Disaster strikes!!!

Well, last weekend took me all the way south to Thetford forest for the NPS series opener. I won on this course in 2002, but I must admit it is not one of my favourites! However, I was looking forward to the opportunity of getting stuck in with the rest of the best UK women.

I had the signs that something was amiss in the week leading up to the race, but ever the optimist I was hopeful of a decent result after some good training in Spain the week after Easter.

My race started well, getting into 2nd position behind eventual winner Jenny Copnall. She managed to get a gap in the trees. This left me leading out a chasing group of 4 riders, who jumped me & got a gap of 1-200 metres. I chased for 2 laps, dangling just out of reach! Mid race I started to feel a bit rough & this progressed into a full blown bonk! I had nothing left & could not understand why, as up to now I have been going very strongly. I somehow managed to haul my body around the rest of the race, feeling I owed it to my team, sponsors & all who have helped me. I am not one to give in but there are times when you should sometimes call it a day :-) However on reflection I am glad I managed to finish & believe it will help me in the future.

At the finish I was feeling rather below par. On the way home this rapidly developed into a chill & sore throat. Now I realise why I felt so rough in the race! I think I just about had enough in the tank to complete half the race before my body decided to go into shutdown mode.

Hindsight they say is a good thing... Those heavy legs all week, shivers & general feelings of lethargy were all the warning signs I decided to blindly cast to one side. On a positive note, it was good to be back on the scene after 2 years away, meet up with friends I have not seen in some time & enjoy the whole crack. Next NPS is Drumlanrig in 1 month. I'll be back, watch this space :-)

Keep riding & smiling, Sue Clarke.

New season, new team, new bikes.

Well, 2008 has finally kicked off. All of those months slogging it out in the cold & rain in preparation for the coming season seem to have paid off.

Newly signed up to the Science in Sport/Trek team, I am looking forward to a successful campaign this year. Having ridden Trek bikes on the National squad from 2001-2004 with great success, I was relishing the opportunity to get back on one this year.

A few early season mens road races provided me with enough pain to remind me what racing was all about (after a year out in 2007) & enough to let myself know I was super keen to get the ball rolling.

And so the big day arrived, the arrival of my Trek 9.9 carbon hardtail MTB. Everything I had hoped for & a lot more! More carbon than you could imagine courtesy of Bontrager & SRAM XO, Rockshox Reba WC forks, Avid Juicy Ultimate brake set & Bontrager wheels completed the package. But what makes this bike really stand out from the crowd is the custom P1 paint job in pearl white with red & black flames. Utterly gorgeous!

Two days later, my beautiful steed was totally unrecognisable following my victory in the season opener 'Early Dawes' MTB race set near Catton park (home of SITS). But that is what bikes are for after all, racing on, riding, enjoying. I turned up early to the event, keen to get a few practise laps in on my 9.9 & see what she was made of! Fields of thick snow greeted me, a first for myself & I am sure many of the other competitors. No fear though, as the sun soon warmed up to melt most of the snow away. But I am not sure if the mud that replaced it was any better! What was designed as a fast, flowing course soon turned into a total mudfest reminding me of 'the good old days' when every national race seemed to be in similar conditions. A bit of a shock to the system after a weeks training in sunny Spain with my husband & 7 friends!

My baby was not to be put off. The tougher it got the more we excelled, pulling back many elite & expert male riders on the way to the win. Gliding up the climbs & nipping swiftly through the singletrack in the woods, this bike was a pure pleasure to ride in spite of the tough gloopy conditions.

Now I look forward to this weekends NPS 1, in Thetford forest. We will see what we can do from here on.

Keep riding, keep healthy & enjoy the outdoors all you can!

Sue Clarke.