Recovery week

This week has been all about my assignment. I can now see the light of my reading - a month of pretty intensive study. On Monday I start to write. I can't wait. I have reams of notes and hundreds of book and paper reviews to summarise into a piddly 7500 words so that'll be the hard bit.

So it has been just as well that this is a recovery week. On Monday I had a 2hr blast on the road (during which I was King of the Mountains I felt so fast). Tuesday was a recovery ride, Wednesday a day off and this morning just an hour on the mtb in the mud. Unlike last week I enjoyed my slip-sliding around Leigh Woods today. I was calm and steady and just re-rode anything I didn't clean. Having done a cross country race now, I know that it is technical riding around here and great practice. I'll be doing this every week from now on. Just an hour and concentrating on smoothness and clean lines.

Other news? I had my hair massacred by a pre-menstrual hairdresser and Rob got some great new glasses. Fact.

The practice lap

Make me a 'real' mountain biker.

Today I rode my first Gorrick mtb race. I RACED my first cross-country race. It was fast, furious, tough, heart-popping, lung-bursting effort.

But bleedin' good fun.

Rob came and cheered me on and told me what was what - the rules, the etiquette, the warm ups and cool downs, the nutrition, the tactics on the practice lap - and the hugs. And Johnny Russell came amd added a touch of style to the Masters race. 5th after a 10-15 year break from mtb racing. That's class!

It was a fun day catching up with various friends from the mtb scene. I enjoyed the vibe, the weater was beautiful, the course was technical and really fun...

... and I won my category, which was the icing on the cake! (And Rob says I'm a 'real' mountain biker now because I've gritted my teeth through an xc race!)
Picture: A smiling tired but happy racer!