UCI Mountain Bike World Cup-Offenburg, Germany

UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Round 3

Offenburg, Germany 27^th-29^th May

Race Report By Carla Haines

U23 Female

Watching the sun rise in the beautiful French valleys was so picturesque. Even with a lack of sleep my eyes were kept open by miles and miles of rolling hills. It took over 6 hours to drive from Calais port to Western Germany. The sun was out which made everything seem so perfect as we arrived at our Hotel in Strousberg.

 I had stayed in York with Cait after Dalby World Cup as it would have been difficult for me to get to Dover Port. We then got a train, which was delayed, where our Team manager picked us up to drive down to dover. It was such a long journey I felt exhausted and slightly jet lagged in a way when we arrived at the hotel.

Cait and I went for a spin around the divine City; riding along the Canal and passed the towering cathedral. We had an early night as the next day would be busy for us.

Sign on was at 9am and again a 2 hour wait was not good. I was still tired from the travelling I couldn’t help but yawn alot! It was amazing to get to stand behind some of the professional teams and their managers. Once we had finally signed on, we headed to the arena to park and pre ride. I was stunned. The atmosphere was awesome and I had this huge rush of excitement!

From reading the manual about Offenburg’s course description I couldn’t wait to get on my bike and ride! There were 5 main technical descents on the course; Dual Descent, North Shore, World Class Drop, Wolfs Drop and The Snake Pitt. I had never seen or ridden anything like it!!It was a whole different level that made Dalby so tame! The first lap we rode easily to ‘get to know’ the course. Everything was ride able after a long mental battle with nerves. On all the descents I got this surge of adrenaline and couldn’t believe I was here riding this stuff. In a way I was honoured.      

                                                         

Saturday was another pre ride day. One quick lap with no stopping. The rest of the day we relaxed in the sunshine and watched the Junior and U23 Men’s Race.

Returning to the hotel, race preparation began. An early night was definitely needed from all the travelling and riding done.

Another early morning for us we had breakfast at 7am then made our way to the arena. Again I was in the U23 category and Cait was in Elite. Like last time, U23’s set off a couple minutes after the Elites. The start was very tough; it was much more aggressive than Dalby and started with a steep climb! My legs didn’t feel too great but hung in there as long as I could.

Racing on the course was amazing; I absolutely loved it and had a great time. There was not one part of the course with no one on it!! The crowds were out of this world and so encouraging it gave me a huge rush of determination and excitement.

I did slow down a lot towards the race but just to be able to get the chance to ride one of the best courses was just incredible! I will never forget it.

My position was 35^th- I was ok with that but had a think of what exactly I need to work on- HILLS and CONSITENCY!

I had an amazing time in Germany and very much looking forward to returning there next year!

A huge thank you to WXC World Racing for supporting us at the World Cups and also thank you to Orange Monkey-Cannondale for letting us borrow their turbo trainers.

The next world cups are held in Canada and USA. The team will not be competing in these two but you will find us taking on the world for the final two rounds in Czech Republic (13^th/1th Aug) and Italy (20^th/21^st Aug). 

UCI Mountain Bike World Cup-Dalby Forest, Yorkshire

UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Round 2

Dalby Forest, Yorkshire 21st-22^nd May

Race Report By Carla Haines

U23 Female

My very first World Cup ever!!!I had such a mixture of feelings; excitement yet nervous but full of adrenaline and ready to take on the worlds best riders for the first time! This was the beginning of an adventure and a step up to a whole new kind of racing! 

It was great that my first international race was in England but to get up there was very tiring. Accommodation was booked for 3 nights so we had plenty of time to chill out and mentally prepare ourselves for the race. We had the likes on Womens Elite Multi World Champion Gunn Rita Dahle (Merida Mulitvan), Current Mens Elite World Mountain Bike Champion Jose Hermida Romas (Merida Multivan) and a successful U23 rider Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) all on our doorstep!! To be honest I was speechless when I turned up at the cottages knowing that these athletes were here to. I even got the chance to have my photo taken with Jose Hermida! J

Thursday was quite a chilled day after travelling, although we did pre ride a couple laps of the course to freshen our legs up.

Friday was sign on day. Standing in a queue for over an hour was not good for the legs I must say! But we were at a world cup event and there were LOTS riders.

Arriving at the arena where all the Teams had set up it was just out of this world. All the team mechanics were busying themselves setting up their rider’s bikes while the athletes sat and relaxed it was just great.

