The second round of the Hope supercross series was moist, which I was much more comfortable with. The course for day two was very similar to day one, with just a few chunks swapped out or changed direction.
I turned up early enough to get a few practice laps in with the goal of trying to get up to speed on the corners before the race. I knew the day before that it was likely to be a little wet, but I didn’t know if it would be wet enough to run mud tyres, so I started practice on the Grifos used the day before. After I repeatedly failed to ride the chicanes and was sliding in a few places I told David that I was thinking of changing tyres. The course wasn’t particularly muddy, but the wet grass was very slippery, particularly if you got off the main racing line (foreshadowing…).
Thankfully the spare bike was equipped with Baby Limus tyres, so I got to try a lap with more grip. It was pretty obvious immediately that I needed to run the grippier tyres! With the Baby Limus tyres I was able to ride everything comfortably. David and I then set about swapping out my tubeless tyres, which was much easier said than done. If you have never set up the handmade tubeless Challenge tyres you are fortunate: they are definitely a challenge! Thankfully we managed to get the set of Limus tyres mounted and inflated, thanks mostly to David’s patience, and him borrowing a few bits and pieces from people around the pits.
I was gridded similarly to the previous day, and felt fortunate to not be starting right at the back. This time I didn’t give away so many places off the start, and was more assertive at holding my position at least for the first few laps. I don’t think I made many overtakes, but I at least wasn’t going backwards, so that felt like a big improvement from the day before.
I felt like I was able to follow wheels a little better at the lower speeds, and I do remember trying to close gaps in the first few laps and actually managing it. Unfortunately I’m writing this so long after the race that the details have mostly evaporated or merged with the previous days racing. One particular memory of the race though was chasing hard to catch Paul Oldham: a Hope racer who I used to watch at national MTB races when I was a junior. I really wanted to try and beat him today.
After about half the race I had moved up enough that Paul was in sight and around lap 6 (of 9) I managed to catch him. There was one more rider in my sights and it looked like he was struggling. I managed to catch him with about two laps to go, after getting close earlier in the race, but having a mishap (dropped chain) and losing time having to fix that. Once I caught him I tried to really drill it as best I could to drop him, but he clung on.
I was trying to see where I was stronger than him, and figured that I was gaining most on a slight drag up towards the second run through the pits. Here I was able to sit and really drive up the drag - between corners I was sitting and pushing out about 550W, and I had worked out my lines so that I could carry as much speed through the turns and keep on the pedals throughout. That drag was about 500m from the finish and I thought that if I kicked there I might be able to stay away to the line.
Knowing where I wanted to attack on the last lap, I was unconcerned when the other rider passed me about a km from that drag, but I was perhaps too relaxed about it. He passed me on a long gentle downhill section that was high-speed and led into a slight off-camber. Every lap prior to this I had been hitting this section at full pace with a foot out for safety, but most of those laps I had been able to pick my own line. Following this rider I ended up about an inch off the main racing line on the wet grass. I went down pretty fast and slide for a long distance. That was the plan gone!
I got up quickly and no damage was done, but I couldn’t get back to the other rider in time and ended up finishing 13 seconds down on him in 24th. I was still about 2 minutes off the top 20, but in spite of my late-race mishap, I was so much happier with this race. I think 24th was probably about right for my form that day and I felt like I was able to put into action a lot of the lessons learnt the previous day. Getting to share that good feeling with my family was awesome.
From that race in Bradford we all split up and I started the drive to the Lakes to spend the week with Emily and her parents. On the way I stopped at an old favourite pub from my time at uni in Leeds: the Cow and Calf. A great way to finish off the cross season while everyone else in the UK was just starting theirs.
Banner photo: Inversion at Blea Tarn riding in the Lakes the week after cross. Such a dreamy ride.