Thetford Winter Series Round 3

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BY: Richard Jones

Published: 1st February, 2012

Round Three of Thetford Winter Series had quickly come about.  Two months ago was the first race at Brandon although this time we were met with a slightly different view despite being at the same venue.  Extensive logging had devastated a large chunk of the forest although, as we quickly found out, there were plenty more trails to keep us entertained. 

It was another frosty bitterly cold morning, which meant for a fast four hours of racing and I was really looking forward to it. 

I hadn't had the opportunity to race since the first round of the Brass Monkeys back in December so I was apprehensive about how I would perform.  As we stood on the starting line I felt a pinch of nerves, mainly down to me feeling as if I had to perform after my successful win at the first round. 

The starting shot was fired and we quickly began to race down the first sections of fire road.  The pace felt high and at times I was running out of gears on my single ring set up.

As we entered the first section of single-track the pace settled and a leading group had formed.  As per usual Paul Ashby had gone straight off the front and into the distance for what would be yet another brilliant win.   Several minutes later Mike Jackson attacked hard and went off to join Paul.  This was something that I wasn't sure would last, Mike was in my category but I wasn't sure if he would be able to sustain the pace. 

For the rest of us we set about keeping the tempo high and working together. Several laps passed and our group had come down to myself, Nigel Scott and Ant White.  Unfortunately Ant clipped his pedal and quickly lost touch.  It was down to Nigel and me and as we entered the arena for the fourth lap we were informed that we were gaining on Mike again with the gap at roughly 5 minutes. 

I dug deep and increased the pace as I desperately tried to make up the lost ground a couple of turns later and I was alone so time to find a good pace and stick to it. 

By this time the course had begun to thaw and the conditions were becoming stickier and things began to feel colder. 

On my sixth lap I finally had bridged the gap and rode along side Mike.  I wanted to continue with the pace that I had found, so pulled in front and carried on with the hope that Mike would be burnt out and wouldn't stick with it.  As it turned out this wasn't going to be the case. 

For two more laps I pushed hard with the desperate hope that Mike would blow but for every move I made he shadowed.  As we hit the fire road climb to the finish for the final time the inevitable happened.  Mike pulled away from my wheel and accelerated straight into the distance.  My legs were beginning to cramp and I had very little to retaliate with. 

I rolled over the finish line in second place after 4.28 hours of racing over 60miles of fantastic flowing Thetford trails.  Well done to Mike for a great ride. 

Thank you to all of the Thetford organisers for running such great events. 

Richard Jones

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