Round 1 – 22/10/17
Round one didn’t go to plan as my ribs were still broken from my crash at the Brits in Derby in August. I was also racing on my 20″ which I had only ridden 3 times before I raced it. Because of the ribs I raced in the Over 30’s not in F1 as there was no way that I could keep up with the formula 1 guys.
To make matters worse the bike was geared too low due to the fact I put a smaller tyre on the back than I had on my other 20″ bike. The lower gearing meant that I had problems timing the gate and hit it ALOT! In practice I hit it so hard on one gate that I went over the bars and hit my knee on the start hill.
I kept hitting the gate in my first moto but didn’t hit it so hard as before and managed to get out of the gate but I was slowed down a lot. I managed to finish second in this race which is not bad considering I was last out of the gate. Also the race had 2 national riders in it so pretty cuffed really.
I managed to get out of the gate cleanly in my next moto and managed to hold on for the win but my ribs were really sore from the exertion that it took to keep in front with the low gearing.
I decided to stop while I was still in almost one piece so I withdrew from the race to get better for the next race. All in all I am pretty happy with how I rode and everyone said that I looked good on the 20″.
Round 2 – 26/11/17
Round 2 went worse for me than round 1 as I didn’t even race. I was feeling really flu-ridden and was not able to breath properly so I decided it was better to get well than to push it and get worse. Annoying as I think I would have won yesterday! I am training hard to be able to race next month.
Round 3 – 31/12/17
Had a pretty good day today. There were a couple of good National riders racing to day so I was happy to get first in my first 2 motos and then i took it easy in my second moto and got third. Unfortunately I picked the wrong lane in my final and got boxed in so only finished third again but I was on the back wheel of the guy in second place all the way around so I’m not too bothered. On a positive note I managed to ride flat out on 3 of my 4 races and not get tired before the end of the race so my fitness is getting better and I think I am getting better at carrying speed around the track which is good.
I need to work on my intensity out of the gate as I felt like I was coasting in all of my races today and I need to work on not hitting the gate at Bristol as I hit it in every race!