20th Mar 2010
Jack Reading 2nd
At the Alpine Bikes Winter Series round 3 up in Innerleithen Scotland...
The snow and ice held off for this weekend and made for some fast racing. Check the vid:
Jacks race report:
"It’s been a slow start to 2010 for racing in the UK with two cancelled races through February due to the weather. However we finally got going yesterday at the 3rd round of the Alpine Bikes winter series at Innerleithen.
After rupturing his spleen five weeks ago, and therefore out of action, a mate of mine and elite rider here in the UK, Peter Williams, was called in by race organiser Mike Marsden to choose and tape a track for the event (there are so many options at Inners). The track turned out to be awesome, which isn’t surprising with Pete being a great rider himself. I got a bit over excited with the whole thing on Saturday and did a lot of practice.
We finally had a race which wasn’t ruined by icy conditions so it was awesome to get between the tapes and really let rip! I put in 7 runs on Saturday, which probably doesn’t sound like much, until you consider the 2 mile pedal to the uplift each time you want to do a run, and then the 10 minute steep slippery push to the top of the track after getting off the uplift. So after the 7 runs I was knackered and, on the final run, had a couple of close encounters with trees which my new O’Neal Hellraiser jacket protected me from! However it meant I knew the track inside out by the end of the day and was feeling confident for Sunday.
With 2010 being my first season racing in the elite category, and this being my first race, I was super excited on Sunday morning and fighting back the nerves. Especially with the elite field being 8 riders strong and including World Cup regulars Joe Barnes, Tom Braithwaite, Sam Dale and Ruaridh Cunningham plus some other absolute pinners.
When Sunday morning started I felt rubbish! Feeling sleepy, not up for it and drained of energy. I had some SIS Go Electrolyte drink before practice along with an energy gel and luckily by the top I was feeling much more alive. By the time my tyres left the start gate I was back to feeling good. I did another 3 practice runs in the morning and after these, was feeling really confident. I knew my lines, felt good everywhere on the track and except for feeling a bit tired physically due to all the practice I’d done, was generally looking forward to getting to the business end of the weekend.
My race run went well considering it was the first I’ve done in five months. I made a couple of little mistakes losing a second or two here and there but apart from that it was pinned and I was happy with it. When I got to the bottom I went into 1st place with two elites having already come down. I was 1st by about 8 seconds at this point with a time of 3.25.0 so was hopeful for my first elite podium... I held onto 1st place until the very last elite came down the hill. Ruaridh crossed the line with 3.24.6, narrowly edging me off top spot by 0.4 of a second. For the full results check this link.
So a great start to 2010. Even though it’s only my first elite race I feel a little disappointed to have missed out on top spot by such a small margin. I should just be dead chuffed with the result, but I’m a racer and I always want to win!
Next week is the UK University Championships at Ae forest in Scotland which should be another great event and hopefully another good result for me and my Ellsworth."
After rupturing his spleen five weeks ago, and therefore out of action, a mate of mine and elite rider here in the UK, Peter Williams, was called in by race organiser Mike Marsden to choose and tape a track for the event (there are so many options at Inners). The track turned out to be awesome, which isn’t surprising with Pete being a great rider himself. I got a bit over excited with the whole thing on Saturday and did a lot of practice.
We finally had a race which wasn’t ruined by icy conditions so it was awesome to get between the tapes and really let rip! I put in 7 runs on Saturday, which probably doesn’t sound like much, until you consider the 2 mile pedal to the uplift each time you want to do a run, and then the 10 minute steep slippery push to the top of the track after getting off the uplift. So after the 7 runs I was knackered and, on the final run, had a couple of close encounters with trees which my new O’Neal Hellraiser jacket protected me from! However it meant I knew the track inside out by the end of the day and was feeling confident for Sunday.
With 2010 being my first season racing in the elite category, and this being my first race, I was super excited on Sunday morning and fighting back the nerves. Especially with the elite field being 8 riders strong and including World Cup regulars Joe Barnes, Tom Braithwaite, Sam Dale and Ruaridh Cunningham plus some other absolute pinners.
When Sunday morning started I felt rubbish! Feeling sleepy, not up for it and drained of energy. I had some SIS Go Electrolyte drink before practice along with an energy gel and luckily by the top I was feeling much more alive. By the time my tyres left the start gate I was back to feeling good. I did another 3 practice runs in the morning and after these, was feeling really confident. I knew my lines, felt good everywhere on the track and except for feeling a bit tired physically due to all the practice I’d done, was generally looking forward to getting to the business end of the weekend.
My race run went well considering it was the first I’ve done in five months. I made a couple of little mistakes losing a second or two here and there but apart from that it was pinned and I was happy with it. When I got to the bottom I went into 1st place with two elites having already come down. I was 1st by about 8 seconds at this point with a time of 3.25.0 so was hopeful for my first elite podium... I held onto 1st place until the very last elite came down the hill. Ruaridh crossed the line with 3.24.6, narrowly edging me off top spot by 0.4 of a second. For the full results check this link.
So a great start to 2010. Even though it’s only my first elite race I feel a little disappointed to have missed out on top spot by such a small margin. I should just be dead chuffed with the result, but I’m a racer and I always want to win!
Next week is the UK University Championships at Ae forest in Scotland which should be another great event and hopefully another good result for me and my Ellsworth."
Read more from:
This month
Last month
This year
Last year
