DALBY FOREST, PICKERING
RACE REPORT BY CARLA HAINES
ELITE FEMALE
The second round of the national series had come around so quickly. I was looking forward to it; I liked the course and felt confident about the race.
The journey up there was very long, splitting it up Friday evening and Saturday morning seemed a good option to do.
Arriving Saturday afternoon, I pre rode the course a couple of times. The first lap was checking the drops and finding the quickest line to take. The second lap was at a faster pace without stopping. Being a UCI Class 1 Race I knew that this course was technical. I wasn’t worried about it but I had to be aware that it’s very easy to make mistakes. This was a good warm up for the British round of The World cup series nearer the end of May. It was another strong field including International French Rider Julie Bresset.
Come race day everything was prepared the evening before, so I had no last minute rushes or panics. On the start line I was focussed; slightly nervous but mainly adrenaline pumping through me!
I had one of the best starts I’ve ever done; around the field and into the single track I was easily in the top 10. This was good for me but was quite difficult holding it when coming back up the field again. A few riders passed me but still kept it my own throughout the whole race.
I slowly started picking riders off bit by bit. My aim was top 10 but Top 15 I still would have been happy with.
Myself and Jo Munden were switching places a lot on the last couple of laps; I lead more on the single track and descents and she would pace it up the climbs. On the last lap Munden gained a lot of time on the climbs and slowly dropped me.
I was lapped by the leading riders Bresset and Last who were absolutely flying!!UCI rules are if anyone is lapped they will be pulled out on the lap they finish on. I managed to do 4 which I was quite happy with as I was gradually tiring.
I ended up 13th position. I would have like to be in the top 10 but I know exactly what I need to work on to get there.
Team Mate Jessie Roberts unfortunately dropped out and Cait Elliot came 11th. Well done to the WXC MTB Team UK riders as well.
Next big race will be the UCI World Cup..again at Dalby 22nd May.
Thanks to sponsers of WXC World racing for supporting us at the Event.
