Killer Kirroughtree.

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BY: Richard Jones

Published: 20th June, 2012

Killer Kirroughtree. 

So the run up to round four of the National Mountain Bike series was anything but perfect.  A large amount of racing and heavy work loads resulted in some late nights and a few long hard days. The weekend before was Bristol Bike Fest and the intense battle with the Torq team definitely took its toll.  I knew this and made sure to take the following week careful however as I could of guessed Wednesday I woke up full of a cold.  I am rarely ill but the last time was the week before last year's National at Wasing…How unlucky?

Thursday and Friday passed with plenty of coughing, spluttering and runny noses however I was telling myself that come Sunday I would be clear of the worst of it and ready to race.  Saturday morning and up early ready for the six hour drive to Kirroughtree in Scotland and true enough I was feeling a lot better! As we entered Scotland it was clear that they had suffered some serious rainfall. Many of the rivers had burst their banks and engulfed the surrounding fields. Another muddy race was on the cards but that was ok as it was expected and the bike and kit were prepared. 

As we arrived at the venue the first thing that struck me or should I say bite me were the swarming midges; I am still itching as I write this.  We fueled up on tea and then set about preparing to head out for a prelap, it was raining at this point and the course was running very wet.  If anything it was a good kind of wet, the deeper sections were so wet that you could just about cut through all of the mud. These conditions were great fun and most sections where still pretty quick. Feeling optimistic we cleaned bikes and headed off for our nights accommodation. 

The local view from our accommodation. 

Sunday we were greeted with patches of blue sky and a slight wind so the midges had cleared off thankfully.  There had been very little rain since the following afternoon's deluge and from initial looks the course had began to become more cloggy. 

Before I knew it we were being gridded and after Hopton's success I had moved up to 25^th on the grid, felt nice to be able to see the front row for once.  Within a flash we had started and we were charging up the starting climb.  After some initial starting issues I had managed to move up and squeezed in to the first technical sections in a good position just behind Nick Craig.  I sat on his wheel for the first half of the lap and was shocked at how good I was feeling.

Lap 1 and I rode through the arena in roughly fifteenth position - this was amazing as I usually really struggle with the first lap.  Unfortunately this was to be the last of the proper racing.  As I began to head out on my second lap my chest became incredibly tight and I felt fatigued very quickly.  It was apparent that the past days cold had played its part and after three laps of trying to force my ill tired body around the course as hard as possible it was clear it wasn't going to happen. 

Muddy bikes.

I had seen how many people were pulling out so decided that my best bet was just to ensure that I finished no matter what position that would be.  Two very slow laps followed and after over two hours of muddy racing/riding I finished twentyfifth.  So technically I gained nothing but more importantly lost nothing in the whole race.  Given how I was feeling this had to be success!   

Time to recuperate and re-focus on the last of the season's races.  This weekend I will be working at Mountain Mayhem on the Easton, Accelerade and Topeak stand so feel free to come over for a chat. 

Richard Jones

Accelerade

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