MTB Series Finale, Saturday 25th October
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So a few weeks ago, I entered the Banjo Cycles XC Rampage series because I felt obliged to race more cross-country in order to get my endurance levels up to scratch. I can honestly tell you, I’m glad I did! Alongside me (but in a younger age category), also wearing the orange and yellow of HSS, was Nathan George, who managed to take top of the podium at the end of every race, as well as the final series!So I didn’t compete in the first race, however I did compete in the remaining 3. My first race (Round 2) wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go. After a rubbish start and stacking on the third corner, I’d already lost my main competition, so I sort of just cruised the rest… And in honesty, being on flats and having half the pedal power of clipless ones didn’t exactly help, either! Well Round 3 was amazing for me! Having fitted the SPDs, I sprung off the line and managed to clip in instantly, getting into the first corner in front of my main rival (mate, but rival…), Tom. Being consistent, Tom was on my wheel for the bulk of the first lap, but eventually decided he couldn’t do it and I lost him! Therefore, I came second in the race, which got me quite a few points! Still not first, but I won’t complain… It’s probably worth noting that they reversed the course, so I liked it a lot more: there was a nice tabletop, and now we were going the other way, there was a lip as well (which I whipped J); there were some nice rooty sections that i just jumped over; and they even managed to throw in a hip jump! It was a nice fast course… Onto Round 4 – and simply put, the night race ended in complete shambles for me. I came 5th in my age category, but I reckon I would have finished better if I wasn’t still recovering from a knee injury and I could actually see where I was going (my handlebar lights weren’t bright enough and I should’ve worn a helmet one so I could’ve seen round the corners!)!Anyway, it was still a good experience… And then I got the news that I’d finished third in the series! I didn’t see that coming, but I was still very pleased. All in all, it was a great series, and hopefully next time we’ll see more orange and yellow at the XC races! Report By Seth Kanaris |
