Tour of Gizpuzkoa

We had the first stage race of our trip to Basque at the weekend, the tour of Gizpuzkoa. It consisted of a prologue and 3 road races with around 130 starters. We arrived at the prologue venue on the Friday night to find a 2km very tricky course, by very tricky I mean speed bumps, cobbles, kerbs and lots of hay bales. It was a lap round the town and had two 15% climbs in it which would make it more of a challenge. We all warmed up and soon off I went to the start and got the bike check done and waited for the off. The race went well for me except dropping my chain on a rough section but luckily got it back on for the final climb to the finish. I ended up finishing the stage in 3rd spot which was a nice surprise as usually prologues and TT’s are not so good for me.
So the next day I was up for it and it was a hilly road race. On the way to the start we drove the final climb which was 3km with the finish at the top, looked good. We sorted our stuff then headed to the sign on as a team before lining up for the start. It was neutralised for the first decent then the race was on, I soon found myself marked by the other teams which was a problem but the first split of the day happened on the decent which was a first for me. It was nuts, seen two crashes and I was off the road twice more just trying to keep up with the front group round the twisty corners. At the bottom we had a 20man group with about 30 seconds but it was short lived and the race soon came back together. The race continued along and as we approached the final climb I had made it into the front group off about 8 people without the yellow jersey and with a couple of solo attacks up the road. The climb wasn’t too steep so I waited for an attack to come and it was from a lad in a pink team, I followed along with the green jersey and off we went. He paced the whole climb but we couldn’t catch one of the boys who were still up the road and he went on to win the stage by 12 seconds and I finished third spot behind him and the green jersey. This kept me in third overall 10 seconds down. We then went back to our accommodation which was with the other teams and right next to the beach and got some munch before the next day.

The third stage was another road race and just as hilly as the day before but there was also the heat which was going to be a big problem, it was 42 degrees the whole stage! It was the hottest I had ever raced in and it felt like I was in a sauna all day! Lucky for me I don’t mind the heat but it meant drinking about two litres every hour. Stu however hated the heat and therefore decided that since he was suffering so bad he would do the trips to the following car to get water which was quality and we were able to chill out in the bunch. There was a plan for the day and that was to make it to the final day without doing much work and then trying to gain at least 10 seconds on the final climb. The race panned out that there was a split on the main decent and me and Taylor got in it after dodging some hefty crashes and a group formed of about 15 going into the last climb. I attacked early in the climb and caused some damage but the yellow jersey was stuck to my wheel. I attacked a couple more times throughout the climb but couldn’t shift him and over the top we created a group of roughly 7 which worked until the finish which was uphill.  I went early in the sprint but got over taken by the yellow jersey in the last 100m and got 2nd place losing a further 2 seconds. So going into the final day I was 2nd in general classification 12 seconds behind.

The final stage was relatively flat start with one main climb 5km from the finish which we drove it on the way to the start, it looked steep and long enough to get some time. It was a good start to the day as I got to wear the green jersey as I was second in the stage points classification to the yellow which was the first time I had worn a jersey in a stage race which I was pleased about, on the downside I got a puncture on the way to the start which meant a wheel change and a bit of rushing about. Soon enough we were at the start with a plan: this consisted of Stu and Jack covering the early moves and Taylor staying with me all day. I just had to watch the yellow jersey and a couple of other numbers to make sure there were no sly moves up the road and keep hidden and save the legs for the final climb and then go flat out and try and get the 12 seconds needed. The plan worked with Stu getting in the early move of the day which took the pressure of us to chase as we had a man up the road but unfortunately it was eventually brought back. Then 3km from the bottom of the final climb we came out to play, I was sitting about 10th wheel in the bunch and I look across the road to see, Alain, Jack and Taylor lining it out, perfect! I slotted in behind Taylor and off we went ripping it along the coast and lining out the whole bunch. Alain then swung off with jack up next putting in a big turn and then finally Taylor doing his turn as we arrived at the bottom of the climb, spot on. I then attacked right from the bottom with the only one person able to follow, the yellow jersey. I ramped up the pace and started to put some attacks in to try and crack him and get a gap but I couldn’t shake him. I kept on the front with the pace as high as I could in the hope he couldn’t hold the wheel but every time I went he seemed to hold on. As I approached the top of the climb I knew it was getting harder to get the 12 seconds I needed but he was very strong and in the end he held me wheel. As we went over the top it was 5km of downhill to the finish and we had pulled out a lead of 40 seconds to 3rd wheel so it was going to be another sprint for the stage win. As we approached the final km we were keeping an eye on each other then with about 400m to go I went flat out in the hope I could go for longer move but he was much stronger and in the last 50m he came over the top of me to take the win in the stage. So at the end of the stage race I finished 2nd in GC, 2nd in stage points and 3rd in the mountains with the team also taking 2nd spot. So in the end it was a very good stage race for me and some top rides by all the lads to help me get there! Cheers for reading, Grant

