Not had a post for too long, so I’m going to do a quick catch up on what I’ve been doing cycling wise…

SXC 2007 Round 2 – Dalbeattie

The second round of the SXC series was at Dalbeattie, one of the 7 Stanes best known for it’s rocky singletrack and steep slabs. True to previous form, the race course avoided most of this, and instead used a large amount of steep natural singletrack. Super dry conditions meant that some corners were deep sand instead of the slippy mud of previous years.

In the Expert/Elite race I got off to a good start, though lost a few places on the first descent when I ended up behind the tape after a bit of mis-direction. I also had cramp for the first 2 laps, so had to ease off the pace a bit. Once the cramp disappeared I was flying again, really enjoying the course.

On the last lap I decided to give it everything, locking my forks out and stomping on the pedals up the main climb. I passed several people here, and caught Andy Wardman, who I passed on a later section of fireroad to put almost a minute into him before the finish.

I was 13th overall, which compared to the top fives I was getting last year is a little poor. No doubt the field is stronger this year, as my form is definitely better than last.

Ingliston Crit Series

For the second year in a row I was riding the support races at the Cycling Scotland Ingliston Criterium Series. A bit of a mixed bag of results here…

  1. First round I got stuck behind two crashes, losing me decent position in the field. Low 20s finish.
  2. Second round I lost a contact lens on the 3rd last lap, making things slightly difficult. Low 20s finish.
  3. I missed the third round due to the SXC race the next day.
  4. Round 4 – Sat in the front of the field for the first few laps, helping to chase down breaks. Came back to the front near the end and held my position to take 10th in the sprint.

A Century

On saturday Tom and I went on a big hilly loop round Innerliethen, Biggar and Lanark. It ended up being 100miles, not bad for a 6 hour day in the saddle. I’ve never done 100miles before, but as with the other long distances I have done, I find that after about 70miles my legs just keep going.