Punctures or "flats" can strike a mountain biker any time any place and like lightening. They sometimes do it twice.... After a good couple of weeks training and some signs of form. I was super excited stood on the start line down in Pippingford yesterday morning....
In my usual over confident way, I made sure everyone knew "id not driven that far to go home empty handed", All the favorites were there (minus Jez Cox) and we set off down the first hill at a reasonable pace swapping the lead between us for the first 3km. Colin Dixon then decided it was time to show us his game plan and ran off at a pace so high, no one could respond. The race began to split up and by T1 he had build a 2minute lead over Sam and Jim who in turn had 30-45sec over me. A further 2minutes back was a group containing Paul. Now, Colin's known for his lack of technical riding skills and with the course being super muddy and riders like Sam/Jim/Paul and myself in the chase, it wasn't long before he had been caught and dropped by the flying Jim and Sam. (Dixon pulled out soon after, perhaps showing his cards early in the run hadn't left enough in the tank for the ride?)Jim said "after we caught Dixon, there were a couple of clicks from Sam's gears and that's the last I saw of him!" After crossing the line with a 6minute win margin, Sam said "it was a lonely day once id left Jim" Jim held on for second and Paul made it a 1-2-3 for the Xterra boys.....
So what of yours truly?
Well I certainly need to start my speed work and find a little more pace in my running. Because when the season really kicks in, I want to be ahead of those guys,not chasing... Still 4th at T1 wasn't so bad, but a loss of air from my rear tire within the first km, soon the day was turning for the worst!!! A quick shake a spray with foam/gas can and the tire had re-inflated and I was able to retake 4th quickly and begin my chase for the lead... Onto a fire road climb and I started to put the hammer down, when the rear tire started slipping and rolling off the rim and all the air soon went out, leaving both the tire and me feeling seriously flat.........
For the second year now Ive not finished my season opener in the way i wanted due to flat tires.(is someone trying to tell me something?)
Today even though id not done the complete event i could still feel the 10km of running in my legs. Showing that its time now to up the pace and get the body ready for April and the pain of Xterra.
Yesterdays top boys, pictured in better conditions:
Left-right:1st Sam Gardner/ 3rd Paul Davies/ 2nd Jim McConnel
Updated
Now also read Jim McConnels verson of events, here
