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This weekend (1st May) I found myself racing again at the Wiggle Enduro 6hr and even though I always say how much it stings at the end of the event, it’s an event that I always enjoy getting stuck into. Unlike the 1st year I raced this event where I done the 6hr solo, I’m sticking to my word of not doing that again and teaming up for the second year with Ben Simmons for the elite men’s pairs. After winning the event last year I was quietly confident that we could do the same this year, as we held solid form for the whole 6hrs last year and I was sure that we could do the same again!

When we arrived at the event in Catton Park – Litchfield, we started to put up our large 3 bed roomed tent only to find that we had forgotten the pegs for it! : ( Luckily for us we managed to find a handful of old pegs and screwdrivers scattered around the van, which was just enough to get our hotel in a bag sort of pegged down enough not to fly away in the extremely high wind that stayed for the weekend. After erecting our accommodation for the night, I kitted up and went for one lap of the course as I’d managed to get out early in the morning for an hour and all I wanted was to see the course an make sure everything was how I remembered it. There were a few minor changes to confuse the automatic pilot from last years event but on the whole it was pretty much the same, tight singletrack mixed with fast open grass sections and a few short sharp climbs to sting the legs (especially around the 5’n’half hour mark)!

After some food I watched the night time trial (not entered this year as I wanted to kill it in the pairs the following day) where I got to see Matt Page pick up a podium for Wiggle and generally enjoyed the spirit of the event whilst drinking a nice hot chocolate. : )

After a good nights sleep I was up and ready for the days battle ahead and went to sign on an check out the competition, only to find that there were some solid opposition for us (Dave Collins, Dan Booth riding for Hope Factory Racing & Simon Ernest, Steve James riding for AW Cycles) and that we would need to be on it this year if we was to retain our title.

Unfortunately for me, Ben done the run last year so it meant that it was my turn this year and it was probably the only part of the day I would have happily avoided if I had the choice, but it is what it is so man up Lee and get on with!! Off the start I relaxed my run and worked my way from the 4th starting line on the grid (around 60th maybe) up to 6th position by the time I’d collected my bike and left the pits. From that point on it was back to what I was familiar with and started to blast round the course. Our tactics for the day were to take two lap stints for as long as we could, then switch to singles when we get tired. By the time I’d finished my first 2 laps I’d managed to get into first spot where I could enter the pits for the 1st switch of the day and settle into half a banana and 4 jelly babies, which was the first thing I done after every change over for the duration of the race. Unfortunately for Ben he had Dave Collins & Steven James on the chase, and chasing hard, but Ben held is own and I kept me within spitting distance when he entered the pits at the end of his first stint. Again I pushed hard and managed to get a gap from 2nd and 3rd however, pretty soon our good form was about to turn sour…

Despite Ben making good time on the opposition he had a bit of misfortune colliding with a lapped rider ending in a snapped down tube. Despite this he managed to get back to the pits, where we had a spare bike waiting. I blasted round for another 2 laps, however, that was the turning point for us going from being in the chase for the win to knowing we had to settle for 3rd. We eventually changed to one lap stints in the last hour or so still riding strong finishing on the podium just over 3mins down on the leader. Pretty good I think! I was happy with how we both rode as a team and I’m looking forward to racing with Ben next year to steal back our 6hr pair’s title!

Next on the race calendar for me is the Welsh Cross Country Champs at Forest Fields in just over a week’s time (14th May), where hopefully I retain my Welsh Champs Jersey.

Results
http://www.provelosupport.co.uk/?page_id=263

Photos