Racing The Pros

Another few weeks of racing and training down. This month I have had three races, the 1st Scottish XC round at Cathkin Brae, and a couple of fun offroad duathlons.  

The 1st race of the month was the St. Ninians offroad duathlon which was a Run – Bike – Run format. The course was fairly hilly but technically easy. I took the lead on the first climb of the run and gained a gap into transition one however I was then unsurprisingly caught by Cameron Mason in the ride and was subsequently gapped. Sitting comfortably in second overall into the last run I did my best to close the gap but despite my effort I finished second overall and won my age category. The race was really fun and something refreshingly different, and to be honest, can you really be disappointed being beaten by one of the best cross riders in the world. 

Next, I was at Cathkin Brae for round 1 of SXC. Now being a junior I started with the elite men including U23 world champion Charlie Aldridge, the U23’s and the sport men. This gave me the chance to race much older better riders. The course was quite easy with a few technical sections however it was muddier then some cyclocross races this season. I started well in about 6th overall when I crashed in a rock garden toward the end of lap one. Despite this I kept on racing and ended up still wining my race but still 6min down on Charlie Aldridge. After being apprehended by first aid I discovered the blood on my left knee was actually caused by a fairly large slit rather than a small cut as I presumed. After being bandaged up I was ok. It was a good race apart from the crash and I am just pleased I didn't do any long-term damage. 

The second offroad duathlon was at Bowhill, and in a run-bike format. The run was hard with it going straight into one very steep long climb, then into a just as tiring descent which even went down some mountain bike trails. The ride was fast mostly on fire road or path and was quite wet. The race started well, I took the lead in the run however up the climb, Cameron Mason managed to get away, despite this I kept working and managed to catch him back up on the descent and still beat him into transition 1. Despite his slightly quicker transition I managed to stay with him for the first third of the ride, however despite this unsurprisingly the pro athlete managed to get away. In the end I again finished 2nd overall and won my category. Another result to be pleased with, and at least the gap to the winner was a bit smaller. 

I have a few British XC rounds coming up before my next trip abroad to the Heubach Junior World Series round in Germany. This month has been really fun doing some different races, but I can wait for the XC season to really begin.