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the largest quality field I'll have ever raced in.  The last time I raced the national champs was during my first year racing in 2000 where I was lapped by Mr Killeen.  I will be doing everything possible to make sure that history does not repeat itself!

Thanks to Gary Fisher for the excellent Superfly, gaining more and more admirers at every event.  Also to Accelerade and Exposure lights for their valued support this season.

Niall

Xcracer.com/29ers

Photo kindly supplied by Nic Beech




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Niall Frost

Niall Frost is a XCRacer.com team rider

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