On the horn I went flying off in 3rd place for the first corner and downhill. Didn't hold it long before another girl came past, wasn't happy about that, thought I'd get her back later when I found my rhythm, but that was wishful thinking on my part! Those 3 went off and took the podium positions, the back 3 had much more of a battle on!
A girl called Kim gave me a run for my money, she overtook me, I was down to 5th - she pulled away too, but I caught her again on a downhill and then got a bit carried away and got all wrapped up in a tree! So she took me again and it went on like that for the whole 2nd lap. Each time one of us made a mistake the other would nip past. When I overtook her she said "well done!" which was a little strange but very nice so I said it to her each time too! Very British.
Whilst all this was going on the other girl slipped past us both. We all finished within a minute of each other and luckily for me Kim didn't get up a short sharp climb near the end so I got in front and managed to hold her off until the end. Just! My breathing was really odd, wheezing for the full 8 miles like I've been smoking 40 a day or something. Ave heart rate was a racy 178.
The course was up and down through the trees and a kind of clay surface which drained all your power. It was smooth though so was quite nice to race on. There was nothing very technical, a few rooty bits and some muddy off camber corners. A drop off near the start that caused a few accidents too. All in all a fun race and lots of top XC riders there.