In some ways it did feel like one of the British mountain bike events but with triple the amount of trade stands. As I had raced there all ready I knew what the course was like and was confident on my riding ability. It was a technical course which suited me; I just wasn’t sure what my climbing was going to be like.

We headed into Pickering Town Centre where the Pro Sprint Eliminator was held. This is where the Elite athletes sprint around the town against each other. The atmosphere was great-people cheering and shouting the riders as they sprinter past, it was great!

The days that we were there the weather was ok. A little cold and windy but sunny, cloudy also. Team mate Jessie arrived in the evening as she had finals at Uni to do.

Saturday Cait, Jess and I were able to watch the juniors and U23 male races. It was good experience watching them to see how aggressive they all were at the start!! After the races were over we headed back to the cottages to prepare for our race.

Sunday morning was a chilly start. Jessie and I were in the U23 category and Cait was in Elite. We set off a couple minutes after the senior ladies as they had to complete a start loop before they headed out on to the main course.

 

 I didn’t have a very good start at all. A rider in front of me unclipped her pedal and slowed right down so I had to chase down the other competitors. It was very aggressive and different what I raced like but it was a good experience for me.

Technically my riding was superb but climbing my legs felt slow and heavy. I thoroughly enjoyed the race. There were so many people around the course encouraging you it was great.

I ended up 25^th position which I was very happy with for my first international race. I had learnt so much from the race and I now know what it is like to race against the world’s best riders. I have a long way to go but from this experience I am determined to work hard and be the very best I can be.

Next weekend Cait and I will be heading to Offenburg in Germany for Round 3 of the World Cup series!

Thank you to the sponsors of WXC World Racing for supporting us throughout the whole weekend.

British Mountain Bike Series, Margam Park - by Cait Elliott

The week leading up to the 4^th round of the British series race in Margam was very wet and Saturday’s pre-ride was grey and miserable with rain, half of the course covered in clouds and extremely slidey, muddy trails. Unbelievably by Sunday morning the sun had come out and with temperatures hitting 31˚C I had my dream race conditions of heat and mud.

We set off straight into a long climb finishing on a tough, off-camber slippery singletrack before hitting a fast muddy descent. By the top cyclocross pro Nikki Harris (Scott Contessa) had already pulled a gap and I’d got up to 3^rd following Mel Spath (Cycleways), with Lee Craigie (Torq performance) just behind me. The course was ‘proper’ mountain biking with several huge long climbs, some short technical climbs, and lots of great singletrack descents with spectacular views out to the coast. The combination of long climbs and technical muddy trails meant riders were very quickly strung out and big gaps developed as the race went on.

The final climb of the lap was a monster, 7-8 minutes with several false summits, a headwind and sweltering heat and on lap 2 Lee jumped in front of me towards the top. I had to dig deep to hold on but eventually into the next lap she pulled away. Although the hills were tough, mud meant there wasn’t much pedalling to be done on the singletrack so there was plenty of time to recover before the next batch of pain. The descents were awesome, mostly narrow rutted trails covered in a thick layer of mud making for lots of fast, fun sliding around. One steep chute through the rhododendron bushes was particularly fun – 20cm deep mud meant brake free ‘bike-surfing’ sideways at high speed was the only option to get down it!

Coming into the last lap I was starting to feel destroyed, I had given up on catching Lee again and could only hope I had enough left to get around without being caught from behind since I knew I didn’t have much energy left for a fight. Then at the bottom of the first decent I passed Lee who had punctured. I gritted my teeth and sprinted to get around the corner out of sight and then somehow found some extra reserves to ride hard for the rest of the lap, not daring to look back, convinced she was seconds behind me. It was only the thought of a medal that dragged me up the last climb and from there it was a long fun descent and a never ending flat grassy field to the finish where I crossed the line in 3rd, delighted with the result. Margam is fantastic course that really separates the ‘mountain bikers’ from the ‘xc racers’.

A great weekend for the team with Carla stylishly breaking into the top 10 for the first time to finish 6th and Jess following closely behind in 7th. Next goal is the National Champs! 

Cait

BMBS Wasing Estate - by Cait Elliott

British MBS at Wasing Estate in Reading, a course I hadn't raced before and having heard it was fairly flat and uninteresting I wasn't expecting to like it. However after a practice lap I was pleasantly surprised, not much climbing but some great singletrack through pretty woodland. Until Thursday I wasn't looking forward to racing, still having problems with super sore calves I knew I would be there making up numbers again which is no fun at all. Then I had 1.5 hours of deep tissue massage on my legs and the effects were miraculous, I still wasn't 100% but only felt slight tightness rather than pain so went into the race with a bit of confidence for the first time in weeks.