I arrived in the Basque country and spent the first week doing some training rides and enjoying the weather. This weekend I had my first race in the Basque country; it started with a long lie as we weren’t racing until the afternoon. We arranged to meet in the afternoon at the club house and give our bags to the team before peddling to the start which was about 5 miles away. The route was about 85km so quite short compared to my usual race length and it was flat for the first half with some longish climbs in the second half. We lined up about ten minutes before the start with about 90 other Basque Junior cyclists and just chilled out with fellow team mates Disco Stu and the Baby Face. The race started neutralised out of the town then soon enough we had started, the first 30min was okay with nothing interesting happening except some small attempts at a break. Then after about 10miles I followed a boy attacking and we were joined by Stu and about 5 others which created a group of 8. It was an exciting time as nobody in the bunch was willing to chase so we soon started to create a gap, and it was looking promising! The main man in the break was the Argentina national champ who is over racing in Basque and he is in the strongest team so I was in the right place. The gap continued to grow to a min when we were joined by the team cars and then 1.30 and 2min where it stayed until the long climb. Me and Stu where feeling rather good and had been putting in some decent turns on the front to make sure we kept the gap. We finally arrived at the main climb of the race, which was about 6/7 mile long with a steady gradient. The group was now getting nervous with people wondering who was going to attack. Me and Stu where patient though and eventually the Argentina Champ attacked and I was right on his wheel with one other boy which now created a group of three. It was then a bit of a game with neither of them wanting to work and forcing me to the front which I didn’t like so I decided to put in a small attack which got rid of one of the boys so it was just me and the Argentinean left. I thought this is good and asked if he wanted to work so we could get a good lead but he kept shaking his head and saying that he didn’t work. Well I wasn’t planning on towing him to the finish, so with him sitting on my wheel I put in an attack as hard as I could and I looked back after about a min to see a nice gap. The boss in his team car was going nuts at him to chase but he couldn’t so that was good, although I was fairly worried though as I still had 10miles to the finish on my own and most of it was flat or with small drags. I got on with it and started ripping into it all the way to the finish with the lads in the team car going crazy at me, I thought I was bound to get caught so kept going hard as I could, then on the final climb towards the finish they came up next to me and told me I had 3min, yaa beautyyyyy!  First place can’t complain for my first race here, job done! We also won first team and I also won the mountains competition which I didn’t realise until the end.

Wasing BMBS

I had the third round of the national mtb series at the weekend at Wasing park near London. We travelled down on friday which was a long journey and then stayed nearby so we could have a long lie on the Saturday morning. On the Saturday I pre rode three laps of the course which I had never rode before and it was relativly flat and non technical, I didnt mind this though as it was a change compared to the hilly races. Then after a good nights sleep on saturday we arrived at the race early so that my sister could race in the junior female, she also did very well and finished 1st junior which is awesomee! The course had changed a lot overnight due to heavy rain and it was now very slippy. The race started and was not too fast for the first couple of laps with a group forming of about 4 of us, I crashed first lap due to some silly mistakes in the mud but I caught back up. After three laps I attacked on a slight climb and managed to get a small gap over the rest of the group which eventully split up and I held off to the finish and joined my sister on the top step of the podium. So a very good day for the Ferguson family. I was also recently awarded athlete of the month from the youth commenwealth games which I was very pleased about and I have attached the report on that, aswel as some pics of Wasing. I am now in the basque country for the next month to race some road.

