Dragon XC Series Round 1
Coed Trallwm Visitor Centre, Abergwesyn: 29/04/07
By Ben Thomas
Round 1 of the Dragon XC series took place at the Coed Trallwm visitor centre in central Wales. The course was based on trails that are open all year long and I would definitely suggest that it is worthwhile making the trip to ride there.
The race course began with the start line on a long fire road climb that ascended all the way to the top of the first hill in the sunshine before turning right onto a flat section of fire road and then a downhill section again on fire road, this section was great fun as it could be taken flat out in the big ring. The course then entered the first bit of singletrack and climbed up two loose gravel climbs before turning right and spitting you into the downhill track. The downhill weaved you through the forest all the way to the bottom of the hill past the race arena, it then dropped down through a river crossing under the entrance to the visitor centre cafe. Some flowing singletrack with a slight uphill gradient led to the second of the long fire road climbs; this climb was protected from the sunshine by the trees and therefore wasn't so much hard work as the heat wasn't as high. The fire road eventually finished and the course entered another sweeping downhill section that flowed through the forest. At the bottom of the hill the course turned left along the fire road before doing another 180 degree turn back up a gravel climb which led to the final downhill section. This downhill section quickly gathered speed before throwing you out into the race arena where you climbed a short sharp gravel climb before crossing the finish line and then turned left to start another lap. In total the race track was 4.5 miles and included roughly 2 miles per lap of fire road climbing.
The picturesque Coed Trallwm Visitor Centre, it could be in the Swiss mountains!
I knew after doing my practise lap that if you were able to ride the downhill sections smooth and not use the brakes too much you would be able to make time up on the opposition. There were however several technical sections that could catch riders out including several 180 degree turns which would take prisoners if you didn't scrub enough speed off. The weather was sunny and I knew that on the climbs it was going to be hot, however as I had no one to hand me bottles, I ended up taking a 750ml bottle and several energy gels to help me along.
About five races were set off just before the Sport race but because of the fire road there was ample chance to catch and pass the slower riders from the other categories before the singletrack. As the Sport race set off Chris Andrews (Kinesis Bikes RT) who came 3rd in Sport at the Thetford National was quick away from the line. I managed to track his back wheel to the top of the first climb, by this time we were leading the Sport race. Chris had set a blistering pace up the climb but it was quickly obvious that he wasn't so quick on the technical downhill sections. I knew that I wouldn't be able to set the same pace as Chris up the six big climbs over the three laps, my best chance therefore was to break away on the downhill's. On the first lap I saw an overtaking opportunity on one of the downhill sections and took an early lead, I managed to open a gap but Chris closed this gap on the next fireroad climb. On the next long downhill section I again managed to open a gap and crossed the line to finish the first lap in first place. On the long drag back to the top of the hill I tried to stay in the shade to stay cool, by the top of the climb Chris had caught me, however yet again on the downhill I opened a gap. This game of cat and mouse continued throughout lap two.
Half way round the third and last lap I dug deep for the final climb not knowing where Chris was, however the gap I had opened on the downhill sections became too big for Chris to close on the climbs. At the top of the final climb I couldn't see Chris and realised that if I could hold it together on the downhill I was about to win my first ever race. However just minutes away from the line a stick became lodged in my back wheel on the most technical section of the course where it was impossible to stop without losing loads of time, I was worried it would break a spoke but I had no choice but to keep on riding, luckily this stick dislodged and I was able to continue.
The last section of the downhill was such as buzz as I then knew I was about to win my first ever cross country race. After racing three laps of the course I crossed the finish line to win the Sport category with a decent gap over Chris in second, third place went to David Evans. I was even more pleased when I realised that before the race finished I had been able to catch and pass some of the Expert riders who started a minute ahead of the Sport race!
See you all at round 2 of the BMBS at Sherwood Pines.