National Championships - Innerleithen, Scotland

The big one... The National Championships!

Everyone hopes to have good form as they come into the National Champs and luckily our riders were in the form of their lives as they drove into the small town of Innerleithen in the heart of Scotland. As you would expect in scotland, it was raining but that was not to dampen any spirits within the team, the majority of which, arrived on the Friday afternoon to get settled and prepare for practice on Saturday and race day on Sunday.

After a good nights sleep the team took to the hills and completed two laps of the tough championship course. It started with a gradual climb that turned steeper and technical before some tough sections including roots and rocks before more climbing and then a fast technical descent down to the finish. This really was a championship course!

After eating and sleeping well it was race day. Our three younger riders all in their first year of their respective categories had a chance of a podium, all in good form and relishing the tough course that lay ahead. Everything was in place, Our mechanic and team manager were in the feed zone, and our supporters were on the hill, and most importantly, Alex, Nat and Ben were on the start line. It was time to race!

As the gun went, our other team manager took up position on the descent ready to urge on our young riders. The leading Juniors made there way down the hill at a furious pace, but there was no sign of Ben who would usually be in the leading group of riders, Nat came through inside the top 10 and on course for a good ride but still no sign of Ben as the back markers came through. Next through were the leading Youth riders, this time it was Alex, and again no sign. What had happened? Five minutes later, Alex came tenderly down the descent, bruise and battered after a huge crash that had catapulted him into a tree resulting in a badly bruised shoulder, he was unable to continue. Then disaster struck as Ben walked down the descent, his bars had come loose on the first climb and he was unable to fix them leaving him too out of the race! While the two riders made there way back to base, Nat was making good progress on course. Nat continued with his steady pace to record a 9th place finish capping a remarkable year so far for the youngster!

The afternoon came and our two senior riders took to the start line. The in form Chris looked relaxed and ready to go, Paul has had a mixed year after coming back from injury last year and was hoping for a solid ride. The gun went and the two riders both had a good start and headed onto the first climb for 5 laps of the tough course, which was now beginning to get churned up by the riders from ealier in the day.

After 3 laps both riders were in good positions and looking strong, Paul began to fade a little on lap 5 but came home in 25th position pleased with a solid performance. Chris on the other hand produced the ride of his life staying consistent and finishing in 11th place, the best ride by a senior monkey at a National Championship event. It was a fantastic effort by the first year Elite rider and shows just how much he has improved throughout the year and how much more he has to give!

Brodie started the Espoir race hoping to get round the 4 hard laps as best he could following a bad early season blighted by injuries but was unable to complete the race due to illness.

Overall it was a mixed National Championship for the team, an unususal situation left us with three DNF's when our riders were in flying form but the two results from Nat and Chris showed us what a strong team we have and how much we have to look forward to in the future!

A special thank you must go to our sponsor, KCNC/Clee-Cycles for providing our arena space at the National Championships.