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SCU MTB XC Round 3 - Mabie
Forest, Dumfries
There are times when you are fighting cramps, gasping for
breath and desperate for liquid that you wonder "why on earth
am I doing this?" as you slog up the hill, dragging
the realisation that you have another two laps to go with
you. But then
you
reach the pinnacle, turn and head downwards, swooping through
the grass and heading for the technical section. It is then
that you realise why you do this, why you drive across the
country, give up a precious weekend day and stretch your
body
to its limit - its because you love the challenge, you love
the adrenaline and you love the rush.
Round Three of the SCUMb XC series, hosted in Mabie, Dumfries
was one of those days. Perfect weather, dry(ish) course, shining
sun, a paddock full of excited cyclists and an enticing course.
As you parked the car you knew it would be a good day as the
course blatantly climbed away in front of you through the
fields and re-emerged from the woods at the opposite end of
the paddock. Two things were apparent straight away;
- There'd be as much climbing as there would be downhill
- There was plenty of grass to sap your energy
From a nice open start the course pitched into a lengthy
climb interspersed with the odd turn and a wee technical
section,
followed by a big ring sprint to the top of the first downhill
section. Tearing down this brought you right into the spectator-drawing
triple s section of tight, dusty, tree laden turns. Time
to get off and run or pluck up the courage and show some
magical
bike skills. After this came an open field climb which tantalisingly
let the pack stretch out before you, followed by the first
wooded section of swooping drops and slippery climbs. A quick
fire track section brought you out on the so called "Roller
Coaster" where real speed could be gained and so
the downhill sections began, plenty of them in fact. However
the sting
in the tail came with the penultimate section, back in the
open fields but picking its way around the steep camber
of
the hill. Shifting weight and good balance was a pre-requisite
for a good exit from this section as the final sprint
to the
line came immediately after this.
And so I found myself muttering away, cramping but grinning
on lap three, knowing that I had yet another lap to complete,
realising that today I really needed a support crew with
some
extra fluids, but really glad I was there. The sun was shining
and despite FMD here we were racing in the Dumfries countryside,
slogging up climbs and rolling down the slopes - a few months
ago you would have thought this impossible. And a good turn
out ensured some exciting racing, well that was how it felt
from inside the pack. I even managed to hold a top five placing...for
the first lap!
Mabie was a fine day, everyone seemed to be smiling and the
course kept you busy. Having missed, unfortunately, Round
Two, this really felt like the start to the season after the
gloop of Round One. Roll on Round Four!
Sam Long
PS If anyone out there has a strong grasp of sports physiology
let me know - I have the necessary skills etc but why oh why
do I cramp for my last two laps?
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