Published: 19th March, 2012
Following Andalucia Bike Race I was super motivated to jump back into training but the morning I was due to fly back home from Spain I started to feel ill, just a little groggy to start with but as the day went by the virus I'd caught started to take full effect. It left me in bed ill for a week and out of training for nearly 2 weeks.
The long recovery time used up crucial training time leading into this first block of racing and put me into a bad position going into this weekends Southern XC series opener. However after a couple of days training my hopes of a decent finish were back and I was motivated going into the race.
Off the start the pace felt high and my breathing immediately became wheezy, after half a lap I had no choice but to back off the pace letting a group of 4 riders speed off ahead. Riding on my own wasn't too much fun as the winds on the open farm track around the course were strong and I was wasting energy. Tim Dunford caught me on the 3rdlap, it wasn't easy but I managed to latch onto his wheel for a lap and a half.
Mid way through the penultimate lap on one of the climb Tim appeared to be slowing, having eased off the gas over the last lap my breathing was now under control and I felt strong enough to gap Tim. The distance between us didn't really change for the next lap and I rolled over the line in 4thplace.
The result is a disappointment but it does gain me valuable series points and a better gridding for round 2 in a month's time. There's a little work to be done before I have the form necessary to ride for the win but had I been at full fitness I'm sure I would have been a lot closer to the podium.
I now look forward to my next race which is the 8 day stage race the Cape Epic in South Africa which starts next weekend! Look out for updates on the twitter feed @benthomas88
Thanks for reading.
Ben Thomas
None of this would be possible without the help of my sponsors
Mountain Trax www.mountain-trax.com
Santa Cruz Bikes www.santacruzbikes.co.uk
Montane http://www.montane.co.uk/
Fox Suspension www.mojo.co.uk
Hope www.hopetech.com
Rapid Racer Products www.rapidracerproducts.com
USE www.use1.com
Exposure www.exposurelights.com
Vermont Images www.vermont-images.co.uk
Lezyne www.lezyne.com
Jagwire www.jagwireusa.com
Kenda Tires www.kendausa.com
Phenix Metabolic www.phxmet.com
Crank Brothers www.crankbrothers.com
Clif Bar www.clifbar.com
Scott UK www.scott-sports.com
Team manager of Mountain Trax - Vauxhall Cycling.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Trax-Vauxhall-Motors-Cycling-Team/330790256947713
Read More By BenThis blog post was written by a third party and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of XCRacer.com
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