Sherwood Pines

My first race of the year! Well for a year in fact :)

This time last year I started to get some tendinitis in my knee, and it's taken me a while to figure it out. So this year I've started to put a bit of effort in again, hence joining the alpha's on a Saturday :)

So I decided to race the national series this year. The first round was at Sherwood Pines in Nottingham.

Me, Paul Facer and Tom (Paul's friend who kindly put us up for the weekend) -Hello Tom,Rachel,Martin and Jude:)- Went for a quick spin around the course. I was surprised by how amazingly like Thetford it was.But it was even less hilly!

This year I'm in a different category to Paul, he's vets and I'm now in the grand vets. The start time was 3pm!! 3pm is ridiculous, that's when I take my afternoon nap! Don't they realise that we oldsters start to get up earlier and go to bed even earlier. I'm up and dressed at 7am ready to go, but it's still eight hours before we start. :)

I'm standing in the paddock two rows behind the seeded guys, surrounded by scary looking proto-pensioners in lycra. The gun goes and they're gone in a cloud of choking dust, I'm still trying to clip in as they disappear toward the first singletrack section. I can't close on them at all, until we hit the singletrack where technically I'm much quicker. But, out onto the fire road again and they're gone. This goes on for a while and gradually I pull two or three back on the singletrack sections. This is tough, each time glance down at my HR monitor I see the high 160's.

I gradually pull in a few of the vets who'd set off before the grand vets, and it's over. Four 7.5km laps - 1.42' This short sharp type of racing is utterly new to me, it's usually fours plus.

I can see where I need to improve: My bike handling is fine, and from riding with the Alphas on a Saturday, I can hold the pain and high heart rates. I just don't have any strength. :)

My heart rate averaged 163, My maximum is 175.

Paul had a good race and was a minute faster than me on every lap.

So next week back to riding with the Alphas :)

The picture is me and Paul picking up our prize for coming joint 312th :-)