British MTB Series Round 4

So yet another round of the British MTB Series has now passed; this time in the far away land of rainy Scotland! With its reputation for its weather conditions, wet weather gear was essential and the first thing packed before the long journey to the highlands.

BRITISH MOUNTAIN BIKE SERIES R4

KIRROUGHTREE, SCOTLAND

RACE REPORT BY CARLA HAINES- ELITE FEMALE

Saturday was cloudy, miserable and raining, but despite the weather I had a fun pre ride around the course in the mud! Due to the fun race later in the afternoon the conditions for the race the next day were a whole lot different but very enjoyable.

Race Day

6.15am wakeup call and the exact same preparations were made for the morning. I was in quite a relaxed state of mind, or maybe I was just still half asleep but I didn’t feel that nervous. This is the first occasion I have felt this so it was kind of strange but quite nice in a way too.

Arriving at the event arena in good timing I could relax, gather my thoughts and focus on the race…my race! A last minute adjustment was made to my shifter as It was too far under the handlebar, which slightly interrupted my warm up slightly but it need to be done so a backup warm up was in place!!

I was gridded third which meant I was on the front line; a good position to be in and a clear run of the start. With 3 laps of the course, which sounds short but considering the conditions it was just right, I was ready to race. I felt like I was waiting to go in to a battle with armour and weapons prepared for a tough fight! The gun when and I hit the pedals as hard as I could up the fire track. My start was pretty good and I was a comfortable position. After the sharp right hand bend to climb up more fire track other riders were passing me; despite the situation I wasn’t bothered, I just kept pedalling ‘myself’ up the climb in ‘my way’.

Hitting the first bit of single track I was slowly pulling riders in. At times there were sections in the woods where we all had to run as it was just too muddy and slippery to ride. Most of us Elites were still close together and when it came to the descents I was zooming down. I gained at least 4 places whilst others were running with their bikes which made me feel so confident for the rest of the race.

Myself, Maxine Filby (Velocite UK) and Jessie Roberts (RWD Brakes Factory) were riding together..or shalI I say running!To be honest I found it quite amusing  the amount of times I was hopping on and off my bike, at one point I laughed so much I couldn’t get on my bike; I had to throw myself on it otherwise I would have ended up in the trees; not that I hadn’t already!

By the end of lap two Maxine had made a break and it was myself and Jessie battling for 4^th and 5^th position. We had a good race together- it was the last descent that got me 4^th place; a quick inside line on the A line resulted in a 10sec lead to the finish.

I was so happy with my performance; I raced comfortably, relaxed and felt like I was floating around! It sure felt good to be on the Podium at a National Round for the first time. Things are looking up now that I have finished my final year at Uni; bring on the rest of the season!

Thank you to WXC World Racing for their fantastic support as always and to all the sponsors for making it happen on the Podium.