Twisted Oaks XC MTB, 19 Mar 2023

It's been a while since I've done a race report due to an ongoing back injury last March. Since then I started MTB riding in Oct when I bought Daisy my Trek MTB and have found this easier on my back. I'm thoroughly enjoying the off road experience and gradually building up my confidence which led me to throw myself in the deep end by entering the Crank-it Twisted Oaks XC MTB event.

Wow what a buzz, I was gridded middle of the bunch at the start and found everyone was so friendly. I really loved the technical parts of the course as well as the ups and downs. I soon got stuck in and was right behind another rider until I got on the straight part of the course. My back held up quite well - it started to ache half way through the 1.5 hour race but I moved around to keep it from stiffening up. I overtook another rider also was overtaken by three younger and more experienced riders.

I was pleased with my performance and my level of fitness. I finished overall 9th out of 16 and 4th out of 9 in the Vet category in my 1st XC MTB race. I'm really chuffed and wish there were more of these events.

Sophie Lee