Blogs
Mon, 28 Jun 2010
A word from the Welsh MTB Champion
By Gabby Day - Horizon Fitness Racing Team
This weekend I have been in Wales in a town called Builth Wells for the Welsh Mountain Bike Championships. You couldn’t have asked for a better weekend weather wise. It had to be one of the hottest weekends so far; perfect weather for a beach day! And not so perfect race weather as it was a little on the hot side. But I shouldn’t really complain.
I travelled down on Friday with my Gran & Grandad - it was a nice mini holiday for them both! We stayed in a lovely little B&B in the middle of the welsh countryside; it was very picturesque, down a tiny, twisty lane surrounded by sheep!
On Saturday morning I had a Welsh testing day for potential Commonwealth Games 2014 mountain bike team riders. This involved a few Watt Bike tests, sprint, and endurance. In the afternoon we headed out to Sunday's course at Fforest Fields to do a lap. The course was tough; lots of climbing, with the first half of the lap climbing and the second half of the lap descending. Some of the course was quite technical, with a lot of roots and 2 stream crossings.
For the rest of the day I chilled out by the river Wye in Builth Wells. Rick arrived on Saturday evening with the camper van so we camped on the camp site at Fforest Fields, which was a lovely quiet countryside site, right next to the race venue. My race was at 1:30 on Sunday afternoon so I had plenty of time to relax and keep cool in the shade as it was extremely warm. I warmed up on the turbo in the shade, and then made my way to the start. I was already beginning to sweat before the start.
The start went straight uphill, so was not a great feeling for the legs. My race was 5 laps, so was tough. It was also nice to be with the men too as that always gives a good race. It was very important to keep hydrated over the 2 hours of racing so it was great to have Rick handing me bottles up.
The back part of the section was baking hot on the climbs; there was no air and the rocks held all the heat in. It felt like you could have been on a trail abroad.
What was really nice during the race was to have my top supporters cheering me on - it really helped seeing them on different parts of the circuit.
I was very happy to cross the line first and be able to stop! It had been a tough afternoon's racing. But I was happy how everything had gone and I am now Welsh MTB Champion!
I now also have some great cycling tan lines! Not a great look in a vest! Overall, I had a great weekend in Wales and am now looking forward to the Dalby Forest NPS this weekend, where I will be riding in my Welsh champion's jersey.
For more information about the Horizon Fitness Racing Team, visit www.onthedrops.com.