Friday, 4 March 2011

1st Gear Cycles Rampage Round 1 - Checkendon :D

On Sunday 27th February I traveled to Checkendon for the first Round of the 1st Gear Cycles Rampage Series, this also happened to be the first Summer Series MTB race of 2011! I traveled with another rider from my club, which gave me a good chance to ride the course with a fellow rider and check out different lines, options etc. Once I had rode the course I really liked it. I find that courses that keep my heart rate consistent, suit me better and seen as this is probably the flattest MTB course in England I liked it!


Although this was not a very 'big' race there was still quite a lot of competition. This included Josh Parkin - Arctic Premier (2nd Yr. U16), Liam Keynes - 1st Gear Cycles (2nd Yr. U16) and Daniel Nash - Team Darenth. Despite the competition I was hoping for a good race and with the knowledge the course suited me I had an excellent start!


Once the whistle went, I was in 2nd all the way up the starting straits and then when entering the single track I had not changed position, however after doing 2-4 turns in the single track I found that the pace was not fast enough, so I made a move and overtook a rider which put me in the lead! I had first stayed in 2nd as the rider in front of me (Josh Parkin) had had a very successful cross' season and had continually beaten me, however, as I said, I took the opportunity and put myself in the lead.


Throughout the race I was racing by myself and was really enjoying all the single track and all the swooping corners, I pushed on and was looking back on the straits every-now-and-again, to check I was 'safe'. I was, and I finished the race is the top spot, having rode to a win and a comfortable lead of 2minutes 49seconds.


Overall I was very happy with how the race went and was a great way to open the 2011 Mountain Biking Season as a First Year Under16. This gives me very positive thoughts about the coming Southern XC Series and British National Mountain Bike Series. Also sorry for the lack of photos (of me), but as you can appreciate I can't take pictures while racing and the photographer who attended didn't take many shots. To finish, below I have put a link to the Lap-by-lap analysis, by 'XC Enduro'.

Lap-By-Lap Analysis by 'XC Enduro'

Once again, Thanks for Reading! :D 

   

No comments:

Post a Comment