Glenifer Braes SXC 2012 By Hannah Ferguson

Nothing worse than standing on the start line and you realise you arent racing anyone. This is bad because you dont have positions to fight for but also kinda good because you can race your own race. A good thing about the Scottish races is that all the girls start together so although I wasnt directly racing anyone I could still have a good race with the people around me. My start didnt go to well, I think I actually went backwards, but I got going and started to settle down into a rhythm, the back break pads had only recently been replaced so the back wheel was a bit stiff and everyone went passed me at the start of the road climb nevermind the top was in sight. Having not pre ridden the course the first technical decent caught me off gaurd and I hit a stone wrong and went over the handlebars. Another steep decent shortly after which was longer and steeper but I folled the pperson in front down and stayed on the bike. The course ventured back into the start arena and I thought that was the lap finished but as it turned out that was only about half way!! There was a short steep climb that I didnt even attempt to ride and chose to run up but when I junped back on the bike my legs seized up and I had to change into a easier gear to try and spin off the lactic acid in my legs. A short quick decent lead to a water crossing, no one told me about this, and it was. Yet another race where my feet were wet and cold. I had made up some time on the people around me and it felt like I was more involved in the race. For most of the second lap there were people around me so I continued to push on trying to get equal lap times, managed to finish the lap without crashing this time. At the start I had been told to do two laps but for the first time in my life I asked if I could do more because it didnt feel like a long enough race, I didnt regret my decision either going into the third lap if anything my legs felt like they had just warmed up. That feeling had gone when I reached the top of the climb. There was no one else around me and I was starting to lack motivation but some moral support from people round the course kept me turning the pedals and pushing all the way to the finish. The race had finished and I came first and last, makes a difference to the last race I had done by myself as I got disqualified in it. My legs were tired by the end of the race and I was glad that I did three laps and finished in one piece.