Scottish xc champs
4 laps instead of 3
40 minutes per lap instead of 30
No food. No energy drink.
No sport category - just elite / expert.
I'd been looking forward to Drumlanrig all year. I knew it was going to be the best course of the sxc series. I love the riding there.
And I was right - it was a challenging course but not the kind that means you have to walk - just the sort that makes me want to be able to ride faster. One day I want to be tearing round the rooty corners rather than meandering!
Being told that the sport category was to be amalgamated with the expert and that we'd all be racing 4 laps was a bit of a shock. I hadn't expected a long race and, with no energy drink, 2hr40 was just a little bit too long. All those roots need a heck of a lot of concentration and I just didn't have it. Anyone who has ever had a cycling-induced sugar crash will know the kind of irrational rage that takes over. I fell off my bike. And two seconds later I fell off again. And then again a third time. Bleeding but not badly. Mud in my mouth and up my nose. The glamour of it!
I knew I'd passed at least two girls and therefore wasn't the last out on the course. But it had been a long time since I'd seen anyone and it was starting to feel very lonely. The Masters females and Open men were only doing three and two laps respectively so it would just be 10 of us out for the long haul. As one of the men from the afternoon race cycled past (despite the course still being officially closed to practice laps), he asked incredulously if I was STILL RACING?
That didn't help my rage.
I found out later the other two girls had pulled out. So, 8th in the Scottish champs. Not a bad result but I know I could be a lot faster on the technical sections. I just need to find some courage. And perhaps have my skin grow back and return to a normal colour after all the bruising.
Just one race left for the year now!
40 minutes per lap instead of 30
No food. No energy drink.
No sport category - just elite / expert.
I'd been looking forward to Drumlanrig all year. I knew it was going to be the best course of the sxc series. I love the riding there.
And I was right - it was a challenging course but not the kind that means you have to walk - just the sort that makes me want to be able to ride faster. One day I want to be tearing round the rooty corners rather than meandering!
Being told that the sport category was to be amalgamated with the expert and that we'd all be racing 4 laps was a bit of a shock. I hadn't expected a long race and, with no energy drink, 2hr40 was just a little bit too long. All those roots need a heck of a lot of concentration and I just didn't have it. Anyone who has ever had a cycling-induced sugar crash will know the kind of irrational rage that takes over. I fell off my bike. And two seconds later I fell off again. And then again a third time. Bleeding but not badly. Mud in my mouth and up my nose. The glamour of it!
I knew I'd passed at least two girls and therefore wasn't the last out on the course. But it had been a long time since I'd seen anyone and it was starting to feel very lonely. The Masters females and Open men were only doing three and two laps respectively so it would just be 10 of us out for the long haul. As one of the men from the afternoon race cycled past (despite the course still being officially closed to practice laps), he asked incredulously if I was STILL RACING?
That didn't help my rage.
I found out later the other two girls had pulled out. So, 8th in the Scottish champs. Not a bad result but I know I could be a lot faster on the technical sections. I just need to find some courage. And perhaps have my skin grow back and return to a normal colour after all the bruising.
Just one race left for the year now!
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