Last week was just one of those weeks, every hill I encountered was just a little tougher than usual, parked automobiles were playing tricks on me, the wind was always against me (why does that always happen when your tired), my eating was crap and it just generally felt like something was missing/not quite right . . . . . . but could I put my finger on it?? Its always a tough one, I tried not to worry about and instead be positive, relating it to the reduced volume of training and hoping my body was just being a little lethargic in preparation of what lay ahead at the weekend, I was pretty sure it would all return to normal . . . but that didn't really happen! Time for a bit of re-evaluation I think and possibly a little less chocolate this week :)
It took a little longer than I expected to travel down to Dalby, mainly due to the fact once you leave the motorway you have to follow tight, twisty little roads through a number of very busy and slow moving villages. Even when the roads opened up into the country there were so many 40mph drivers cutting about whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy???? :( The journey also had a bit of a yukky twist when a pheasant decided it would be a good idea to jump out in front of the van, I thought we had missed it but it did that whole start to fly then sink 2 feet thing that they do . . . . . and oh dear no more Mr pheasant! Chi chi (my van) kind of got splatted with all this horrible yellow stuff . . . seriously what is that? And clear jelly looking stuff . . . yuk! So we had to take a detour to find a car wash! Put me off my food for a good 5 minutes that did!
This was my first trip to the Yorkshire dales and I was not disappointed. They have hills and some of the gradients you had to drive up to get to the race venue were well exciting (I know it's sad when you get excited about hills). The work that has been put in at Dalby is fantastic, it's a real mountain bike course that's for sure! It's hard packed surface makes the course roll fast but you have to be careful of the speed at some sections as it's fairly lumpy and bumpy and I got a little too close to a few trees at some points. Then there is the drop . . . a whole 6 feet that provided enough comedy on the day that will see many fans returning to watch mountain bike racing forever! On practice day it was face plant central and those that escaped luckily did a massive endo that was so out of control it made you feel a little sick! The mass of 30 or so riders gathering around it on the practice lap lead me not to have a shot, thought I would just save that for race day . . . . makes it more interesting ha ha! The climbs were brutal, the granny gear was out and you had to work so hard just to keep the front end on the floor at some sections. I really hope that Dalby is successful with the bid to be a venue for XC racing in the World Cup, I think it would be really sad if the UK did not have an XC round!
For loving the course so much I was a bit disappointed when things just didn't go my way on race day, think I forgot to pack my climbing legs (you always forget something right!). I loved the descents and was riding so smooth through them, even the drop I nailed it. Don't get me wrong it was fun but more of the p.a.i.n kind of fun! I finished in 11Th spot. Katherine O'shea (Torq Australia) took the win in the Elite females. Hannah Ferguson continued her impressive form finishing in third spot and Lewis Kirkwood in 6th - well done guys!
Accommodation for the weekend was the pent house suite at August Guest house near Rosedale! Mary and Michael certainly give a warm welcome. Michael likes to think he is a bit of joker however his jokes about the Scots were a bit poor ha ha! Maybe he will have some better ones for the next time we visit :) Racing brings alot of travelling and that can sometimes be a difficult thing, but when you find a bed and breakfast like what Mary and Michael run it makes it all worth while. The food is also amazing in the morning its just a pity I have to limit myself so much on a race day - Mary did try her best to force feed me mind! Thanks for making me want to come back and spend more time in Yorkshire! Check them out at http://www.augustguesthouse.co.uk/ and be sure to pay them a visit if you are down that way!
Onwards and upwards for Laggan
Les
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