British National Mountain Bike Series Rd 1 UCI CLASS 1- Sherwood Pines - Joanne Clay

25th March 2012

This is an unexpected blog entry for me, First National race of the series, first National race at elite level and I`ve managed to pull out a 5th place poduim! I`m a very happy girl!
I`ve got to say im very thankfull for my beautifull new Bianchi Race bike, built up on the Saturday just in time for me to have two practice laps on it before the race. Instantly the bike felt awesome, which made me very exctited for race day.

I was feeling very nervous as they called our names up to the start line, a very strong field of riders and I was way back on the fourth row! I was just hoping I could get a fairly good start and hang on for as long as possible. As it hapenend I got penned in at the start and the leaders managed to pull away quickly, but after lap 1 I found myself in 8th and was feeling strong. The bike was working great and by lap 3 I had managed to gain time and places and rode to 6th as I entered the last lap, I knew I was only 20 seconds of 5th so that gave me enought lift to push for the podium, with about 1.5km to go I passed the 5th place rider up the climb. I had enough in my legs to pull away and come over the line to secure 5th!

A memorable day for me and I couldnt have done it without the help of my team.

Can't wait for Round 2 at Dalby!

By Joanne Clay

Fully Sussed SW MTB Series R1

Fully Sussed South West Series MTB Race

Round 1-Woodbury Common

Race Report by Carla Haines Elite Female

First MTB race of the season had come around so quickly-it didn’t feel long ago that the season was over!

The weather was pretty miserable-cold, rainy and windy but to be honest that made me more excited to race; it was going to be a muddy one!! My preparation was pretty poor; I had the final round of the spring time pursuit on Saturday so was tired by the evening to even think about getting stuff ready for the following day.

Race start was 10am so it was an early morning wake up call to get there. I pre rode the course and used it as a warm up. The course was very muddy and slippery which made it great fun; I knew I had a very good chance of winning in those conditions!

I had a slowish start but soon upped the pace to stick on Janes (South Fork) wheel. We were riding for most of the first lap together-slipping and sliding on the way round! I took a line which ended up being very time consuming and getting stuck behind other riders which gave Cummings (South Fork) the chance to make a gap.

At this point I was at least a minute down. Cummings appeared to have a mechanical when I caught up so this was an opportunity to gain some extra time. From then on I lead the rest of the race. I felt pretty strong on the climbs and rode quite well along the muddy single track and down the descents.

My first win of the season and I was really happy! Considering I raced Saturday I still felt fresh in the race. I felt that the hard works training throughout the winter had paid off.

Looking forward to the first round of the National Series at Sherwood.

XMTB Spring League Rd 2 - Claire Oakley U23 Elite

So for round 2 I decided to bring out the race bike just to make sure it was going alright for the serious races starting soon.


Thankfully the course had dried out a lot from the previous week so it was going to be a quicker race.


Again we were to start behind the men, so it was to be another week of chasing down the men, though there were a few more women lined out this week.


I went from the start and again made the single track in 1st, though a quick collision with a tree and some tape had me held up a bit. Very quickly I was onto the back of the train of men and working my way up through them, occasionally I could see glimpses of the other women through the trees but nothing to worrying


Again I made my way up to 17th though this time my actual position in the mens would have been a lot higher as in the last few laps, once the track cleared, I was putting in laps within the top 10, not too bad considering I'd about 35 riders to get though, though I was starting to actually shout at them to move this week.
Still not too bad considering last year I was finishing about 29th in with the men, so a bit of an improvement. 
Ohh and I won the women's again.

XMTB Spring League Rd 1 - by Claire Oakley U23 Elite

So this was the first race of the series, and my first of the season, it's mainly suited towards introducing new people to the sport but with some top riders joining in the mix as well. With the series being the only mtb races before Sherwood Pines I felt I had to race anyway, so I brought out the winter hack bike and set about getting ready to race


The women were being set off 1 minute behind the men so at least there was some motivation to see how many I could catch and hopefully get the win in the women's at the same time.


I didn't get the best of starts but managed to get into the single track first and never looked back from then, got caught up in a fair bit of traffic but then that was to be expected.


Was happy enough with the lap times, between my quickest lap and slowest there was only 15 seconds difference, so not that bad over 6 laps, though my last few laps were the quickest once the traffic began to clear.


