Gorrick rd 5 – Frith Hill 7th April 2013

Wow – how much difference 2 weeks can make…… from ice packed gloop and freezing conditions to dry fast and….wait for it…. Sunny…. trails. I even had a bit of skin showing on my legs for the first time in months – all 5 inches from the bottom of my ¾ bib tights to my socks! After a somewhat lack lustre ride at the nationals I had put some hours of training in with my shoulder just about standing up to a good mountain bike ride. Still I have lost about 10% of my speed through the singletrack as not quite pushing the envelope as much to give a decent safety margin in preventing falls/crashes. So we rolled into the hard standing car park at Frith Hill for the last round of the spring series with the sun shining down at us and we emerged confused from our cars blinking up at the strange object in the sky. Much of the pre-race discuission wasn’t about tire choice but more what to wear – thin/ thick winter gloves, shorts or not blah blah! Jon P and I did a pre-ride of the course which revealed the trademark twisty-bumpy gorrick format. Some new sections had been cut with the subsequent loamy feel but with a dry course this wasn’t a problem. Not really many hills other than a few sharp climbs but this meant a full on ‘no-rests’ race as consequently not many downhills to play on. It probably suited a full sus with all the bumps. Having missed 2 races due to a) dislocated shoulder and b) the nationals it meant not being in the gridding but I pulled in behind lewis king on the second row. At the horn we were off and I got boxed in and was losing placings into the first turn. A gap opened up and I laid down a sprint getting past Jon P and charging into third place as we entered the singletrack. This was the plan, knowing I would drop back a bit after the first few sections to avoid getting bunched up in the forest trails. Lewis King (Nat Champ) and Steve Calland pulled away to the end of the first lap with a chasing bunch of about 6 riders (Jon P and myself amongst them) coming through with only 20 seconds separating us. By lap 2 Dean Morgan and myself were having a bit of tussle for 6th place – swapping back n forth but a small error in the singletrack cost those vital few seconds which he gapped me and he began to pull away ½ way through the third lap. At this point I was riding on my own and just ground out the last lap at a comfortable pace (relatively!) knowing that Jon P and Co were closing in behind. In the SuperVets Race it was a 7th place for me with Jon P 8th and Stefano Detomaso having a great race and coming in with an excellent 11th in a strong field. In the GrandVets race Rob J was on fighting form and looking to put to right some previous results. As he started the last lap he was leading with Tim Stowe just behind and a small chasing pack further off the pace. In the end Tim clinched the win by just 13 secs. But was a great turn around from the nationals gaining almost 2 min on tim and beating Steve Jones. There was a great turn out from all of the WDMBC /Beyond MTB race team. Agata Tamulewicz had a mechanical and broken chain in the expert female and DNF’s after 2 laps. Other issues occurred as Sean Downey In the Expert male also had a DNF. Clive Evans also had a rough time of it DNf’ing after 1 lap in the grandVet Neil Ellison returning to racing after several weeks of colds/flu’s put in a good performance with a 12th in supermasters. Paolo Ditale was 37th in the vets race. I think team Ellison may have some photos up in the near future. Next weekend is the first round of the southern’s but the rain returns mid week  Good work all and hope to see next weekend! Matt Craner