Welsh XC, Round 1

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BY: Melanie Alexander

Published: 17th February, 2011

There has been a lot of talk about the first race of the series, both good and bad.
For me it started off as a grumble: "course is too much like a cross course, no shelter, queuing, blah, blah, blah". But once the race started my grumbles all seemed pretty insignificant, it was just brilliant to be racing and the focus went on going as fast as possible whilst trying to stay upright.
 
As you have read already, it was really muddy, not the cloggy kind of mud but the mud which you skidded around in with little grip. I regretted hugely not changing my tyres the night before, I had thought about it but the idea of messing around with latex was not very appealing so I settled for my low grip, very fast but dry condition tyres. Anyway they were not ideal for traversing across hills as one wheel slipped out from underneath and whilst cornering I couldn't help but laugh at myself - I definitely wasn't taking the race line as my corners got wider and wider. I was just glad there weren't many spectators there.



The women all set off together, team mate Claire Bowen took me unawares and went off like a bullet - she had bike lengths on the rest of us within seconds. I finally responded and was on Claire's wheel by the first corner but I wasn't in control and slid off. I twisted my handle bars in the crash and it took me awhile to set off again. I spent the rest of the race chasing everyone down. It wasn't until the start of the third and last lap that I managed to catch Claire who was still leading the race, she was doing a much better job than me in making the mud look easy.



After our race we hung around spectating the second race which with the shorter laps was interesting to watch (it could have just been due to the muddy corner that was a challenge for many). One young rider Ben Sumner in particular stood out for having a great race and riding smoothly through the mud.

In conclusion, the course for me was disappointing but I am only comparing to other welsh xc race courses which have been brilliant. It was really good seeing people again and brilliant to be racing. Thanks to Welsh Cycling for organising a race in February, it definitely reminded me of the areas I need to work on to become a stronger racer, hopefully in time for Sherwood Pines. I feel positive that the rest of the series is going to be varied and a lot of fun and in particular I am looking forward to the Welsh Champs at Fforest Fields which got really good reviews from riders last year.
 
Thanks to:
XCracer.com
Gateway Cycles
Accelerade
Exposure lights
MT Zoom