Soggy Bottom

The last time I raced on a mountain bike was some 20 years ago in the Quantocks - and I did really badly! I led up the first hill and then slipped and fell off, rejoining at the back of the field. I can't say it got any better after that! Yesterday, I lined up in the Vets category for my first race since 1989! And remembering my one and only previous mountain bike racing experience, I made a plan to start last! It was obvious that these boys were seasoned racers and were here to 'race' - I just wanted to see if I could finish it and in doing so, keep out of their way.

The first hill was wet and muddy and pretty impossible. Everyone was off their bikes and pushing their machines (some very expensive machines at that!). At the top it went into single track. I was following this old chap who was taking it pretty easy, and I could see the rest of the pack moving clear. When I did eventually get passed, the pack had disappeared into the distance. So the chase was on! Pedal to the metal, I went as fast as I could, testing out my new biking fitness gained from hours and hours out on the road and on the turbo at home! The course itself was challenging. There were tricky bits - one very steep grassy bank had me flying over the handlebars on two consecutive laps! And mud in one place came up to the knees (that was a get off and carry bit!). On the single track there were slippery wet roots, and trees tight to the side leaving little room for error. But overall it was a fun route.

I crossed the line in 16th place - totally stoked. Having started at the back and battled through the traffic (about 100 of us all went off at the same time) - I was really, really pleased with that.

So it was a vast improvement on 20 years ago! I'm going to train even harder now and come the next race I'll start near the front and see what happens! You can't beat a bit of competition to light the fire!

ps. doubly stoked this morning. Entries to the Dragon Ride Sportive are like gold dust but this morning they released 300 additional places..... and I lucked out and got one!

Surf looks great today - 3ft clean, a few people in. The sun is out - what a lovely day!