Southern Enduro Series 2018 #1 - Getting My Head in the Game

The ultimate race face - please note colour-coordinated hair bands! Photo credit: urbanWOLFphotograhy

It’s hard to believe the Southern Enduro Mashup was 5 months ago but that might be because we’re all trying to mentally block out the slop-fest of a winter that has occurred in between! However, just over a week ago the woods and trails of QECP were echoing once again with the ticking of rear hubs, whoops of laughter and gasps as breaths were exhaled after successfully negotiating particularly sketchy features. Suffice to say the season started well!

Arriving at QECP always feels like the welcoming line at a drive-thru wedding. You turn in and follow the fire road, windows down, stopping to greet friends until you come to the next available space; at which point you start unloading your bike and greeting those coming behind. Sunday was no different and it was exciting to see that nearly all the regulars were there as well as other friends from the local MTB scene.

Normal service is resumed in practice with Nikki, Holly and Martin

In the couple of weeks prior to Round 1 of the 2018 Southen Enduro Series, Scott had been teasing us with pictures of the work being done to enhance the trails – banked berms on the tight switchbacks; a couple of bigger drops and a gap jump. Catering for all levels of rider it’s a fine balance between enticing the more acrobatic racers and those who love the thrill of simply steering their bikes round the trails and letting gravity do it’s thing. The other big change was the traffic-free but slightly longer transition. It divided opinion but when you think about it from a safety point of view, it makes a lot of sense to have 250+ riders climbing back up to the stage heads far away from spectator and safety vehicles. Having ridden one of the Innerleithen EWS stages a couple of weeks ago, I think we’re bloody lucky we don’t have to go uphill during a stage 😉!

Growing number of women racing - and Martin ;-)!

With the altered transition, we now had the whole hill to play on because the stages could cross the central fire road that traverses the hill and had previously been used as a transition. This meant longer stages with a distinct feel to each – and we finally got to ride a trail which previously was used as a transition. Every time I’d ridden up that trail, I’d thought it would be great going the other way; and it was! Stage 1 was relatively flat and rooty – a bit of an XC challenge that forced you to push really hard to hold any pace on the greasy surface. By the time everyone had ridden it for practice it felt tackier but it was still a lung-buster. Stage 2 was again fairly pedally starting on the same side of the hill as Stage 1, but quickly crossed the fire road and became a mix of features and speed! Stage 3 was pure fun – the tight switchbacks that had been built up by the team were sweeeeet! The final stage, 4, was the most technical for me, but had so much to enjoy on it.

Photo credit: urbanWOLFphotography

After practice I felt that my biggest challenges in the race were going to be stages 1 and 2. Holding speed over roots and round corners is something I find hard. Remembering how the largely flat first stage at Pippingford had fooled me last year I was determined to give it everything. Apart from a couple of stalls on both stages, I dug deep and pushed harder than ever to keep my speed. Up till now, I’ve found spectators distracting and it’s been a joke among friends that you must never call my name if you see me racing. This time was so different! I found my focus and didn’t even see people by the track. The more they cheered me on, especially by name, the more strength I found to pedal and concentrate. I came off both the first stages buzzing (and near to cardiac arrest). Sadly, stages 3 and 4 didn’t feel the same – I pushed too hard and felt frustrated with my riding.

We were actually about to die at this point. Straight off Stage 2 with Nikki

Like many of us I’m a competitive person but as you’ll know from reading my recent blog I don’t always have the strongest mental health. For me riding is an escape and a passion and to keep it that way I need to make friends with my competitive side too. What happens when you don’t feel you’ve done your best? When the time you achieve doesn’t put you in the top 3? Last year was my first year racing and it was convenient to pacify those questions with answers like ‘it’s only my first year’ and ‘I haven’t been riding long’. I naturally assumed that everyone else is immune to mind games but chatting to friends it turns out they’re not – it’s why Manon Carpenter retired from Down Hill racing after all. Driving home, feeling slightly despondent about my placing, I began to think about why I race. I realised that if you told me I’d never come top three, I’d still want to be there racing. I race to challenge myself, to make friends, to ride in different places, to get faster but mainly to have fun! Lots and lots of fun!

With Jen - awesome 3rd place finisher in her category! Tara - I just spotted you ;-))!

It’s how we approach the racing that matters and the people who get that right often do the best and get the most from it. I am proud to race in a category full of strong and skillful riders for whom I have enormous respect. I am still working towards getting faster and finding my place on that podium based on my speed down the track, but in order to maintain my love of the sport I need to know that it’s not the only way to find value in racing. If I’m going to spend my time beating myself up for not standing on a wooden box at the end I might as well give up now. With that in mind, my race was great, thanks! Really amazed with my focus and sustained power through a couple of the stages and I know what I want to work on for the next round. Loved the variety of the stages and the new features too. It was so good to see loads of friends and I laughed all day! Result!

As always massive thanks to Scott, the SE team and all the marshalls for another great day’s racing! Can’t wait for round #2.

NEXT UP:

Over the winter I’ve been working with Karen and Adrian at Pure Body Balance to look at my fuelling, movement and mindset on the bike. Look out for my blog on it coming soon.

Photo credit: Stuart Swaby

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