With less than three weeks until the pinnacle of the domestic marathon season, MarathonMTB.com headed out to the latest round of the Singletrack Mind series in search of form-finding.
What we found was a plethora of wild singletrack. If you have been looking for a course to practice your technique then Rydal/Lidsdale should feature on your short list. The newly laid out 10km course was predominately made up of medium-to-sharp corners, most without berms and many off-camber. As such, the course rewarded smooth riding and skilled cornering. Trying to ride beyond your ability resulted in wasted energy and poor lap times.
The day was met with some stiff competition in the form of some of the country’s swiftest mountain bikers. Mitch Codner (Stevens Bikes) continued to impress setting the fastest lap time, and beating his own best lap on his last run of the day. Andrew Hall was unrelenting in his domination of the male solo category clocking up a staggering 160km.
I fronted up with Rob Booker with optimism of racing off for a spot on the Male Pairs podium. The likes of Potter & Dale (Bike Culture Chomp on GU, first in male pairs) and Ferguson & East (King of the Mountain Rockstars, second in male pairs) meant we settled for the last remaining spot on the stand.
Rob Booker setting a cracking pace early on.
Four hours into the race, there was however less than 90 seconds separating the top three male pairs. Unfortunately as the business end of the day grew closer, high hopes of a second place grew less and less likely. The stop-start nature of the course was starting to take its toll on Rob, and a few mishaps out on course meant my lap times were a little inconsistent. A small air leak had me standing trackside with my tail between my legs politely asking for a pump as riders cruised on by, and a collision with another rider had me questioning my passing etiquette as I had my face strewn across the trail in a tangled mess of bike and body parts.
Tate Dogan trying to make up for lost time.
The GU and KOM boys were too strong and a deserved win went their way. Round 6 proved to be a fantastic session for us in the lead up to the Highland Fling, and a podium was a nice result. Ironically, the prize bag contained a small pump, one item I’ll be sure to take with me next time.
Stuart Ferguson (KOM) seemingly enjoying the trails.
Thanks to the team at Chocolate Foot and CTMTB Club for a fantastic and well run event. Form was established, and skills were sharpened.
Results available here.