I got up on Sunday morning to find the met office were wrong again. Steady rain was falling in place of the forecast ‘bright with sunny spells’. With limited morning practice time available, I just did one run to check the conditions and found very poor visibility due to the mud flying off the tyres but better grip as the rain had loosened the really heavy stuff.
Race run 1.
I made the wise decision to carry a clean dry pair of goggles with a couple of tear offs in a plastic bag up to the start. Setting off at 30 second intervals I caught and passed the rider in front very quickly as the poor guy was already stopped to take off his goggles. I pushed on through the fast upper section but was already aiming for a safe ride down rather than taking too many chances in the every worsening conditions. I made a few minor mistakes, getting off my ideal line, but I was having difficulty seeing through the mud on my lenses. Trying to find a suitable place to tear off was difficult but I’m glad I did in the middle section. With clear vision I hit the lower fast section and pushed on again. A winter mostly off the bike and was starting to tell by now though and I entered the technical bottom section with tired legs, a pounding chest and again little visibility. I probably took this section a little slow which meant I didn’t carry enough out on to the run to the finish which again required a big push. Crossing the finishing line in 2nd place was great but I doubted I’d keep that for long as I’d been seeded well back. I dropped to 3rd quickly but to my surprise I stayed there for quite a long time, eventually dropping back to 6th as the top seeds came in. I was still only 5 seconds off 3rd though so happy and with room for improvement on my 2nd run. Stuart and Ross Wilcox the hot favourites were 1st and 2nd and really out of reach even after just the first run.
Race run 2.
I knew I had to go for it and pick up the vital 5 seconds that mattered. Even though two hours of steady rain had passed since my first run, the track wasn’t really any worse. I really pushed on through the top and middle sections again and felt I’d maybe made a few second up on my first run. Again thought I was tiring by this stage and didn’t manage to capitalise on any advantage I’d gained. Still too slow through the lower section and out to the finish, I crossed the finish line in 4th place. I’d managed an improvement of 4.9 seconds which was not quite enough for 3rd and there were still a lot of fast guys to come. Unfortunately even though the Wilcox twins didn’t improved, some of the others did and I dropped down to 7th.
Although I was a little disappointed to see myself dropping back down the table I really shouldn’t be. This is my best result to date and a steady improvement in my percentage of the winning pace. The Beefcake performed well all weekend and must take a lot of credit for my improved result. To continue improving I need to work on my fitness and get some more time to get used to the bike. The bike doesn’t need to do anything to improve.
Full results now on roots and rain
Photos and video below. Thanks to my dad for shooting the video!
Scottish Winter Downhill Series Round One 2011 from John (Bigfoot) Hird on Vimeo.
Photos by Ian Linton
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