.http://www.cgcs.org.uk/news-and-media/latest-news/2011/youth-games-athlete-of-the-month-ferguson-on-the-road-to-success/

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

IOM and Junior Peace Race

After the stage race in Belgium we travelled to Isle of Man with the Scottish team for the Isle of Man Junior tour. It was a three day stage race with a TT and two road races. We got there Thursday night after a long ferry journey which was made even longer due to the necessity of study; ahhwell had to get it done. First stage was a short 1km TT along the promenade on Friday night, it went as well as I could hope and I finished in 17th place 8 seconds of the winner, although lots of people were on similar times due to the short length. Then we got lots of munch and went to bed ready for Saturdays race. Race start at 9 meant an early start and soon enough it was underway, it was a windy day and the bunch soon started to diminish, as it was a British race the main difference to Belgium is that the racing was much more negative and nobody wanted to commit to the racing and bring breaks back, so as soon as I realised this the only chance was to try and get up the road. It was a hilly course and with two breaks of 5 up the road I finally got away on a climb with two others and we started working together to get a gap over the bunch and that’s how it ended up finishing, I crossed the line in 12th place which put me in 12th overall. Now the final day of the stage race and it was much flatter course and with two lads attacking from the flag the bunch just stayed together and rode round with no one willing to chase. In the final 3km it was evidently going to be bunch sprint and the bunch was getting nervous with people trying to fit through gaps that didn’t exist. Then soon enough in front of me a Dutch boy crashed and I went straight into it and ended up rolling around on the road. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience and ended up sitting on the road for a while with road burns etc, never good. As it was inside the last three kilometres I was awarded the same time as the bunch which ended up putting me in 14th place. Although I now had another problem as I had broke my Boardman frame and shifters, some broken spokes and a helmet in pieces, and I was due to travel to Czech Republic in two days for my next stage race. So I spent the whole Monday in the local bike shop, Bspoke Cycles fixing up my old trek that I have used in previous years so that I could race that instead. Then on the Tuesday morning I got on my flight to Czech to compete in the junior peace race which was a nation’s cup event with British Cycling. I managed to get selected for this race was because it was going to be rather hilly and with me being skinny it should work in my favour. It was going to be hard though as it was a 6 day stage race over 5 days. As it was a nations cup this meant we would be racing in GB kit which is always good, as we arrived in Prague it was 2 degrees and there had been some snow, not so good that! Although the town we were staying in was an hour north and we arrived to find out that the accommodation we were supposed to be staying in had no one there which meant a nice hotel upgrade for us to a fancy place. Anyway the first stage started in the local town and there was about 120 folk racing from many different countries in the world. The first stage started well but I had to spend a bit of time getting used to the change in bike and hoping my legs would come round as they were still suffering a bit from the isle o man. The course was supposedly the flat stage which still had plenty of climbs, in the end though it was going to be a bunch sprint and a technical finish meant there ended up being crashes, cobbles and some roundabout jumping, crazzyyyy! Finished the stage in 33rd on the same time though. The second stage had some real long climbs that lasted about 30min and that soon split the race to pieces, and the descents were just as scary with a lot of people taking some crazy lines that soon ended up with them off the road... I managed to get myself in the front group of 22 and we built up a lead of over a minute to the chasers and that’s how it finished, I finished in 20th place towards the back of the group, this put me 13th in GC. There was also a crash in our group sprint and the picture below shows the damage...

