Credit must go the organisers who had set out a brilliant
course for us in Hamsterley Forest. There was mud and roots aplenty, lots of
steep slippery climbs and a few fun manmade trail sections, including the newly
opened OddSox trail.
The race started with a long forest road climb and I took
the lead when the gradient turned sharply upwards. From there we headed into a
super slippery single track section which was brilliant fun. I had the same
adrenaline rush as cyclocross when your wheels are sliding everywhere and
staying upright is the main battle!
From there I built a lead of 30 seconds coming into the
final section of the lap. Then, OH NO! Psshh, a flat rear tyre. Luckily, I only
had to limp down a short section of fire road back to the car park but I lost 2
minutes in the process.
Thank goodness for the Lezyne lever kit and CO2 canister
system! I popped a tube in and then within seconds the CO2 canister popped the
tyre back on the rim perfectly.
Re-inflated and rehydrated, I re-joined the course with a 17
minute deficit on the leaders. I settled into a rhythm again and completed another
2 laps. Unfortunately I couldn’t close the large gap to the overall leaders,
but I was first expert rider home.
Toeing the start line was a victory in itself for me, after
a nasty knee injury had hampered me since February. I felt very lucky that my
first race this season was close to home in the North East, as they always put
on a great race and everyone has a smile on their face.
Now I’m going to go and enjoy my prize…..