2012 Review

 2012 was muddy but hugely enjoyable!

Race wise 2012 has been a busy and exciting year, with over 20 events at a broad range of venues from January through to December.

The Gorrick XC series from February through to April is the largest mtb series in the UK. Attendance exceeded 600 at each of the 5 rounds. I frustratingly finished just outside the top 10 overall in 11th; a position I repeated in the Southern UK series including the Southern UK championship.

The popularity of cycling continues to increase and the number of entries for events grows and grows every year. With this in mind I was pleased to be consistently finishing in the top 10. This year I just missed out on the headline top podium positions, finishing 4th on three occasions. This wasn’t always down to my own performance. I was deprived of a likely victory by a snapped chain and another podium went begging after a puncture. After 6 hours of racing across Salisbury Plain in May, I finished only a few seconds behind third, despite spending time helping a friend who had fallen and was injured. So there is plenty of opportunity to make amends next year.

This year the birth of my son at the end of June meant I had other priorities during July, a month which had seen my best results in 2011. I intend to return to these events in 2013 and hopefully claim some silverware.

My cycling highlight of the year is not race related however. It has to be riding along behind the Olympic road race as the huge crowds that lined the route cheered us on!

I am greatly looking forward to 2013. The highlight will be the opportunity to race a national event at the Olympic Hadleigh Park venue. The national championship should also be nearer to home so there is the added prospect of a national ranking as motivation.

I would like to thank my sponsors South Downs Bikes and Fast Find Personal Locator Beacons. Also special mentions to Muc-off and Exposure lights for their support! Finally Happy New Year and thanks to you all for reading my blog.