The next day was a split day with a TT in the morning and a road race in the afternoon. The TT was 12km with some small hills but mainly flat. It went as well as I could expect and I ended up finishing in 55th place losing just over a min to the leader. This moved me to 24th in the GC.  The afternoon’s road race stage was relatively flat with some drags to spread the field out. The first couple of laps had a lot of crashes due to the poor road conditions and with potholes you could see china in, but after the first few laps everybody worked out how to avoid them and it became a bit safer. My legs were beginning to suffer so I spent most of this stage surviving in the bunch and finished in 66th place in the bunch sprint on the same time. The next day was one of the main stages of the whole stage race as it was the longest at 80miles and also the hilliest! The first climb we arrived was straight up and at the top it was split into small groups which formed into a group of about 30 people, throughout the rest of the stage the group gradually got smaller as the hills got harder, one of the main climbs was next to a bobsleigh run and was steeper than 25%. The stage was an uphill finish to a ski station in Germany and by the time we got there, there were no real groups left as everybody was spread out up the climb, I ended up finishing in 12th place about a min down on the stage winner who had been a sol break. This also moved me up to 17th in GC. Going into the final day it was still hilly but with the main day being the stage before people were rather tired, the stage started and finished in a death camp which was a new experience and a bit weird. The stage turned out to be a day of suffering for me as there was nothing left in the legs and I just hung on to the bunch until the finish and ended up finishing in 42nd place in the bunch sprint. This meant that I finished the overall stage race in 16th place which I was quite pleased about. Next up is two world cup rounds on my MTB being held at Dalby Forest Yorkshire and Offenburg Germany.
Thanks for reading
Grant

Dalby NPS and Ster Van Limburg

The weekend of the 16/17 was the second round of the national MTB series at Dalby forest in Yorkshire which is also the world cup course, a good track! We travelled down on the Friday and there was a big Scottish crew camping which was a good laugh, after a couple of laps pre ride on the Saturday I was ready for the race.  The first round had been a close race between me and Matt Sumpton so I was excited for this race. The race started midday Sunday and I had a good start leading into the single-track, after half a lap there was me and Matt away again and did two laps together before he suffered some issues with his chain and I got a gap that I managed to improve through the race to win the second round. Next up was a trip with Scottish cycling to Belgium to compete in a road stage race, Ster Van Limburg. A team of 5 of us headed over with the youth team, it consisted of me, Stu (Hairy stu), Taylor (Old Man), Jack(Baby Face) and Ryan(Baby Dino). It had been a while since I had raced in Belgium on the road with a field of 200 of some of the best juniors in the world and with it hitting 30degrees it was going to be a hard race. First up was the 5km TT, a lot of the teams with TT bikes meant that we were at a slight disadvantage but keen to make an impact. I started as hard as I could and ended up finishing in 82nd place 30 seconds of the leader. Next up was the first road race of 60miles; it was flat out from the start and was crazy! Crashes everywhere and a average speed of 27mph.  A small break got up the road but I finished towards the front of the front of the bunch in 47th place. After plenty of food the next stage was an 80mile road race, the longest race I have done so far this year and I was very tired by the end. It was again a mental start with lots of people trying to attack of the front, same as the day before a break of 20 got up the road and it was sprint finish in the bunch, using the pavements I managed to finish in 52nd place. The final day was the main day of the stage race with some mega cross winds and some hills. The first section of cross winds lined out the whole race and splits started to form, I managed to hold the wheels after the hills I looked back to find there was only 65 people left in the race and everybody else had gone out the back. With only 30 miles left it was a smash fest all the way to the finish where I finished in 36th place just ahead of the bunch which moved me to 52nd in the overall classification. Also well done to all the Scottish Lads and the team, was some quality banter and teamwork throughout the race. Next up was the Isle of Man Junior Tour.
Cheers
Grant

