I set my sights fairly high for this race as it was on my door step and was setting off from outside Wheelbase in Staveley.
There were two separate races a Long Course and short course, the Long course being for people who were over 16 years old or if under 16 you have to ride with an adult .
I asked the organiser if I could ride the short course on my own as I knew my dad wasnt up for riding the long course and he wouldnt of kept up with me on the short one.
The week prior to the race had been a hot one and so was race day it was absolutely boiling!, I made sure i kept on drinking all my water i had with me to keep me hydrated.
It was a staggered start from 12.00am I decided to set off at 1.00pm so that I would have people to chase.
We set off out of the mill yard and after 10 metres on the start of the climb up hall lane I made my attack to lead the race! Irealised I made the right decision as no one came with me, i kept the pace going as i was attacking this tough road climb but just kept the pace on and eventually I hit the off road sections which is were I made up a lot of ground on the groups in front, there were some tough sections which I really enjoyed.
The day had been a great success for me!,
I Came over the finish line in a time of 01:55:58 and managed to win the race by 55 minutes in the end so my attack at the start really did prove to be the right thing to do!!..
Rob Jebb won the long course.
Thanks For Reading.
Sam