Out of the 48 male starters in front I made my way up to 17th. I probably should have made it up to a higher placing but think I need to work on shouting at people to move, since I didn't do it at all, next weeks task! Anyway took the win in the women's category. 

Midlands XC Ashby - 19th February 2012

Hi, this is my first post of the season for my new team WXC World Racing. My name is Joanne Clay, I am 26 years old and live in the Peak District in Staffordshire. I'm an Elite category XC rider.

First race of the season and i was itching to get going, It was great to see a large field of 33 female riders at Hicks Lodge. It was all a bit off a squeeze at the start line, i didnt have the best start i could have had, missed a pedal  and had to pick my way though the field on the first lap. I was feeling fresh and stronger than last year so was pleased to find myself in second place on the first lap, which is where finished. Things were flowing ok, stumbled on the third lap a couple of times and got some mud jammed in my wheel on the last lap where i had to get of and free it up but first race of the year and i was happy with the result.

My next race is in two weeks time, im looking forward to really building some race form. Winter training has served me well and my base fitness is good.

Joanne Clay

Spring Time Pursuit R1

With the Mountain Bike Season drawing very close it was time to give my lungs a bit of a blast in a Pursuit Race on the road! To be honest I didn’t really have an action plan but just to see what will happen. I was feeling pretty good, after some long winter months of good quality training with Elite Velo I was expecting to do quite well.

The weather forecast wasn’t looking very good for the Womens or Mens Race so jackets were thrown in just in case. However it managed to stay dry, with only one patch of drizzle so we were very lucky indeed! The course was mainly flat with a couple of undulating sections so I assumed it was going to be pretty fast. 

A good turnout for the Women’s field; 14 riders in total split into two groups, setting of 2 minutes apart. I was in the second group which went off at 10.32am. The first couple of laps we were working really well together, keeping up a nice even pace. Primes were on lap 2 and 4 so was hoping to get in a good position for these. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough sprint in me on the 2^nd prime so eased up a bit.

Once we caught the first group things started to get a little messy. With a mixture of newbies and racers some were unknown to the formalities in racing. It was quite frustrating not knowing where people were wanting to position themselves I got boxed in a couple of times.

The final lap the pace started to pick up slightly and a couple of women trying to break away. There were quite strong headwinds which lead up to the finish line which did make it a lot more difficult for everyone; as long as you were tucked in you were fine.

I was in just the right position for the final sprint; although we were still in quite a heavy bunch at the front it was a bit of a squash for the riders behind. Myself and Miriam (Hope Factory Racing) were pretty much level when sprinting for the final 10m; but she just got it by a fraction.

I was a bit gutted but happy with 2^nd position for my first road race of the season and now knowing what exactly what the course is like I will have a much clearer mind on how to properly race it. Two more of the series left, fingers crossed it’s a top 3!

British Cycling Annual Awards 2012

BRITISH CYCLING ANNUAL AWARDS 2012

                       After receiving tickets for the British Cycling Awards I was quite excited! It’s not something that I would normally get invited to but being the 2011 U23 National Mountain Bike Champion it was expected. I have been before; 3 years ago when I won the National Mountain Bike Series as a Junior rider.

The awards ceremony was held at the Hilton Hotel in Birmingham, so not a hard place to get to…..so I thought!! The weather conditions in Plymouth compared to Birmingham was out of this world!! It took 2 hours to get from Bromsgrove (where my parents and I were staying) to The Hilton at the NEC; what was meant to be a 20minute journey turned out a lot longer than anticipated. We got stuck in the snow on a hill and then crashed in to a curb on another road; things weren’t looking too great!

To be honest I was expecting to miss getting my award and turning up all hot and bothered. Luckily the call up for National winners was after the main meal; which we arrived just in time for! I was really nervous about walking up in front of all the other cyclists on to the stage, where EVERYONE could see you. When it was my turn, all I kept saying to myself was ‘please don’t fall over in these heels!’, I just kept smiling and walking as best as I could!

All the award winners had there photo taken around the back of the main hall (as shown above); most riders looked different without their  kit on- it was quite strange seeing familiar faces scrubbed up nicely in suits and dresses!

It was a really nice evening and enjoyed mixing in with other cyclists I only see in photos or on the BC website.

Even after driving through the traitorous conditions to and from the awards, it was well worth the journey.

By Carla Haines

2011 U23 National Mountain Bike Champion

WXC World Racing.