Welcome back :-) I have a few updates for you, Enjoy.
20/06/21 - Southern XC Checkenden
On father’s day I travelled south to race a round of the southern XC championship at Checkenden, this was a last minute decision, to be honest with you, I just want to race and there is nothing going on in the midlands right now.
My practice wasn’t until 11 so we didn’t need to leave super early, we had a steady trip down in the rain and arrived just in time practice.
The course was extremely flat, fun, technical due to the wet ground with super slippy roots, I rolled out for practice and had a steady lap, although it was flat it was a great course and I was looking forward to my race.
I headed to gridding, I knew I would be called up last due to not racing any previous rounds but I just want to race so this never bothered me, we got under starters orders and once the whistle blew I pushed hard to move to the front, I sprinted from the back into the 3rd but I dropped a couple a couple of places before we headed into the woods. I got my head down and raced my own race, it was very slippy in the woods and being careful and consistent was key under the canopies, I made a few passes as the race went on and as I crossed the line I finished in an awesome 3rd place, I was super happy as flat courses are a bit of a weakness of mine.
Overall it was well worth the drive, I felt good and I’m improving every time I ride.
27/06/21 – Midlands Regional BMX Round 1
So this past weekend I fancied going back to my roots and racing BMX, now this sounds straight forward but I don’t have a race bike 😊
Lucky for me I was able to borrow one (Thank you to the Weaver clan) so early Saturday morning my dad collected it and we headed straight to a local track to have a test ride (massive thank you to Kieran Edwards of Wrekin Riders), it’s been 4 years since I last raced so I need a bit of time on the gate and I needed to get the feel for the small wheels.
After a few hours I felt comfortable on the bike and I was excited about racing the following day.
We set off early on Sunday morning and head to Bulwel in Nottingham, I know this track well and it was the first ever race I did at the age of 4. I headed out for practice and I put a fair amount of laps in and it has been a while, after practice I went back to my setup, had a chill and a catchup with people I have not seen in a few years.
As the entry for the 13 girls was low we got mixed in with the 13 year old boys, this didn’t bother me as I used to race in with the boys when I last raced. I headed up for my first moto and I did get butterflys in my belly, the gate dropped and as expected my gate wasn’t great, I entered the first turn in 8th but I managed to make some moved down the final straight and I crossed the line the 6th.
Nerves no gone I went up for moto 2, I got a better start and rounded the first turn in 6th, I pushed hard to the finish and managed to cross the line in 4th.
3rd moto, gate dropped and I pushed hard, I didn’t have the best start but fought hard, another 5th, lucky for me going 5 – 4 – 5 in my motos gave me a space in the A final, something I was fairly pleased about given it was my first race in such a long time.
Final time and the nerves returned, I was expecting to be here and it really played on my mind, the gate dropped and I got an ok jump, I pushed hard but being in gate 8 as was hung out on the outside, I went for a high low move in the first turn and the lack of practice kicked in, I clipped the back wheel of another competitor and went flying over the bars! I hit my hip pretty hard but overall I was fine, make sure you where protection otherwise I would have been in a much worse state, that’s for sure.
8th overall for my first race back in the 13 year old boys, happy with that, maybe I wont leave it 4 years until my next race 😉
This weekend I head to Monmouth for Round 2 of the HSBC British Cycling XC National, I’m really looking forward to this natural course.
AS ALWAYS A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO MY SPONSORS;
Full Throttle Racing
Halo Wheels
Nudo Sock
Squirt Cycling Products
Absolute Black
Links can be found under the partner's tab.
Thanks for reading.
Mazie Moo Moo
Photo credit sharperfoto
HSBC XC National RD1 – Woodys Bike Park
Welcome back internet people, thank you for visiting and taking time to read my blog.
It’s a little late but I have been busy the past couple of weeks.
A couple of weeks back now myself and dad travelled down early Saturday morning to Fowey on the South West Coast, this was going to be my first ever mtb XC national. The weather was typical British, it rained, and making the hilly course slippy in places, this added to the difficulty as the place was like a world cup venue, amazing downs with gruelling ups, we headed out to walk the course and this made me excited for practice.
I headed out for practice and I was extremely nervous, not about the course but about the event in general, in the midlands I’m confident about my ability but at national level it was a total unknown and this really played on my mind. The course was fantastic, practice was hectic to say the least, riders all over the place, riders crashing in the slippy conditions but after all that it was fun course with some awesome A lines, and for once the A lines actually rewarded you. I completed a full steady lap and head back to my van for clean up and get ready for the race.
