castlewellen NPS - last round

Went up to Castlewellen today for the last round of the NPS. Same course as was used for last years nationals. I didn’t get a chance to ride it then so I took the opportunity today. Big showing from WORC but relatively few from any of the other clubs (including the Ulster ones).

Savage course. One continuous big climb to begin followed by a series of descents on (mainly) natural trails. A mix of nice forest trails combined with greasy sections. The lap was fairly short and had very few places to rest so S2 had 5 of them 🤣. I had another steady day on the bike and ended up in 9th. I tried to go hard a few times but this was accompanied soon afterwards by a mistake. I’ll miss the nationals so this is the last xc race of the year for me. Next up is the Cooley.
Course was awesome, hadn't ridden it before except for an enduro stage last year. Got a loan of a fancy short travel bike and gave S1 a go. Really enjoyed it, first outing on the MTB in lycra for me. Lack of race fitness showed but L'Etape du Tour and the Cooley are my goals for the summer so I was just warming up by the time we finished ��