Kirroughtree
Ok so this one is going to be a bit different, this is "the wife" writing ha!
So this race I was royally invited to join Pete and the other mentalists who enjoy throwing themselfs down mountain sides on 2 wheels as fast as they can. So I decided I would take full advantage of a lazy few days away but how very wrong I was! Pete had decided to try and find me a E bike as i've suffered with bad discs in my back after a riding accident 18 months ago and I miss being in the outdoors he though I would enjoy getting out and about, and up at Kirroughtree I certainly did!
So as usual we packed the van up including the matress of the bed and way to many clothes... you know what us women are like?
So we were packed up and away we were, checking the sat nav was correct (cause we always end up screaming at the sat nav or each other ha) we set off to Bike Scene in Guisborough to meet Neil who had offered Pete the use of a test bike the shop have. Pulling up at Bike Scene I was quite excited to see what the bike was going to be like and Neil did not dissapoint, it was awesome! Having seen the jealousy in Petes eyes I knew it must of been half decent cause I know nothing about bikes. Haing had the low down from Neil about how it all works I was quite eager to get on and have a go, having a back injury means I can't and havn't been able to get out like I used to so I was hoping this would to do the trick and cheer me up a bit.
So we finally arrived and as usual Pete was checking and double checking every thing, which tyres to use and what the course was going to be like as they had to change it last min due to a bit of heavy wind leaving a tree threatening to come down on the track so they chose well and decided to change 2 stages and add a few more to the mix. I decided to jump on the E bike to have a cheeky go and see what all the fuss was about and it was mint!! I knew I was going to be able to bomb about on it no problem but I didnt realise quite how much I was going to enjoy it ha! I'm going to stop waffling now as I promised Bike Scene a review on the bike as a thank you so ill post that on facebook later, over to the hubby, enjoy.......
Practice
So leaving the wife with the leccy bike it was out to practice having to play catch up as i'd arrived late, nothing new there then. Heading out in to the forest I was feeling good having had a great time here last year and wasn't dissapointed as I moved from stage to stage catching up with folk i had not seen since the last race and making some new freinds along the way, all in all a good practice no crashes rode pretty steady checking some sketchy lines for the race :)
Stage#1
Starting off in the woods through trees and few sketchy roots fired you out on to fire road staright over back into the woods before jumping on to some of the trail centre stuff thats got a nice few rock slabs and gravely turns getting your sprint on here was the the order of the day, didnt have any issues here just didnt ride aggressive enough through the wooded sections
Stage#2
Nice fast one here :) sprinting like a loon off the start it was straight into a rocky single track trying to keep my speed peddling through it before it dropped into some rock slabs hitting my line sweet, sprinting again before the next one, going well I thought till I got to the last, one missing my line and heading off track. Scrabbling with the bike I cranked the pedals and pushed hard dropping into the awesome muddy rutted section flat out slipping and sliding but grinning ear to ear yee haw last final sprint through some fast corners to the finish, now that was fun!
Stage#3
Awesome stage this one, starting off in the woods it was tight and twisty from the start shooting you into a drop with sketchty roots and tight trees. Hitting this flat out I was carrying good pace jumping across a fire road bit of trail centre thrown in and then back into the woods for some awesome loamy loose steep stuff it was let the brakes go and ride it out getting loose before jumping back onto the trail centre single track and sprinting to the finish
Awesome!!
Stage#4
Short stage this one but flat out and hold on, starting of well it was through a grass turn onto some trial centre before sprinting down the fire road with plenty of speed shooting you into the woods!! This was pure mud loam heaven just smashing the the turns and keeping plenty of speed all the way through I crossed the line feeling pretty confident on that stage and enjoying every minute of it
Stage#5
Still loving this stage from last year as its just flat out from the off with loads of sprinting, probably was to steady a the start but managing to get up to speed it was sketchy in a few places where the roots had come through and the track was running fast. Having made it through the top section it was mad sprinting and pinning it through the turns heading through the tight trees where a small crowd had gathered :) before a flat out peddle to the finish wooohoo what a race
Eagerly checking out the board for riders coming in I was buzzing managing 11th overall on the day with a 5th on stage 4 being my fastest stage I was fair chuffed with the result :)
So Kirroughtree lived up to be being an awesome venue again Mike and Kev keeping us Enduroists happy with 5 awesome stages, thanks guys. The Marshals again being on top form with plenty of banter and keeping us right well done all, cheers to the photograpers for getting those awesome pictures, James and Allan always a great laugh smashing stages with you 2 thanks for the laughs.Big thanks again to Richard at Mountain bike garage the bikes working mint !!
So thats it race over it was time to treat the wife to a few days biking, camping over another night we hit the red route in the morning and am pleased to say Kerry loved every minute of it managing to ride all but the hardest sections
Big thanks to Bike scene and Neil for sorting us this awesome full suspension Fatty E bike for 4 days it's been a massive eye opener for Kerry to see some of the great places we ride and why we do it hope to get one sorted for her very soon
Till the next one
:)