I made my way up to gridding and rode around to warm up, the rain started again! We got called up in by our race number so lucky for me I managed to get onto the front row. I waited anxiously, when the whistle blew I had a great jump and then bang nothing, appeared I was riding in glue meaning I had possibly the worse ever start (nervous maybe), I rounded the first turn in next to last place. I fought hard but as the course from this point was mainly single track it was dificut to make passes. The lead 4 had gone, I got my head down and ticked off riders one by one when the course would allow, I pushed hard on the downs and the ups, at the end of the race I crossed the line in a very respectable 7th (maybe 6th, not really sure as there appears to be different results published), given my awful start and the quality of the competition I’m happy with my result, it not where I see myself and its shy of my goal but I’m happy and I know what to expect in the future.
I would like to say a thank you to the venue and organisers, it was a really enjoyable experience for my first National, and I’m looking forward to RD2 already.
Woodys XC National Round 1, Mtb Race Highlights
As always a massive thank you to my sponsors;
Full Throttle Racing
Halo Wheels
Nudo Sock
Squirt Cycling Products
Absolute Black
Links can be found under the partner's tab.
Thanks for reading.
Mazie Moo Moo
Photo credit davepricephoto, westlarjfotos & sharperfoto
I did a race and I liked it....
The title is not totally true but being on a start line is something I have missed.
Yesterday (Sunday 16th May) I raced round 3 of the Pulse events MegaCross. Cylcocross isn’t a cycling discipline that I enjoy and the Worcester campus venue just adds pain to that, the flat layout really is more a road ride than anything else but it’s the same for all so you just have to get on with it.
Being behind a start line was the goal for this event, grinding the gears over a race duration was key, it’s been a fair while since I last raced so I was keen to get out there, have fun and come away with some data.
I headed out to practice and surprisingly given the amount of rain we have experienced over the past week, the course was in great condition with only a couple of spots of slop to contented with.
I headed to the warm up zone and just before our race it absolutely threw it down, but the show must go on. We got called up and awaited the start whistle, I got an awesome jump and pushed into the lead, unfortunately on the first lap I dropped a few places but I pushed hard for the full race and crossed the line in 4th, not exactly the result I’m looking for but I will take it and I’m happy to get a race under my belt in 2021.
I know my site has lacked content but there has been nothing going on and I’m sure you’re not interested in seeing picture of me training, that’s boring and does not create good content, hopefully it’s looking like we have a few events popping up now so fingers crossed I will have more to share with you.
As always a massive thank you to my sponsors;
Full Throttle Racing
Halo Wheels
Nudo Sock
Squirt Cycling Products
Absolute Black
links can be found under the partner's tab.
Thanks for reading.
photo credit Eliott Beard & sharper foto
Mazie Moo Moo
Update, Covid & No Racing!
Whats up website people?
Thank you for visiting, its been a while since I last published an update and I will let you know why. So, as we all know the World has been hit with covid19, everything has shut down and only over the past 4 weeks have things started to pick up. My website is a place I want people to visit so they can see what I have been up to in an exciting manor, let’s face it, the last 5 months have been nothing exiting at all, I want you guys to feel like your visit to my website has been worth while and as such its means you will return, constantly posting that I have been out training isn’t something that I feel will lead to this, so that’s why the website hasn’t been updated for some time.
So know your probably thinking there must be some exciting news coming or a super rad update, well maybe, maybe not, there is no racing going on, I’m out riding all the time and I’m having mega fun, I have meet some rad people over the last few weeks but honestly I’m seriously missing the racing circus, and deep down I know 2020 is over but I’m keeping faith and I hope that we get some sort of race series soon.
So what have I been up to? Covid19 has given us interesting times, lucky for me I live in riding distance to Cannock Chase, I have been able to safely get out throughout the whole of lockdown, at the start I mainly just rode fire roads and excluded anything that could potentially cause myself any injury / add pressure to the hospitals, as the restrictions got relaxed I started to ride some known trails, these have a few features but things I have ridden before so they do increase the risk but it’s still relatively low.
Once we could start to travel I headed to FOD (Forest of Dean) to meetup with an awesome group of girls that ride under the Dirt Sisters of Shred banner, this was an excellent meetup, loads of fun, great trails and for once riding with other people and not just my dad! The meetup went so well we have had another meetup since and we also have a meetup scheduled for this weekend and flyup417, so I’m really excited for that, if your there come say hello 😊
I have some mega news and I’m super super excited about that but for now I have to keep my mouth shut, once everything clicks into place you guys will be the first to know.
Lastly, and it’s a bit of sad news, I have had to remove the Instagram feed from the home page, Instagram have made some changes and unfortunately its no longer possible to pull my images to my website ☹
I think that’s enough waffle for now, as always massive thank you to everyone that supports me.
Bell Helmets
Full Throttle Racing
Halo Wheels
Mitas Tyres
Nudo Sock
Squirt Cycling Products
links can be found under the partner's tab.
Thanks for reading.
Mazie Moo Moo