National Series Round 5 – Builth Wells by Rob Staines
We decided during the week before the race to make the trip to Builth Wells for the final round of the National Series on the day of the race. We got up early and set off around 4 am. It was a long journey and I managed to get some sleep on the way. We arrived around 8.30 as I had decided to go out for a practice lap on the second practice session of the day. I had some breakfast, signed on and changed ready for practice. The weather had been changeable during the week before the race. On Saturday the course was wet and in some places muddy, however as there had not been any rain since Saturday afternoon the course had started to dry up so I decided to use Mitas Scylla tyres.
I went out on my practice lap and after I had completed my lap I had to make a minor adjustment to my pedals as my foot had unclipped and I nearly stacked it on the drop off. I then went out to practice the drop off again and the other features near the start/finish area. After my practice lap I got changed and spent some time just relaxing whilst we waited for my race. About an hour before my race was due to start I got changed, got my rollers set up and started my warm up.
The weather throughout the day was not very good, cold and overcast. Just before I made my way to the start we looked over behind us and could see rain in the hills and it looked like it was heading our way. I went to the start area and waited to be gridded. After the Elite’s started it was our turn to start. I got a good start and made up a few places. I settled into a good rhythm and was pleased with my pace. Fortunately the rain held off and I had a good battle with 11th place, unfortunately for me he got the better of me in the final couple of laps. I finished in 12th place just 1 minute off a top 10 place. I was really pleased with my result, my best at a National race.
Big thanks to the club sponsors, Mitas, Hardnutz, Cyclewrap and Scimitar.