On race day my prayers for rain were answered and although it wasn't quite muddy enough to slow the race down as I'd hoped, the singletrack had become nice and slidey making for some fun racing. I got an unusually great start and was soon into 3rd place sitting on Maddie Horton's wheel. WOW, this is racing! I hadn't had that feeling for so long, pain free legs and feeling strong, brilliant! For a couple of laps I was back and forth between 2nd and 3rd place with some great battling on a close course and several other riders hot on our heels. The twisty trails flowed really well with rain making wet roots and corners all the more interesting.

By the end of lap 2 Mel Alexander and Mel Spath had caught me and we rode together for a while. By this stage my calves were beginning to tighten again and I felt like they were reeling me in from then onwards. The two Mels got a gap on me when a junior crashed in front of me and I got stuck behind another one - one your were into a singletrack section it was very difficult to pass and then hard to close a gap. I could see them ahead for the rest of the race but couldn't do enough to get back up there, instead enjoying the increasingly slippery trails and keeping an eye out for other riders close behind.

Under normal circumstances I'd be annoyed for throwing away a couple of positions but 5th is a big step in the right direction and most importantly I got the race buzz back and feel like I can go at some proper training now and get back on track. What a relief.

Good luck to Jessie for her finals and get well soon to Carla, the World Racing team will be back to full strength at Margam in 2 weeks...

Cait

Behind the scenes at the Dalby World Cup

BMBS R2, Dalby Forest Race Report By Carla Haines

BRITISH MOUNTAIN BIKE SERIES ROUND 2

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 13^th 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 11^th.  Well done to the WXC MTB Team UK riders as well.

Next big race will be the UCI World Cup..again at Dalby 22^nd May.

Thanks to sponsers of WXC World racing for supporting us at the Event.

By Carla Haines

BUCS XC Champs 2011

BUCS Cross Country Mountain Bike Championships 2011

Moelfre, Wales

12-13^th March

My first proper race of the season was a good test to see how my form was-which I thought was pretty good.

The journey up to Moelfre was straight forward and not too long. Arriving Saturday early afternoon, I was able to watch Plymouth Uni guys in the downhill championship. From previously racing here a few years ago, I knew what to expect. It was amazing to watch how fast some of the boys descended down the side of a hill whilst keeping control at the same time!!

It was perfect weather for them all and even pre riding the XC course it was nice not to get dirty kit.

It was a climbers course for definite which in a way made me slightly nervous. I wouldn’t say I’m the greatest climber but I have been working on my hills in training and I know I have improved so I was looking forward to it a lot. I wasn’t worried about the descent as I know I’m a pretty controlled rider on technical courses.

I did 2 practice laps-the first was to check out which lines I would take on the descent and the second was a slightly faster pace but concentrating on my skills descending.

Saturday evening I had a good meal and went to bed early. Having a cold didn’t help but It didn’t stop me from wanting a podium position.

My race was at 1305 Sunday afternoon. It had drizzled/rained throughout the night which dampened the course but the sun dried it out by the time my race was due. I made sure I had a good warm up and drinks all prepared for each lap.

On the start line my heart was beating pretty fast- it was a mixture of nerves and adrenaline! Off went the horn...I had a really good start lead the way for at least 100m or so. 2 riders past me (Roberts and Miller) so I hung on to their wheels as long as possible. Roberts slowly got away-she is an awesome climber, and it was left to me and Miller to work together up the climb. We kept switching positions every lap, Miller lead up the climb and I descended off in front of her.

Lap 3 on top lap 4 Miller was no longer with me..I had gained so much on the descent she was unable to catch me on the climb. As I said I wasn’t a strong climber but todays performance showed that I have improved so much.

Lap 5 I was again on my own and went as hard as I could to the finish. I came 2^nd and was so happy with it!!Last year I was 3^rd so I’ve stepped the game up a lot! Maybe next year a BUCS champ??Who knows!

Not only did I come 2^nd but Jenny Middlehurst, also representing Plymouth Uni, came 7^th which meant we came 1^st University Overall!

Well done to Plymouth University for their performances over the weekend!! And to my fellow team mate Jessie Roberts who is 2x BUCS Champ J