Central XC Rd 1, 1 May 2022

I attended Central XC round 1 a couple of weeks back - my first race back after being ill (and I’ve been ill again since!). The weather was grey, and there were splutters of rain. This didn’t phase me as I do enjoy this kind of weather (only if it’s dirt related racing) however, as soon as I arrived at the course I started to have reservations around the weather and the course itself. Most of the course was based in a woodland area, so lots of roots and stumps were around. Let’s just say, me, roots and rain don’t mix well (I learnt this the hard way back in my 2nd ever CX race!) Whilst doing the practice lap I noticed the race organisers had embedded a huge stump in the ground, where there was no run off, and it was in a blind corner. This absolutely freaked me out. After a couple of times of attempting (and wimping out) I managed to send it and get over it pretty well!

Big Mac Photography

After my practice lap and half-decent warm up I got myself to the gridding area. There was a buzz amongst us ladies, not because of the enjoyment of starting a race - but because the World MTB XC champion, Evie Richards, was racing! You couldn’t miss her lovely rainbow jersey! We gridded up, and I confused myself with the process, so I ended up being gridded with the category above me. Anyway, the whistle went and I got my best race start so far, managing to close the gap between myself and the recent Wessex CX women’s league winner. Although, that quickly changed when we entered the single tracks, which I didn’t even know were part of the course, or even existed! Long story short, I was racing ‘blind’ and held quite a few ladies up (all tactical though, right 😉).

Time passed and I manage to pick a few people off. From CX I’ve found I make up time on the straights and lose time in the technical sections. Likewise, on my third lap I lost about 3 minutes due to the younger categories being placed with us (I got stuck behind a rider with nowhere to overtake) and I was losing rear tyre pressure. During this time, Evie Richards came storming past me. Safe to say I was in complete awe, the way she was riding those wooded and stumpy sections were incredible - it was almost like she was just floating over them!

About an hour in I started to feel incredibly fatigued, I had drunk all my water and didn’t have any gels with me. A mixture of post-Covid weakness and a poor breakfast didn’t help my case either. I decided to call it a day after 3 of the 4 laps.

All in all, it was a fantastic race day. It was so lovely to see the Wessex regulars, and the support from the two yapping sausage dogs on the side! (Perhaps that’s my biggest highlight of my day!) and I loved every minute of it. In fact, I’ve already signed up for the next round!

Bonnie Lynn