Gorrick Spring Series 2011
Round 5, Frith Hill
10th April 2011

Report by: Aidan Bishop
Pictures by: Joolze Dymond & Barbara Sztyk

 

Aidan Wins Series

 

A lovely warm sunny Sunday in April was the conditions for the final round of the Gorrick spring series. Myself and Gummy headed over to take part, for me it was important to have a good race as I was leading the series overall by only two points over ex pro XC racer and friend Paul Lasenby and so whoever crossed the line first out of the pair of us would take the overall....the showdown was on! Gummy dusted off his old hardtail racer to do battle on this time, to see how much quicker it would be over his Trek Remedy.

Shortly after arrival we started seeing new faces appearing for the super master’s category, including Luke Smith a good friend of mine and Gummys and a super fit XC racer and Graham Warby, a face from the past, again a very fast rider too. So with added classy riders in the mix it was set to be a tough but good race, would new faces help or hinder my points battle with Paul!?!

A quick pre ride of the course and it was typical quality Gorrick track, a good wide flat start then into a mix of singletrack and fireroads with some good ups and downs. With the recent god weather it was dusty and rolling fast so lap times looked like they would be pretty quick, so our 4 laps were going to be relentless!
Riders lined up for the start and then we were gridded also, due to my overall lead I was called up first and so positioned myself in the middle looking for a good start before we hit the first downhill. The race started and I managed to do just that, holeshotting from the line and setting a fast pace for the first half lap with no one coming past me, was this a good sign?

 

 

We hit a fire road section halfway round and then sure enough a few riders came past, including Mr Lasenby....the race for the overall looked to be on! So the first two laps there five of us in a group at the front, Paul Lasenby, Luke Smith, Graham Warby, Paul Lloyd and myself and we had appeared to have broken away from the rest of the field. On the second lap I passed Paul Lloyd and he then dropped off the back of the lead group. So then there were four of us locked together, there was one short very steep climb midway through the lap where Luke attacked us going over the top and pulled a gap. I stuck to Paul Lasenby’s tail thinking if I was to try and bridge the gap on my own it may take its toll on me later in the race. So Paul and I gradually closed back up to Luke through riding the technical parts a little quicker, but in the process of doing this we had managed to shake of Graham Warby slightly. So then there were the three of us locked together again for the rest of the race, one lap Paul managed to wash out on one corner and in the interest of fair sportsmanship Luke and I slowed up a little to allow him Paul to get back onto our group...I hoped I wouldn’t regret that decision later on!?! Luke again had a little attack on another uphill drag but didn’t break away much, was he testing us to see where he could attack on the last lap maybe? We came through for the last lap and I was feeling ok so I decided to see if could break the other two. I didn’t go all out as it was still a whole lap to the finish and if I couldn’t pull away I would be putting in lots of effort and they would be that bit fresher come the end of the race and attack me.

 

So I pushed the pace up a bit and checked behind me now and then to see where the other guys were...still right on my tail!! It came to the uphill drag before the last technical before the finish, I was sure Luke would attack here as he had done on previous laps and I was fearful that Paul would go to but to my relief neither did. So I led into the technical and when I had a quick glance back Paul had dropped back 50 yards or so, it appeared I had managed to pull away slightly so I was very relieved but knew I had to keep pushing to the finish. Luke was hot on my heels and on a short power climb he sprinted past, I reacted and stuck on his tail. I was inches from his rear wheel through the closing corners of the track preparing for a sprint on the remaining 100metres of fireroad to the finish once you exit the last technical. We turned onto the road and started to go but as I was changing up my gears it cost me slightly and so lost the sprint, but crossed the line a close second to Luke and eventually around 30 secs ahead of Paul and therefore clinching the overall series win!

 

Gummy had a better race than previous ones, showing his training is starting to pay off, but he still admits his lungs are holding him back from previous form he has showed. But a solid 15th place in the end for the big guy in a very fast and competitive category, so well done.

Well that’s the early season XC training done really, now it’s time to concentrate on technical and downhill biased training before the enduro season kicks off as well as avalanche races I intend to compete in. Although I have really enjoyed pushing my limits on my Cannondale scalpel and so will look to do a few more XC races before the season is out.