Lindsay Races Rheola
It seemed strange leaving work at 5.30 on a Friday afternoon to only have to drive 20 minutes up the road for a track walk instead of the usual 2.5+ hours. Rheola forest has a well earned reputation stemming from the old Dragon downhill days when the likes of Manon Carpenter and Mike Jones cut their teeth on pretty much the same course as it is now, probably one the gnarliest old school tracks in the UK, oh and did I mention its always wet at Rheola?
Me and Rheola
I have always said how much I love this track but would never want to race it, the track is quite frankly scary and I will happily admit the thought of actually trying to go fast down it make me very nervous. None the less I now found myself walking the track in preparation to race on it.
I have got a few uplift days under my belt so didn't have to worry too much about learning the track and the way it had been taped didn't allow many places for sneaky lines to appear. Although the famous Star Wars section had been left wide open, giving almost unlimited options for how to deal with the trickiest part of the track. After a quick study and head scratching session the fastest line through here, was to basically stay on the main line straight through the middle. This line took a lot of confidence to hit although it wasn't as bad as it looked.
Saturday Practice
In true Welsh style it was raining... a lot..did I mention it was always wet at Rheola? No one seemed to be rushing to get on the first uplift, most just hanging around to see if the rain was going to ease. Eventually I decided it was time to brave the conditions, its not like I'm not used it. First run down was a nice and steady one, Star Wars was already filling up with spectators waiting for the carnage and riders scoping out how to actually get through. I managed to get through clean, giving me some confidence to start the weekend.
After a quick goggle clean I went straight back up for another run, this run was a bit stop and start with riders having incidents on track and Star Wars almost gridlocked with riders crashing and stopping on track. I just picked my way though refusing to be put off by the traffic and feeling chuffed with myself hearing the cheers as I got through cleanly. Being such a physical track I tried pace myself but this is hard when having so much fun. I did 6 runs in the end before they shut the uplift early at 4pm to bring the wet marshals down off the hill, which was probably for the best, as the 'one last run' usually ends in tears.
Sunday Practise
Yes, its still raining, I only managed to get one practice run in before racing started due to a Red flag bringing practice to a close early and delaying the start of racing. There were a lot of new tree roots coming through but they were so covered in mud that you had no idea where they were until your bike goes sideways. With the rain easing the mud was no longer washing off the roots and rocks, so things were going to be very hit and miss.
Race Run 1
Sat on the start line praying the rain will hold off just long enough for me to get to the bottom or at least until I am through the open section and into the trees. Setting off down the top section it was going well and I was feeling good, until a slight mistake near the end forced me into taking a slower tighter line out onto the forestry road crossing but it wasn't a huge mistake.
Crossing the first road I managed to take a hand off the bars and pull the roll off on my goggles, even with a mudguard and only a minute into the track my goggles were filthy already so the clear vision was short-lived relief. The next open off camber section is almost a breather in comparison to the rest of the track. You still can't afford to take you eye off the ball, but its a chance to take a breath and compose yourself ready to attack Star Wars.
Back into the trees and the track was cut up more than this morning with some very shiny roots. I got over the deadly off camber roots and its all going well but then I just 'clipped' a tree entering the main Star Wars which rattled me slightly, but I managed to regain some flow and made it through cleanly again. Quite surprised with myself I was now nearing the finish, the bottom section has always been pretty easy on uplift days but with this amount of traffic and rain I needed to remain focused. There were a few moments where the bike didn't go entirely in the right direction, but I made it to the finish in one piece and in first place. I'm not sure whether I was happier about the first position or surviving the first race run, either way was it was amazing.
Race Run 2
Still buzzing from my first run the fear I had of the track at the start of the weekend had turned into pure enjoyment. I just seemed to fly down the track in my own little world in a controlled out of control way putting right my wrongs from my first run. High on adrenalin I shot down the exit chute from the open section onto the fire road almost going straight over and not just off the right. I slammed the anchors on skidding to a halt before exiting out the track, then in a far too higher gear I had to pedal uphill the 5 or 6 yards to drop back into the track.
Now in panic mode and trying to make time up that I had just lost was never going to end well. I wiped out on the deadly off camber root section quickly picking my bike back up, as fast as I sat on the seat to get clipped in. But I just slid right off the back ending up sat on my back wheel due to excessive amount of sloppy mud on the seat and my shorts. I had another moment on the run in the tricky section in Star Wars pausing to have a quick hug with a tree this was then followed by a slippy foot moment as I exited the techie section. Despite all this I limped down into third luckily my first race run was still the fastest, so taking the overall and fastest female through the speed trap.
As you would expect, the sun finally made an appearance in time for podium presentations and finished off the weekend nicely.
