Racing is underway.

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BY: Melanie Alexander

Published: 22nd March, 2012

At the beginning of March I raced the Welsh XC and last weekend I raced the first round of the Southern XC. Despite issues with parking, the delay on race starts and the short laps I enjoyed the Welsh race. The climbing /running was tough and the muddy descent was a really good challenge. Plus it is always good to see the regular faces. There was only a handful of women racers with only me and Ruby Miller, (Torq Performance) who has taken the step up from Expert, in the Elite. I got the lead from the start did not look back and stayed ahead for the whole race.

 

 

Fantastic Ride by Alice Barnes and me chasing at the Southern XC. Photos by RandR Photos.

 

 

Photo by RandR Photos

 

The Southern XC was more eventful. The course was flat with twisty single track through the woods, a few straight blasts across the fields and half way round a succession of short climbs and descents, the terrain was clay and slippery in places. All the women were set off together, there were six elite women racing which is great for a regional. Half way into the first lap we were beginning to get strung out. Myself, Rachel Fenton (AW Cycles) and the junior racer Alice Barnes (Twenty 3c Orbea) were gaining a gap when I punctured on what must have been a piece of flint. The hole was central in the tyre so I kept riding hoping the Stans sealant would seal it. Losing too much air I used my canister, span the wheel and to my delight the hole sealed. I have never punctured in a cross country race before and lost way too much time due to flustering as the field all raced passed. I now had the challenge of working my way back up the field. It took me until the third lap to catch Rachel who was the final Elite lady to pass, then seconds later Alice Barnes who had snapped her chain on a bonus lap after an impressive race in the Juniors. Rachel was tiring now and I took the win happy I had pushed hard to regain the lead after the puncture.

 

New Bike
This year I am excited to be racing on the Giant XTC 29er, it has been upgraded with XTR brakes and shifters, XT rear mech and a very nice looking Middleburn chainset. Huge thanks to Cyclopedia for making it all possible.

 

 

I picked the XTC up at the end of Feb and have been riding it as much as possible. I have been putting the XTC to the test with timed laps around our local trail centre - Cwmcarn. At first with the Giant wheels that came on the bike (They are fairly good though too heavy to be racing on) and I was surprised that my lap time was similar to my lap time on my old 26er (Element) with race wheels on.
Five days later my new wheels from Just Riding Along arrived: American Classic hubs with Sapim CX-Ray spokes built on Stans Crest Rims. Just Riding Along are sponsoring five riders this year and I am one of the lucky five.

 

 

The new wheels took 2lbs off the weight of the bike. Despite it being the day before the Welsh XC race I could not resist testing them out. Me and Mark went out for one of my favourite rides; riding from our house over the hills to Cwmcarn, a quick loop there and then back home via Machen ( heaven for mountain bikers). I timed my lap, it was an impressive 4 minutes quicker, I couldn¡¦t quite believe it and felt very excited about how fast but also sturdy the bike felt. With my new obsessions of timed laps around Cwmcarn I returned again a couple of weeks later with Mark and Scott Bugden who helped me dig deep and I managed to knock another minute and a half off  on my first lap,  though I gained a minute on the second. Who needs racing when you have Cwmcarn to fly around.

Next up is Sherwood Pines. True test of fitness.

 

Thanks to my sponsors:
Cyclopedia,
Just Riding along 
Mojo.