Midlands Winter Series Round 2 - Bringewood
Can't believe the Winter Series is almost over! Round 2 has just been and gone, on the old Nationals track at Bringewood.
Saturday's practice was really muddy and slidy but still quite fun. That track is sooo tiring though. There's so much to do in the middle & bottom sections - pumping, hopping and generally pinballing your way between the trees. It was great to hit them with a bit of speed and double everything up though, just like you were riding trails. Nice.
The weather was dull but it remained dry, so by Sunday the very slippery top off camber corners were significantly more grippy and much easier to navigate. The rest of the track was similiarly more predictable and the whole thing was running so much faster. I got everything properly sorted in morning practice, and as the sun came out to warm us through it was time to head up for the first race run.
Right from the start it was a good-un, I hit the first two muddy corners near enough spot on, a little slow through the next few, but then onto the old track and things weren't going too badly. It was a bit steady the rest of the way but with no glaring mistakes I was feeling pretty good. Then right near the end I caught two slower riders who had nowhere to pull over. I felt pretty bad about yelling at them but it had to be done. I eventually got by and crossed the line on 3mins dead. I was stoked to have had a crash-free run after a long run of crashing during race runs, and was sure i could shave another 5-10 seconds off in the second run. Unfortunately my gears jammed near the start and when they freed up I was a little over-eager in making up the time and hit a section a little too fast resulting in a crash.
It was still a great weekend though - great uplift and organisation as usual from the Pearce crew. Also great to see Fabien Barel back from injury and choosing Bringewood to try out his new bike. Tracy Moseley was racing too - real good to have none other than the World Cup Champion to compare my time to! I finished 2nd overall and am the current series leader, and looking good for the win on at the final round on March 18th.
Saturday's practice was really muddy and slidy but still quite fun. That track is sooo tiring though. There's so much to do in the middle & bottom sections - pumping, hopping and generally pinballing your way between the trees. It was great to hit them with a bit of speed and double everything up though, just like you were riding trails. Nice.
The weather was dull but it remained dry, so by Sunday the very slippery top off camber corners were significantly more grippy and much easier to navigate. The rest of the track was similiarly more predictable and the whole thing was running so much faster. I got everything properly sorted in morning practice, and as the sun came out to warm us through it was time to head up for the first race run.
Right from the start it was a good-un, I hit the first two muddy corners near enough spot on, a little slow through the next few, but then onto the old track and things weren't going too badly. It was a bit steady the rest of the way but with no glaring mistakes I was feeling pretty good. Then right near the end I caught two slower riders who had nowhere to pull over. I felt pretty bad about yelling at them but it had to be done. I eventually got by and crossed the line on 3mins dead. I was stoked to have had a crash-free run after a long run of crashing during race runs, and was sure i could shave another 5-10 seconds off in the second run. Unfortunately my gears jammed near the start and when they freed up I was a little over-eager in making up the time and hit a section a little too fast resulting in a crash.
It was still a great weekend though - great uplift and organisation as usual from the Pearce crew. Also great to see Fabien Barel back from injury and choosing Bringewood to try out his new bike. Tracy Moseley was racing too - real good to have none other than the World Cup Champion to compare my time to! I finished 2nd overall and am the current series leader, and looking good for the win on at the final round on March 18th.
posted by Emily at
9:33 PM
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