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Black Park Country Park XC race
Event Review 15th March 2009 Race: WDMBCs Black Park Country Park XC race. Position finished: 12th View from the pack: I competed in this event 2 years ago, and at the time it was the first XC race I had ever done - at the time it was a huge awakening to the speed and level at which races were run at. Fast forward to this weekend and instead of going along to find out what racing was all about I was keen to get some racing miles in preparation for this seasons bigger races. The course was a very flat affair, not even a single climb within the lap. Overall the lap was not that technical living up to its billing as a good race for beginners and intermediates. What it lacked in hills and technical sections it more than made up for with tight twisting single track. The lap was perfect for working on my weaknesses I normally struggle in flat twisty races as I find it hard to get into a rhythm. With this in mind I was keen to put in a strong performance. Rather than the more familiar categories of Elite, Expert, Sport, Masters, Open, this race had everyone racing in one category. This led to a wide range on abilities out on the 3miles lap, and with 54 of us lined up to start, bottlenecks throughout the single track on the first lap were abound. I got a disappointing start by getting caught up in the bottle necks on the first lap, the first lap was 2mins slower that all my other laps, but I made steady progress moving up through the field. I aimed to ride in a different style in this race, rather than just trying to blow through everything at an even tempo (as I spent much of last season doing) I tried to mix up the pace more and ride more aggressively. It payed off well and I found that I was able to move through the placings more easily. I spent most of the race chasing riders down moving up a few places a lap. Through laps 5-7 I was in no-mans land with seemingly no riders nearby to chase down, however my fast tempo through the lap payed of and on lap 8 I caught several riders who had clearly gone out too hard and were beginning to tire. My endurance strengths once again being rewarded with consistent lap times, particularly pleasing as I had competed in a road race on Saturday. This was further backed up by a sprint finish to gain another placing in the results, this was a big positive for me as I normally struggle when it comes to having a turn of speed. As I look forward to the season ahead, I appear to be in good form, but I am well aware that I need to work on my technical skills, and also drastically improve my start so that I don't loose so much time off the start line. The next XC race isn't for a month so I will spend the time training and working on the weaknesses, filling my time with a couple of road events to help build my speed. Kind Regards Mark
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