Junior Tour of Bristol

Had my first stage race of the year at the weekend and it was the junior tour of Bristol, a two day stage race and the second round of the national junior series. we were racing as a scottish team so we travelled down together on the thursday. the team was me, stu, jack and taylor and the coaches/mechanic and parent. we finnally made it there on the friday morning and managed to get out for a short spin on parts of the route for sundays stage and realised that it was going to be a very hilly day. the first stage was on saturday and was 8 laps round a 13km flat circuit, working as a team we decided that we were going to try and cover all the moves that had more than three people in them and we set about this from the start with each of us trying to cover moves, plus trying to save energy for sundays stage which was gonna be savage. the stage ended up becoming a bunch sprint which was exciting with riders all over the road, we all made it home at the front of the bunch safely with only a couple of people managing to get clear of the bunch in the final lap. Next up was sundays stage stage which was going to be very hilly with five cat 3 climbs, the first climb came only 10miles into the race and the field was already splitting to peices, i managed to get over this one in the front main group and was feeling strong which was agood sign for the day ahead. a group of four managed to slip away over the top though and built up a lead of 1.30 which wasnt good for us as there was no scottish riders in it. As the race the headed towards the 2nd climb of the day which would be four laps up it and finishing on the final time up, it was a hard climb at 14%. gradually lap after lap i managed to stay in the front group and we reeled in the break away and it was anyones game. in the final lap there was a solo attack from the eventual winner and the group turned negative with nobody willing to chase. we had a wee chat to each other as me and taylor were in this group and felt good, stu had fought hard to get in the group each lap, with him having tired legs we sent him up the road to intiate another person to chase, perfect! me and taylor chilled out and waited as we had no intention of chasing our teamate who was out in the lead. then as the final time up the hill came round it was flat out from the bottem with stu getting brought back and the solo break still ahead it was a race to the top. i used the wheels and manged to stay at the front of the race and finished in 5th place which was a much better improvement on my 50th place at the first round of the national series back in wales, this put me in 6th place overall 58seconds behind on the leader. Also got myself some bang tidy tan lines which i aint going to complain about haha.
here is the BC report on the race http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20110411-Road--Junior-Tour-of-Bristol-0
Cheers Grant

Early season of racing

Hello people, been a while since my last post got a bit lazy during the winter, I guess I’ll start off with my winter training which has gone rather well this year other than a couple of illnesses; I managed to get plenty off miles in. Had the national cyclocross championships in early January which went really well and I managed to finish in 2^nd place which I was really pleased about then finished my cyclocross season off a week later with a win at the Scottish championships. My first race off this season was the first round of the national road series which was being held in Wales, since it was my first race of the year I wasn’t expecting too much, but my lack of race form was prity obvious as I cramped up in the final part of the race and just had to make it home to the finish in about 50^th place. Anyhow next up was the first round of the national MTB bike series which was being held at Sherwood pines in Nottinghamshire. I have raced there many times before so I knew that this course is proper fast and relatively flat therefore it was going to be flat out from the start. I had an average start but through the first lap managed to move in to the top two positions with Matt Sumpton and the race was on. The course being so fast it was hard for either of us to open up a gap and after 4 laps of close racing it was going to be a sprint finish. It was my first sprint finish for a very long time and something I usually try to avoid because it’s not my strongest point, ha-ha. Anyway, I had noticed in the pre ride that if it was going to be a sprint the final section of fire road before the woods was going to be the most important, I used this to my advantage and got in front into the final section and managed to hold Matt of to the finish and claim my first win of the year, by a close 3 seconds. Next up is some more road racing with a super 6 and then the junior tour of Bristol.

That’s all for now

Grant

Cyclo Cross National Trophy-Mallory

Well I haven't been up to too much recently just a bit of training and started to race some cross. The Cross race i chose to do was a round of the National Trophy that was being held in Mallory Park. i didn't have bikes so i borrowed some of my coach and picked them up on the way down to race which was a long journey of 7 hours. We arrived there and i decided to get a couple of laps of the course in and set up the bikes. The course was mainly grass and rather slidy so there was going to be plenty off side ways action in the race, the hurdles were also small which meant you could bunny hop them. Then got a good nights sleep ready for the race :) The race started well and i moved up to 10 place on the first lap then kept moving through the field and got to second which i held on to the finish, behind Alistair Slater. was rather pleased! Then i handed the bikes back and went back home and been training since :) next up is the Scottish cross champs.

