Fully Sussed Summer Series, Round 2, United Downs

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BY: Oliver Herdsman

Published: 4th April, 2012

Another absurdly early morning for the 3 1/2 hour drive down to Redruth - I was up at 0430 and managed to be on my way by 0530.  I still haven't learnt to pack all my things the night before and so I wasted a lot of time bumbling around the house in a semi sleepy daze, trying to figure out if I had my shoes or my shorts or any water bottles...

Fast forward to 0830 and I arrived at United Downs where the temperature hadn't yet made it much above 5 degrees, though it was an improvement on 0.5 degrees when I left home.  I changed quickly, leg warmers and a jacket feeling pretty necessary at the time, and headed to register and have a spin around the lap. I believe the lap was around 3 1/2 miles and most categories, including Sport, were to ride 4 laps, with the Expert/Elite men getting the pleasure of one extra. The lap was quite rocky but not particularly loose, meaning it was going to be a fast one at race pace.  There were some slightly technical descents which caused me to hesitate a little and to take a moment to think about my line choice before committing to them but they were all totally ride-able and a lot of fun - ' The Leveler' and the section leading up to it being particularly cool. Some long(ish) and loose climbs were thrown in around the lap which would hopefully give the less technically capable riders (ME) a chance to make up some ground on those able to fly down the descents.

The practice lap complete I headed out to a nearby bridleway to run some warm up drills and then, losing track of time, made my way back to the start line with but 1 minute to spare.  As at round 1 Elite/Expert men were at the front with Sport men just behind - the horn sounded and we took off at a not to hectic pace up an incline, through the start/finish are and into the first bit of single track.  It has occurred to me at some point since that these kind of starts mean it is really difficult to know who you're racing - I'm not familiar enough with the field to know who's riding in which category so I find it best just to go as hard as possible off the start and just hang on for the ride, while obviously the Elite/Expert men charge way ahead.
Everything was going well, I wasn't losing places and was actually gaining a few.  I got to the 'to the start' sign and thought I was about to complete the first lap but little did I know that during my practice lap I had completely missed out a couple of long wooded sections! This winding trail through the trees was full of dips and humps which I found near impossible to carry any speed over - I tried pedaling through them but could maintain no rhythm - I tried riding into them fast and pumping through but all to no avail.  It was slow and I embarrassed myself coming into the finish area by taking a bad line into a dip and almost throwing myself over the bars.

The laps passed quickly and looking back at my lap times I managed to maintain some consistency, coming in at around 20 minutes each of the 4 laps - I think that as I grew more tired, I grew more confident and the two cancelled each other out. Coming towards the end of the final lap,  unbeknown to me, it was a close contest for 3rd place (1st place Sport had finished a massive 8 minutes ahead of us and 2nd place 4 minutes after that) with me ahead coming into the last wooded section - my inability to pedal through this final portion of the lap meant I was easily passed and finished 7 seconds behind 3rd, Frustrating!
 
Never mind though, it was the most fun I've had at a race in a long time and I'm even more motivated to make it to the podium at Newnham Park.  I don't think I saw a single frown on a riders face, except perhaps those who suffered punctures and sidewall tears at the hands of the plentiful sharp rocks, this is a testament to the hard work and time the Hortons and co. put into designing their race courses.

So, a very big thank you to the organisers and marshals for doing such a great job, it was an awesome mornings racing and as ever, thank you to XCracer for making it possible for me to race my bicycle.

Next round I should hopefully be rocking the new team kit, so if you see me, please feel free to come and say Hello!
See you at round 3!!

Oliver Herdsman
XCracer