Race 36:Hope Series Brownbacks XC, Lee Quarry, 02/10/2011

I enjoyed this race, My Mum & sister came to watch for the 1st time, I love the technical rocky quarry and all I had to really do was finish in one piece and in a reasonable time to take the series title. Sounds easy enough but many people don't finish due to punctures, chain snaps & crashing.

My family battling with the rain and wind
Photo provided by Yorkshire Gallery

The course was different today, one long climb, a few bumps and then a long descent. Much much easier on the body than the usual relentless short sharp climbs that just keep coming. There was one tricky bit which was quite a long rocky path near the top of the climb, where you had to be nimble and lift the front wheel a lot. If you made a mistake and put a foot down it was impossible to get started again. I ended up running the last part on 2 of my laps for that reason. I worried about a puncture every time I did the rock path as there were an awful lot of sharp edges. I was lucky though and got through unscathed.



The start

There were some huge berms and a drop off that seemed to be about a metre high (was it really?) It was one of those where you just have to go with it and everything is fine as long as your weight is back. A few short climbs then a big descent all the way down to the start. There were 2 tabletops down there and for a few laps there was a diversion because one of the Big Bears, Rob, fell and got taken to hospital. He was fine in the end but it didn't look good at the time.


For the whole race I got in front of 2 boys on the way up and they got in front of me on the way down. We overtook in exactly the same spot on each lap too! That was fun. There wasn't the usual stream of elite boys overtaking today, near the end some came and I let them past straight away if it happened on the descent.

I didn't actually get the bell, I heard it as I pulled away from the finish though, the leader was coming up behind me. I asked him to make sure when he passed, great news, I had one less lap to do than I thought! So I cruised round the last lap just trying to stay out of trouble. My legs never hurt in this race and I had no gels or anything. My heart & lungs were maxed out at the top of the climb each time though as it took energy to do the rock path. I went through the line and felt a bit like I'd cheated as I didn't need a lie down or anything. But I'd done what I needed to and I very much enjoyed receiving a lovely hope disk brake trophy in a rock for the win today and then a set of hope hoops with white Crest rims for the series win. A lovely end to the season :-)

The (uphill) finish of the last race in the series

The most excellent trophy - let's hope I get to keep it this time!

The Hope XC Series Womens Winner Prize!