What A Weekend….

What a weekend!!
Well I’ll start at Sherwood Pines the 2nd round of the NPS race series.
My Dad and I arrived on Friday afternoon and pitched our tent, the weather was looking a bit dodgy with grey clouds and forecast for rain.
I managed to get 2 really good laps in on the course and my first thoughts were that the course was “Bloody Hard”
The course had some very steep bankings one of which I couldn’t even ride up, some tricky log drops, some fast singletrack and short sections of forest road sections.
I kept thinking if it rains tonight, tomorrow will be hell especially the single track and tree roots.

By 8pm the storm arrived and it hammered down all night.
I was starting to worry, I knew I had to get an early night as tomorrow was going to be very hard and it was an early start, so I got myself to bed at 9:30pm the rain still hammering it down.

I woke at about 8am and was pleased that the rain had stopped, the sun was out which helped to dry the tent.
I had a good breakfast and then had a good spin on the bike to get warmed up.
By 9:50am we all lined up for a 10am race start, I was so nervous but managed to get a good position on the line and was feeling slightly better, there is nothing worse than a bad start on the line.
The whistle went and off we went, I had a desperate start as I had slipped my front derailleur into the smallest ring on the chainset and was spinning like crazy.
By the time we hit the forest track I was in a really bad position stuck behind a small group, I knew I had to work hard if I wanted a good result.
When we hit the first singletrack section and I was stuck behind a group of about 5 lads who were going slower than I wanted to go, I needed to get pass them.
I made a move on the singletrack section, managing to just get pass but taking some brambles with me!. As we hit the forest track I made a serious effort to catch the next group ahead, I put on a bit of a burst and managed to get with them just before we went back on another singletrack section which was really “routy” and slippery. I had to watch my speed as I didn’t want to over do it and come off.
I stayed at the back of the group until I hit the forest track and then I made a move for it, I managed to get to the front of the group and as we hit another section of singletrack I realised that the group behind wern’t pushing hard.
I lead this group for about 10 minutes, and I felt I was doing ok. I could see a group of about 3 riders up ahead so I decided to push a bit harder, as I started to chase the group ahead we came up to a log drop which you could either go around (which most people did) or over it, stupidly I decided that it would be a lot faster if I just flew over the drop but I under estimated it and only realised when my front wheel got on it that it was slippery as hell, before I knew it I was off the bike lying in the mud, winded and my morale at rock bottom.
I was really gutted as I could see all the rest of the group I was leading ride off while I sat in the mud!
It just wasn’t my day so I decided it would be best to drop out.
My dad was fairly pissed off as he thought I looked strong and doing really well when he had seen me out on the course.
I had to tell my mates that I had given up which made me feel even more gutted and I kept on saying to myself “why did I drop out I should of kept on going!” but it was too late.

Well done to Will Verney who won the race and was in a class of his own.

I have to put my race behind me and forget about it and put it down to experience.

Well after a bad race on the Saturday I had to try and make up for it on Sunday at the Merida Marathon in Penrith at the Cumbria Bike Fest.
I had entered the 28km race and knew it was going to be just as hard as Saturday’s race if not harder as I would be racing against adults not just my age group.
I registered for the race at about 8am, the race was starting at 10am with about 1600 people in total entered for the different distances.
The set up was really good with lots of different stalls and activities going on, there were loads of people, I knew it was going to be a massive race!.
I was a bit worried because everyone would all be setting off together, that’s approx 1600 people all setting off together!.
Half of them were doing the 86km route with the others doing the 47km or the 28km races.
I got to the starting grid at 9:30am and thought I needed to be in a good position so that I didn’t get mowed down in the charge.
I made sure I was in the first few lines of riders just behind some of the elite men. I felt really confident and knew it was going to be my day.
I looked around to see if I could make out other riders numbers to see if they were doing the 28km race but it was impossible to tell so I knew that I just had to go for it from the off.
At 10.00am the race started and I shot off with the front group,I realised I was racing next to Nick Craig (Scott UK) who was doing the 100km,we hit a road section and I was going as fast as hell, I must have been in the top 20 at this stage.
I was feeling great but also fairly knackered this was only 10 minutes into the race and I knew I had a long way to go. The 86km ,47km and 28km were all riding together and I was really enjoying myself.
We were all chatting to each other and people were encouraging me to keep it going. After another road section it soon went quiet as I headed off on my own as the 28km riders split from the 86km ,47km riders.
I headed off on a narrow single track and a marshall said “Your First” I couldn’t believe it, I was so shocked I was actually leading a race.
The feeling was amazing but after about 10 minutes of riding on my own I was feeling bad as there was no one to speak to or cheer you on.
I knew I had to just keep this lead, I hit a fantastic singletrack which went for about half a mile.
After a short climb I came to a gate where my dad was waiting, he gave me an energy bar and a drink which made me feel a little bit better.
I knew I still had a fair way to go as I set off on another short road section,I kept on pushing hard even though I felt like crap.
I came to the bottom of this steep grassy climb, I looked towards the top and thought this is a big one there is no way I would get up there.
I put it in a low gear and just kept spinning managing to keep going on the grassy hairpins.
By the time I got to the top my legs were cramping up, I was knackered but I kept shouting to myself “Come on Sam!”.
I looked back down the climb and could see the 2nd rider just on the road and knew that I had a massive lead.

I was out on my own, I was winning and I wanted to prove myself that I really could win a race. I kept on pushing my weary legs around the crank and hoped that the finish was soon.
There was a sense of relief when I could see a forest in the distance I knew that I must be close to the finish line.
I kept on going for it and hoped there would be no more climbs, but unlucky for me there was another climb up into the forest were my dad was waiting, he gave me encouragement and said that it was very close to the finish, I was cramping all the way up the climb but I could hear the tannoy at the finish area.
I managed to keep it going even though I had nothing left in my legs but it didn’t matter so much because the finish was there!.
I finished the race in 1 hour 34 minutes the time keepers were shocked when I came through they said I must of been flying!,
The feeling of winning was fantastic, I was over the moon with the result and especially pleased to win the race against all ages by over 14 minutes.

After the race they even wanted me for 2 minutes to do a little interview over tannoy, and the photographers taking photos of me, They treated me like I was some professional racer!.

Now I know how good it feels to win I will want that feeling again!!!.

Sam