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BY: Mark Spratt

Published: 25th March, 2012

Mel certainly did today, recovering from a dreadful start at Sherwood Pines to finish a very respectable 4th in the Elite women. Chris Rathbone possibly dug a little deeper, finishing 3rd in the Veteran men after starting somewhere towards the back in a field of 115 - with a better start maybe he can threaten Lewis King's formidable form.
And so did the 2 moles Phil, Niall and I saw this morning before the start of race 1. Standing around chatting idly Phil spotted some movement beneath a tree and 2 moles suddenly appeared in a "mole battle". I've never seen live moles before and I think they're a rare sight above ground, so this seemed pretty cool and probably would have been the highlight of the weekend if Mel's race hadn't gone so well.

 

A mole, not making any mountains in Sherwood.

For myself, with the UK24 only 2 weeks away this was another training and yardstick ride, though one that held certain trepidation. 3 years ago I crashed on the first corner and broke my wrist and the starts at Sherwood are notorious for collisions. This year was to be no different and whoever the Expert rider was that was injured today, I hope you recover soon. Still, I was gridded on the front row so that would help, but I've never had a good result at this race so my expectations weren't high.
I was joined on the front line by Brendan Murphy of Shred Racing and we joked about our lack of form going into the race but as soon as the gun went off I sprinted hard off the line and to my surprise pulled away level with Lewis. Starting on the left gave me a poor entry into the first right hander though and I spilled places, going into the singletrack in about 12th. For half a lap a line of about 15 of us held together but gradually the threads snapped and I found myself in a smaller group, including a now XC stalwart Anthony White, though that group also gradually pulled away from me. Despite this I was surprising myself by how good I felt. I was battling it out with the same guys as last year and looking at my lap times afterwards I was consistent throughout - always a good sign of fitness. At the finish tape I wasn't quite able to catch a hard racing Dean Morgan but finishing 14th matches my performance from last year and for current purposes that will do.
It's worth mentioning the course briefly, for although Sherwood is my least favourite of the NPS venues this year's race was probably the best course I've ridden there. It's never going to be a true "mountain" bike course unless something can be done with those moles' hills but the large element of singletrack kept it interesting and there was just the right balance of overtaking points to prevent major bottlenecks. On a less positive note, more bike thefts over the weekend doesn't strike such a happy note. If you're reading this Robin and you have to steal from the rich, please don't make it their bikes.
Oh, and one final point, if you're not leading a category, don't claim you are to gain overtaking space!

 

Thanks to my sponsors Cardiff JIF/Cyclopaedia and One Industries Europe for their ongoing support.