First race of the year!

1^st race of the year. 1^st race as a Veteran. 1^st four lap XCO race since August 2016. I may have entered more than 50 Gorrick Spring series events over the years, but there were plenty of new experiences for me on Sunday.

The first race of the year after a winter of training is always full of unknowns and mental demons. That fear increases when moving up to a new category. Surrounded by unfamiliar faces was I about to discover if I was totally out of my depth or the next big thing!

I already knew that this year wasn’t going to be quite like my final season as a Master. No trips to the podium this year! The Veterans is frequently the fastest category (as it was this Sunday). It is where the ex-pros and sponsored riders come to start their “retirement”!

Gorrick run a Veterans Plus category over 4 laps, as well as the standard 3 lap Vets race. A legacy I expect of trying to split up the much larger number of entries we used to see at races a few years ago. I chose the Vets Plus as this is where the ‘big boys’ hang out, and I wanted to gauge myself against the best ahead of  4 lap Regional and National races later in the year.

Despite a weekend forecast of wall to wall rain, conditions were overcast but dry. The light over night precipitation had just dampened the soil nicely, providing a massive amount of confidence inspiring grip in the corners. Which is good because there were A LOT of corners!

The Area 51 venue is a compact privately owned site and the guys and girls at Gorrick do a great job to squeeze in the 20 minute lap by looping backwards and forwards amongst the trees. There isn’t much elevation onsite, but the route still includes several punchy short inclines. I’m well suited to the short bursts of power required for these and accelerating out of all those corners!

My lack of confidence showed as we leapt away off the start line. I was slightly cautious and found myself too far back. There were precious few places to overtake and I’ll admit to slightly cutting a corner to get past one rider who was holding me up. I then caught a guy on a single speed (why would you race on a single speed!?) He was terrific through the technical stuff and quick at the bases of the hills, leaving me little opportunity to get by. Unfortunately, he was holding me up at the top of every incline. I pressurised him as much as I could hoping to force a mistake; breathing down his neck and practically buzzing his rear tyre. He did slip more than once, but each time it wasn’t quite enough to squeeze through. It wasn’t until the final bend of the first lap that I dived down the inside, but then the course opened and we were in a flat out sprint to reach the next section of singletrack first.

I pulled a few lengths and hit the subsequent series of curves at maximum attack! Front tyre digging into the dirt, the rear wheel drifting wide. It was like playing a computer game, diving left and right. I loved it! The gap opened behind, but I paid the price for my efforts with terrible stitch. There is little opportunity to recover on this type of course, but I tried to get my breathe and then regroup. My second lap was my fastest and 30 seconds quicker than the first.

I’d made the break from those behind, but the riders ahead were out of reach. The gap remained about constant and I am left ruing my cautious start. I had the speed to mix it with those in front, but I gave them to much of a head start. I was only two and a half minutes off the top ten at the finish line.

A massively positive day for my first Vet race. 15^th is ok, but more importantly it showed I am competitive and I enjoyed thrashing around a great course. I’m looking forward now to the season ahead and trying to move forward.