Welsh Gravity Enduro Final Round - Afan Forest Park, Wales
Not only is this the final round of the Welsh Gravity Enduro series but its also my final race of the year and what better place for it to be than on my door step, Afan Forest Park.
Saturday Practice
Not wanting to tire myself out too much, my plan was just to do a single run through stages 1 & 3 to familiarise myself with the track and how it had been taped out for the race, and then possibly do stage 2 a couple of times. As to me this was the stage that would make or break the race. Stage one was was nothing technical, just a series of berms and corners gently winding down a small hill, through the trees near the bottom we were routed out off the trail centre treated surface onto fresh mud and roots just to mix things up a little, and also to bring us out at the start of stage 2. I sessioned the mud section for a while till I was happy and could clear the section smoothly then moved on.
Stage 2 - I was looking forward to this but knew it was going to cause carnage come race day, as this track is a lot steeper and more technical than any other track used in the WGES. It wasn't long before I caught up with a couple of guys who had gone down before me, once they had pulled over I carried on down to the bottom. Where after a quick rest it was climb back up to the top to do it all over again, except this time I got a little cocky attempting to get round a tight corner far too fast for my ability and panic braking never ends well. So down I went, but giggling to myself as was one of those comedy moments. Time to leave that stage for the day and pedal the long slog up to the start of stage 3. Having raced this stage before I had an idea of the layout but still did a practice run just incase they had taped the course any different, it was mostly trail centre trail with a bit of off piste roots and mud thrown in, but nothing too dramatic.
Sunday Race Day
Stage 3
My plan was to do stage 3 first as it would take a good 20 minutes to get to the start and I could do this climb before the timing started to save my racing time. I was up the top by 9.50 with just a handful of people in front of me, before I knew it I was on the start line and off. All was going well until I came out the trees for a long sprint when I was met with a strong head wind, that made an already hard pedally section even harder. I just hoped that the rest of my class also were met with a strong head wind.
Stage 2
Next off to do stage 2, I arrived to find a huge que and as I had predicted the technicality of this track was catching a lot of people out and causing the backlog. The 2 riders infront of me, both girls, had asked if I would leave plenty of time as they weren't confident in getting down very fast. A message soon came over the radio to the start marshal that a couple of riders were stuck on the track and to wait for it to clear before letting me down. After 3 or 4 minutes the track was back live and I was off, within a few corners the rider infront of me was standing on the side of the track and although off to one side she was still on track, and on the line I need to get round a very tight corner dropping into one of the steepest sections of the track.
With my head in race mode I barged past only just managing to get round the corner and not in the controlled manor I needed causing me to enter the chute too fast for the wet conditions. Unable to scrub my speed I got round the next bend but way to fast for the next, causing me to panic brake standing the bike up and me having to bail off and slide down the steep bank. I eventually clambered back up to my bike to finish my run knowing I needed to go straight back up to do it again. Second attempt I messed up right at the top having to dab right at the top of the first steep chute having to roll in sat down, while trying to get my feet back on the pedals once back under control the rest of the run went smooth not as good as I had practiced but still 50 seconds faster than my previous attempt.
Stage 1
As much as I wanted to go straight back up to have another go I thought I had better move onto stage 1, so a least I had a time for each stage in case anything went wrong. Apart from me flagging and really struggling to pedal across flat section, it was a smooth safe run and luckily enough the finish conveniently brought me out at the top of stage 2.
Stage 2 & 3 take two
Desperate to put a clean run in I had another attempt down stage 2, luckily apart from a little cautious in a couple of places I put in a good time and was happy with my result.
Another tough climb back up to the pits for a spot of lunch while studying the live timing. I was currently first place in my class but with just over an hour to go anything could happen, after stuffing my face with some much needed energy food, I set off back to do one more run down each of the 3 stages. Heading off to Stage 3 first as this was the furthest away and longest stage, hoping the wind had died down from this morning and able to better my time. I managed to shave a few seconds off, but again really battling fatigue and exhaustion. I was on the struggle bus and my legs just didn't want to work, with no time to rest I made my way to the start of stage one. Luckily it wasn't much of a transition and relatively flat.
The result
Despite my best efforts and even forcing myself to pedal when I just wanted to sit down, I went 2 seconds slower. In hind sight I shouldn't of done this stage again as my times were already good and now I had just wasted time and energy for nothing. Angry with myself and with little time left I sat at the top of stage 2 studying the live timing on my phone, I was currently sat in first place with 10 minutes of live timing left. I wanted to be last one off the start line so I knew what I needed to do to make sure I kept my first place. I set off with a 15 second lead knowing it was unlikely this could be taken away from me and in reality I didn't really have to race this stage again, but this is me and I wasn't happy with just winning my class. I wanted to try and beat all the the other female classes too and currently I was only 3rd fastest female over all. Two senior woman had faster times than me so that was now my mission.
Launching myself into my final run it all seemed to fall into place, a stage so many racers struggled with and couldn't do because it was so steep and technical I was loving it, in places. It had got a little easier as the day had gone on, but the bottom section had got much tougher as the mud had travelled down the track making the rocks and roots very slippy. Crossing the finish line I was buzzing with adrenalin, I couldn't move as my legs had finally given up and were shaking so much I had sit for a few minutes before the final climb back to the finish. While waiting for my legs to recover I checked the results and that last run I had taken 10 seconds off my time, increasing my winning margin to 25 seconds I didn't quite reach my goal of fastest female over all but moved up a slot and was fastest bar one even putting in fastest female time on stage 2.
