XC Racer Blog Post

Gorrick Spring Series Round 5 - Porridge Pot Hill

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BY: Louise Robinson

Published: 24th April, 2012


Porridge Pot Hill, named due to it's profile which resembles an old fashioned porridge cooking vessel rather than its peaty soil which tends to resemble porridge as soon as it starts to rain, was the venue for round five of the Gorrick Spring Series.


Somehow (someone from Gorrick probably now owes their soul to the devil) it was a mainly dry race after two weeks of rain in Deepcut. The early races even had the privilege of sunshine and the course dried steadily as the day went on.
The course was deceptively tough. At 3.3miles it was extremely short and with only 90m of climbing, on paper it was a doddle. However the reality was somewhat different. Although the lap times were quick, the effort level required was high. Even though the climbs were very short, they were loamy, rooty and steep and when you weren't climbing you were on and off the brakes through the twisty single-track. Another great course from the boys at Gorrick, but glad we didn't have to race on Monday as it may have been an entirely different kettle of fish in the pouring rain.


The conditions were tough for those with smaller wheels


So, last round of the series with a field of two, the ladies expert race looked a bit thin on the ground again. Fay Cripps was my opposition and although we have not raced head to head before, last weeks Southern XC at Pippingford had seen Fay finish ahead of me over the first three laps. Today, sport and expert ladies started together so Fay and  I lined up with Jo Munden, Leona Kadir, Olga Tikhonova and Hannah Shelley.


The hard core supporters are always prepared for the weather


At the gun I was relaxed and happy right up to the point I looked down only to see I was in the small chain ring and completely the wrong gear. As the race started the other girls stormed away and it took me a second or two to get going. 


I managed to squeak inside Leona on the first corner and nipped past Fay at the second. This started a lap long ping-pong game with Fay as she pounded past me on the flat sections and I passed her in the single track. A school girl error on a wet slippery root on an uphill section gave Fay the window she needed and by the end of the first lap she was 8 seconds ahead. I held her in my sights for the second lap, coming in 18 seconds behind at the beginning of the third lap. However about a third of the way into lap three my legs died. Only then did I think about the fact I had not had anything to eat or drink and by now it was obviously too late. A Second Surge gel later and I was feeling a bit better but the damage was done. As the rain got heavier, the course got slippier and my fatigued legs were delivering a double whammy. With not enough strength to ride hard into the single-track, I did not carry enough speed through it to negotiate the short climbs without having to work hard and further stress my legs. So, learning from yesterday's race? Well I can do it for two laps, now I just need the fitness to do it for four. Hmmm, what did I do with that turbo trainer?




Final result for me was second place, nearly 3 minutes behind Fay.
By virtue of persistence (I was the only expert lady to enter enough races to qualify) I won the series and pocketed a nice fat voucher for Banjo Cycles. Ohh shopping - what more could a girl want!


Louise Robinson

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Louise Robinson

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