Blog April 2023
Spring in year four of secondary school was always going to be difficult combining racing at a national level with the start of my National 5 exams.
Over April/May, I have 6 rounds of the British and Scottish national races covering nearly 4000 miles and 8 exams, so I have had to be disciplined to balance training, traveling, racing, and studying. Our new motorhome has helped this because it makes it easier for me to study whilst we are away. This is one of the reasons I am not taking part in the National short track races because I prefer to study in the van whilst this is on. Being a Scottish rider makes the season harder as our exams are earlier whereas in England the exams are later and there are less races are run during them.
Two races further into the season, and there have been highs and lows. The National XC Series round 2 continued in Margam Park and it was a close race between me, Leon Atkins and Max Standen. The course itself was, in my opinion, a long dirt crit course with a steep climb and without a single red or black graded feature.
After four fast laps, it all came down to a three-man sprint, Leon leading out the final wide muddy grass corner, me on his wheel and Max on his own line slightly behind me. And then I got taken out. As we exited the corner, Leon lost control and jack-knifed, with his back wheel sliding out and just as he straightened out, he clipped my front wheel, and I was thrown over the bars. Leon went on to win the sprint against Max and I rolled in slowly for a disappointing third. It was an accidental racing incident, and these things happen. It was unfortunate, as I believed I had the best line and was carrying a lot of speed into the sprint. I still lead the series courtesy of my r1 win.
The weekend after I found myself back in the Highlands of Scotland. On the Saturday, I took the opportunity to ride a section of the famous West Highland Way from Kingshouse to Fort William. This included a brilliant ride over the Devil's Staircase in Glencoe with some stunning glaciated upland scenery to remind me of my National 5 Geography exam on the coming Tuesday. Taking it easy, the ride was 38km and took three hours.
At Nevis Range in Fort William the next day. the second round of SXC took place. On a proper technical course with an enjoyable variety of technical features such as muddy, rooty chutes, and technical rocky climbs, I rode off from the start to win.
We go onto Winchester for R3 of the National XC Series this weekend with all to play for, with the series and European Youth Olympics selection.
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