Dalby and Offenburg World Cup

After racing some road early season it was time to get back on my Mountain bike for the second and third rounds of the world cup series being held in Dalby Forest, Yorkshire and Offenburg, Germany. First up was Dalby forest and having raced the national round there earlier in the year I knew the track rather well so just had to make sure I was well prepared for the race. I was excited for the race as it was the home world cup round which meant there would be a lot of people cheering which is always good. We arrived on the Thursday before and went for a small spin on the road and then on the Friday we got on the course for some pre laps. It was similar to the national course with a few changes to make the lap shorter and adding in of Dixons hollow which was the final set of jumps. The event village was massive with lots of different stands and teams and the finish straight looked quality. We were up early on race day as our race was the first of the day and arrived at the race with plenty of time to sort out turbo's for warm up and bottles etc. Gridding started 15min before the race and we had to sort ourselves into pens depending on our gridding, I was gridded 6th due to our nation ranking from 2010 which meant I would be on the front row, a rather nice surprise! I knew that the start would be very important so as soon as the gun went I was flat out to follow the wheels and managed to go into the first single track fifth wheel which meant that I avoided the carnage behind. Now that I was in a good place I chased after the wheels and managed to join the front group of two people, after about three quarters of a lap we started looking at each other and therefore the two people behind chasing joined our group to make it 5. We stayed together as a group for the next two laps then on the third lap the main attacks started coming, every time we entered the single-track it was almost a fight to get in there first or second so if it split on the decent there would be an advantage, I had managed to do this first couple of laps but on the third lap went into the long decent forth wheel and with limited place to overtake I came out of the decent to look ahead and see some big gaps, I chased hard but didn’t have the legs to ride across to the other boys who were attacking each other so ended up cramping a bit and trying to make it to the finish. I eventually finished in 5th place which I was pleased with as it was my first world cup of the year.

Dalby Forest World Cup

Next up was Offenburg World Cup in Germany, Originally we were going to be flying from Edinburgh there but unfortunately the ash cloud meant we changed the flights to Manchester. So after waking up at half five to drive to Manchester and then getting the flight, we made it to Germany. We arrived Wednesday night and got to bed then up on Thursday to blast a couple of laps in. The course was really dry and dusty which meant it was going to be fast, it also involved a lot off roots and technical sections which were good fun and was rather hilly. On the Friday we decided to roll down from out accommodation and do one more lap before heading back, then resting and making sure the bikes were ready to go. The race was 12.00 on Saturday, so we sorted some stuff out and headed to the race about 2hours before so we could set up turbo’s and get ready. The field was one of the biggest I’ve raced on the mountain bike with over 130 riders which meant it was going to be nuts. The gridding system worked differently this time as there is now a junior world ranking on the mountain bike and people are gridded of that, so I got some points from Dalby which meant i would be gridded 6th again and on the front row. There was a start loop in this race to help spread people out before the first single-track. The start was again with a gun and went straight into a grassy slope; the French boy next to me used some sly tactics and put his bars into me which meant a bad start for me and dropping back into the twenties. I soon started to find my way and moved through the field to the top ten then as we were approaching the first single-track all the folk at the front looked at each other to see who would lead it into the single track, perfect for me and I as smashed past and lead into the single-track, this meant that I would avoid the pile ups behind and the fighting for position. After about half a lap on the front I started to suffer and 2/3 folk got past then I used their wheels to stay with them for the first lap. A group formed on the front with 7 of us in it, I was last wheel though so when we hit the techy sections I was losing time on the boys on the front and having to try and bring it back on the climbs, then about third lap the front group split and we were all spread out, I was still 7th wheel but I felt good going into the last lap and started to reel people in an ended up finishing in 6th place just over a min of the winner. I was rather pleased at the end with the result and especially because I felt good throughout the race which had been a problem early season and now I have got myself some mtb form.



Offenburg World Cup (picture from Gert Van Horebeek)



Cheers for Reading

G