Bruises upon bruises, scars on scars!!
With the bruises from the National XC coming out nicely I ventured up to Scotland with Rob for a weekend of riding and camping. Arriving on Saturday I took part in a coaching session and learned a little more in what is becoming an extremely complicated sport. As well as been taught about braking, climbing and attempting wheelies pretty badly I also found my tyre on the wrong way and a worn our brake block all of which were sorted before Sunday’s Marathon.
Although these series of rides by Chain Reaction aren’t actual races it might well have been with a mass neutralized start and fast blast up the first of many climbs. Approximately 85km and 3000m of climbing meant the course was either up or down. I was climbing well and descending ok for me, pretty slow but considering how steep some of the single track was I was pretty proud of myself to be riding most of them. Once on one of few downhill open tracks I got into the biggest gear and flew straight through what looked like your standard small puddle… trouble was I think it was more of a crater and I came out in full superman position. Lying face down I did a kind of ‘body check’, i.e. nothing feels broken best get going. With a little help from a guy fixing his puncture I rode on and gradually assessed the bits that hurt. As well as a few bloodied bits my shoulder was agony and I considered taking the 45km course with it not been a race and all. However that never happened and once riding hard again the pain subsided and, filling up briefly on biscuits at the feed station, I rode the full 85km. It was an amazing last climb, up for ages then onto a steep single-track climb before popping out onto a rocky barren top that could have been the moon the time we’d climbed for! The views were amazing and taking them in I missed a turn and rode down an extra single track (yep me getting carried away and wanting more single track!!) I eventually found the right track and continued down to the finish. By then my shoulder was giving me some stick every time I stopped and scooted off which was quite often near the end with lots of mud, rocks and a fast bumpy descent.
I finished 1st woman which obviously doesn’t matter it been a ‘non competitive’ event but you try telling the rest of the guys I was riding near that. I was worried that this country didn’t really have marathon events apart from these sportives but sportive or not it was a still a good race in my eyes!!
Hopefully the shoulder will get better… sleeping in a tent with a deflating mattress wasn’t the most comfortable and typing now is a mission but it seems I can rest my arm on my bars to ride so that’s the main thing!!
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