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.