Race report - Crank it Rd1 Sherwood Pines XC race.
Having done well in the sport category last season I moved up to expert this year. With training going well, but not yet at race fitness it was time to test the legs at Sherwood Pines.
A quick lap recce made me realise a better tyre choice could have been made for the muddy and slippy sections. A lot of other people were in the same boat so can't use that as an excuse 🤣.
The Expert category headed out 10s after the Elites and on the first corner someone over cooked it and went sliding in the mud...... luckily I managed to avoid him and found myself in 2nd going into the first few corners. Before the race i made the decision to take the B line over a smaller jump...... big mistake as about 7 people got past me riding the much quicker, but bigger jump on the A line, the line I took for the following laps.
The first lap was frantic and by the end of lap 1 I found myself on the wheel of guy I battled it out with on a few occasions last season. I managed to pull away from him and settle into a good rhythm which allowed me to pick off a few competitors and only let a few faster juniors past.
The course wasn't very technical but I still managed to slide off into the mud and get the lovely white Barnsley kit redesigned with a speed stripe of brown down the side of it 😁. The bars span round and the brake leaves scraped the top tube of the new bike 😢. I didn't loose too much time so cranked on and ended up finishing 7th Expert rider! A good start to hopefully a successful season. My next race is rd1 of the National xc series at Tong (Bradford) 26th March.