English
My race season is now in full swing and so it was on to Gorrick round 5 at Swinley Forest. This is one of my favourite courses on the Gorrick series. Having ridden here as part of the Gorrick 100 enduro in previous seasons I knew I was in for a good course with plenty of fast flowing singletrack to get stuck into and some short sharp climbs. The Gorrick 100 normally uses a 10 mile course so the shorter XC distance would be interesting. Racing in super masters (cape not required!) meant an early start but the weather was bright, warm and sunny so even with an early start it was a pleasant temperature for racing. A small field of riders lined up to tackle the 4 laps and I was looking to make a good fast start and complete a hard race over the next couple of hours. That’s exactly what I got. The course was great creating some really good fast racing. The laps flew by and I finished tired and happy with my eventual 11th place.
A few weekends later it was the Wiggle sponsored Enduro Six where I was racing in the wiggle staff challenge with my brother, Shane. The weather forecast wasn’t looking great and I was expecting a muddy race. Thankfully come race day the rain stayed south for once (falling mainly on the poor riders at the Gorrick 100). It was a bit chilly though so staying warm between laps was important, fleece and wooly hat took care of that. The course itself rode very well with a mix of open farm tracks and twisty, tight forest singletrack. A good turn out of Wiggle staff of all abilities lined up to give it there all and have a fun time. Us wigglers were lucky as we didn’t have to do the Le Mans style run, phew. Shane was out first and roughly 30 minutes later came in having completed his first lap and handed over to me.
We continued to do one lap each keeping the pace fast but manageable so we didn’t blow and lose energy. Thankfully in hand in our dedicated wiggle pit area were plenty of energy products to wolf down between laps too. I can thoroughly recommend the High5 4:1 powder and High5 ISO energy gels to keep energy levels up. A few Clif shotbloks also hit the spot during the laps. It was a great event for us staffers (all looking very smart in Wiggle kit and on Focus bikes) and all the competitors who entered the main race and well done to all finishers. I think everyone had a fun time. Roll on next year!
The height of summer is approaching and with it I hope good weather and plenty more racing both cross country and more enduros. Happy riding see you on the trails!