Not written much since Sherwood really, but it’s certainly been busy since then! With a little bit of a break in racing it seemed like a good time to report on what’s been going on. Following Sherwood all my efforts turned to Dalby NPS, a more technical track and one which would be a better indicator of my climbing and descending form. A few issues leading up to race day meant I wasn’t as confident as at Sherwood, but when the race started I seemed to be going well and relaxed into it a bit. It became another one on one battle with Grant, until I slipped a chain and lost a fair bit of time. I was still in contention until I found I had a slow puncture and stopped in the arena to inflate it. After this it was just damage limitation, and I rolled in for another second place finish, a little disappointing but a good result given the circumstances.
Given that it was my birthday a few days after Dalby, I took some time off the bike and went over to Snowdonia for a few days with some mates. It was a great way to get away from the stress of training for a bit. We climbed Snowdon, ate good food and drank beer, can’t think of a better reward for the early season success! When I got back though, I found one: an email saying I’d been selected to ride in the next two rounds of the world cup series in Dalby and Offenburg. This was exactly what I’d been working for, and it was the best feeling to finally make the step up to international level!
Those two weeks were pretty awesome. I got the train up to Malton and was picked up by the British Cycling team. After that it all felt very professional! We stayed in some really nice accommodation and were given everything we needed to get the most out of the weekend. On race day I was nervous, but eager to establish where I slotted in on the international scene. The race was the most exciting thing I’ve ever done, the support was great, and I just felt stronger and more relaxed as the race went on. I finished 12th, finishing on the same time as 11th having almost passed him in the finishing straight! The atmosphere in the camp afterwards was great as the other GB guys had all done really well, and we left feeling positive about Offenburg!
We flew out on Wednesday, and on Thursday we got to ride the course. I’d heard really great things about this course and was not disappointed. The track was awesome, there’s really nowhere like it (that I’ve ridden anyway)! It was more natural than a trail centre, but at the same time more technical and with more flow to it. Come race day I was hoping to improve on 12th, and had a good chance, being gridded 13th. Unfortunately I had a few problems during the race: on the start loop I got caught between a rider a post at the side on the track, and came through the start loop in 49th! I was up for the challenge though, and was confident I could work my way through the field like I did at Dalby. I felt really strong and did fight back to 15th on the third lap, but snapped my front mech, which bent the chain so I couldn’t pedal the bike at all. I still cant figure out how this happened (anyone snapped a FRONT mech off before?) but it meant I had a long run to the tech zone. I knew my race was over, but it was funny to be joined by a Belgian who had snapped his rear mech off, and we ended up having a sort of bizarre competition to see who could run to the tech zone the fastest ( turned out he was a much better runner and won by a mile!). By the time I got there I was way down, and we didn’t have the parts to fix the bike anyway. So it was DNF, but I felt really good out there and took a lot of positives away from the event!
Massive thank you to anybody who was there at Dalby, or indeed Offenburg, who supported me! My mates made the trip up from chesterfield which was really good of them (considering bike racing is fairly low down on their list of interests!) so a big thank you to them! Here are some photos Bell took watching from Dixon’s Hollow and Worry Gill http://www.flickr.com/photos/achara42/5746231765/in/set-72157626778518136/
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