Lee Williams Blog: Worlds XC Belgium & NPS RD2 XC Dalby Forest.

Worlds XC, NPS RD2 XC Dalby Forest

The last couple of weeks have certainly seen me clocking up the miles. The first week I was racing a round of the World cup XC in Belgium representing GBR. So Wednesday evening we began the long trek to Dover for a 3am crossing to France, not actually arriving at the venue until 1pm Thursday afternoon. After setting up camp and signing on it was a little too much to be taking on a lap of the course and I contented myself with an easy 30min spin on the road before fueling up and getting an early night.

Luckily for me I had Friday and Saturday to acquaint myself with what turned out to be a cracking course for the event, plenty of fierce climbs and descents to enjoy before race day itself on Sunday. The Belgium round of the World cup is always the most popular venue for the racers and this year nearly 250 riders lined up at the start. The race itself was as manic as usual with no room to move and everyone pushing hard for a position. In the end I came away with 154th position which was an improvement on my starting position of 179 on the grid, but all I could realistically hope for in the circumstances.

This was followed by the second round of the National series in Dalby Forest in Yorkshire which was also a test event for a World cup race being proposed there for the 2010 season.The course in Dalby was good and hard with a couple of good climbs and good singletrack. Quite demanding over a two hour race and it certainly meets all the criteria for a world cup with perhaps a bit more opportunity for overtaking thrown in. The racing was good and after spending most of the race in the top ten I started to tire and I finished the race in a disappointing 12th. But it was an improvement on round one so at least I am heading in the right direction for round three.

NPS XC Dalby Forest Lee Williams Team Wiggle

After a busy start to the season I’ll be shifting my focus for the next couple of weeks by doing a few road races and putting the Kiron Scandium through its paces. Hopefully this will allow me to get some recovery in and sharpen me up for the next big mountain bike race, The big Welsh Weekend at Margam Park and round 3 of the National series on 30th May. I’m looking forward to it.