Pembrey XC rd1

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BY: phil Morris

Published: 6th January, 2015

Well it’s been a while since my last blog and fairly quiet time in relation to getting out on the MTB. So what better way to start 2015 than a XC race 4 days in! Especially after trying to eat my own body weight in turkey and cake over the Christmas period.
With the kids staying at friends and grandparents I was free to go play, minus the wife who had just finished a night shift.
The weather was looking good albeit a little chilly. I arrived at the race venue (Pembrey Country park) with just over an hour to spare. I quickly signed on in the expert Category due to the loss of the masters, despite the fact there was a masters cat at the event I decided it was fairly pointless for me to enter it.

Enough time now for a quick practise. Despite Pembrey not really been my cup of tea on paper due to the lack of hills, I really enjoyed the course it was fast and flowed really well. Due to the sandy makeup of the soil it was very dry considering the amount of rain we’ve had over the past few weeks.

After a quick catch up with some fellow racers it was soon 1100 and time to start. I have to admit I was a little nervous due to the general lack racing and training especially over the Christmas period.

On the whistle I had a good start and led going into the first corner, this led to a long flat straight where I tried to maintain a good pace without going into the red. Next up was a short sandy climb going into some cracking flowing single track, knowing that it would be important to get into the single track well positioned, I was pleased to be still leading and a little surprised to be honest!
I push on hard not looking back until I reached the end of the lap, I was very happy when I realised that I had opened up a pretty good gap for the first lap! But there was a long, long way to go with 1 lap of 6 completed. I felt pretty good but was a little concerned I might blow a gasket! I decided to keep pushing hard as I wanted to know where I was at with my fitness, so I could gauge what was required for the next few months training.

The lap was fairly uneventful and on checking at the end of a lap I had increased my lead and had lost sight of the chasing pack! The next lap was going well until a steep decent where some walkers and there dogs where crossing the track, how I missed them I’m still not sure but it was very lucky!

The rest of the race was uneventful and I found myself enjoying the single track more every lap, despite this I was pleased to see the finish line. I finished 1 in the expert with a 4 minute gap to second which I was over the moon with. Despite a smallish field it contained some quality riders.

So a good start to 2015, it can only go downhill from here!
Thanks to Matt page and team for a great event
See you at Round 2
Pictures thanks to Huw Fairclough
www.huwfaircloughphotograhpy.co.uk
Thanks to my Sponsors
XCracer.com, MT zoom, Exposure lights, Scimitar sports

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