Cheers for Reading

G

Selection Camp

After i had competed at the hill climb champs i decided to take a bit of time off the bike and do some normal stuff and recover from a long season racing my bike. I took two weeks off and only touched my bike once to do a bit of downhilling which was a good laugh. since then i got back on the bike to travel to Newport, south Wales for Olympic Development Programme selection camp, these camps are never easy and consist of double sessions a day and some meetings to discuss the programme. Was good fun though and i should find out soon whether i get back on the programme for 2011. other than that i haven't been up to that much, bit of planning and organising some cross racing to do. I will try and keep my blog updated as best I can.

Cheers
Grant

First Blog..End of Season

Well my cycling seasons coming to an end so i thought it would be a good idea to create myself a blog and write about my cycling adventures. It has been a long season starting back in the middle of march and there has been a lot of racing. I spent most of the year building up to the Junior World Championships that were going to be held at Mont Saint Anne, Canada. We raced a full world cup series which was great fun, we got to travel throughout Europe and learn a lot about bike racing. Anyway lets start with the World Championships. we flew out about 10 days before the race but we were also competing in the final round of the world cup series which was held in Windham upstate new york. As this race was the week before worlds there wasn't a big entry, about 30. i got a good start and managed to lead the race round the first lap of the course which consisted of one big climb then a long descent back to the bottom. after the first lap there was a group of 5 of us that had got away from the rest of the field. I started to suffer towards the end of lap 2 tho and started going backwards and crashed last lap. ended up finishing in 5th which i was pleased with but was hoping for a stronger result. i put the fact that i felt bad during the race down to a lot of travel before the race, 3 days of travelling and only a couple of days to recover a long with the jet lag no wonder i was suffering more than usual.

World Championships in Canada

After this we travelled to Mont Saint Anne in Canada for the Worlds. we were staying in a nice hotel that was about 100metres from the course which meant we could see everything that was going on. our race was going to be on the Friday so we had most of the week to pre ride the course and prepare for the race. the course was rather good, it was quite hilly and had just about everything you could fit in a xc course, it was dry so the Rocky descents were covered in about a foot of dust which was making it very technical and the climbs were steep. Race day was a Friday and we had done all our preparation for the race. I was gridded in 9th so was on the second row. i started well and managed to come round the start loop in 10th place and was feeling good. the race was much harder than any race i had done before and it took me the first couple of laps of the course to get going. i finished in 15th place in the end and 2nd first year junior which i was happy about :) After this we watched the rest of the bike racing and went out and celebrated everything :)

The final British Round at Plymouth

i then did a couple more races to finish of my year which consisted of the final round of the British mtb series and the Scottish hill climb championships. I was joint in points in the British series with Steve James so i decided to try and keep my form after worlds and try and win the final round of the British series and win the overall series, i managed to do this which i am really pleased about :). the final race of the year for me was the Scottish hill climb championships which i was looking forward to as i had finished 3rd overall the year before. me and my dad travelled to the course which was the the same as the previous year, it was a long course. i warmed up on the rollers and was third last to set off due to my previous result, i felt good throughout and there was a slight tail wind which was rather help full. i got to the top and was told that i had won and managed a new course record, wooopieee, then when i was at the prize giving i was disqualified due to the fact that i had not raced with a rear brake, it was my own mistake as i had removed it to save weight so as annoyed as i was i learnt a valuable lesson, a full report can be found here: http://www.veloresults.co.uk/2010/10/09/scottish-hill-climb-championships-4/

The final part of the Scottish hill climb championships

Thanks for Reading

Grant :)