I was kinda obliged to do this one to get any sort of placing in the overall D&W league as Hayfield for me was a write off and I just needed one more decent score to count in the league. Killian had the league sewn up, so the battle was on for second.
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| Route Taken : 23,11,1,17,2,6,8,9,5,14,7,13,12,10,15,4,3,19, very muddy to 30,29,28,27,26 (deliberately missing 24), 25 (then forgetting to go to 22!),21,18,20,16,Finish 2h1min. Donuts! |
The course was on two maps (1:25 and 1:50) so I quickly updated all the 1:25 checkpoints onto the 1:50 map so there was no faffing with turning maps over. Route seemed to be going very well with no obvious errors and legs felt good. I knew that the route from 19 to 30 was going to be very muddy and it was but couldn't see another option with the route I was doing. Couple of small overshoots but no more than 30secs - 1 min lost.
Lots of bridleways were brilliant fun to ride, although some of the better ones in the area were a little further north which was a pity. Overall, it was a joy to ride. Legs went well, old mapboard installed which was faultless, no stupid route choices, just a pity that Andy Douglas was riding better on the day. Hats off to the fella who cleared it with a couple of minutes spare. He was quicker on a few controls too which I did so nuff respect. Results are here.
Overall I think that leaves me 4th which to be fair is still one place better than I think I deserve ! Final standings not yet out but I think its Killian, Andy, Chris Harrop above me. Oli Holmes probably should have been above me but he'd not had enough decent results to pull him up overall. All good riders who always seem to do great route choices really really fast. Still - that's what it's all about.
Next D&W event - The White Peak Enduro late April which I loved soooo much last year. Can't wait !