Busy busy busy!

Well, yes, that was a rather busy weekend. On top of a busy week 'in the office'.

I knew that I'd be having some travelling adventures to get along to the last round of the Nationals in Essex . There was also a slight oversight by my good self in that the race was unusually, on a Saturday, rather than the traditional Sunday. The only option to get me to the very East of England on time was to get most of the journey out of the way on Friday evening, as I was unable to take any time off from my work, then have a smaller stint of car driving Saturday morning, pre race.

Sooo after a 62 mile work day on the road, a bike ride to Cardiff Central, an hour and a half on a train, a quick break at my folks house in deepest darkest Wiltshire, then unknown quantity of hours and miles in Dad's car which was kindly loaned for the purpose of bicycle and rider transport for the weekend, I finally rocked up at my good friend, Clara's, to enjoy the hospitality of her lovely flat near the middle of London Village, leaving me just less than an hour of my journey to complete in the morning. Thank goodness for GPS. I'm sure I'd still be lost somewhere in the vastness of our capital without said gadget!

The race itself was pretty uneventful to be quite honest! I arrived in plenty of time, had a good warm up and pre-ride of the course with George and the guys from CCW RT. The course suited me perfectly - not too many long or steep ups, with the downs being fast and swoopy. The only items I forgot to pack were some muscles for my legs. These, I believe, were left on Caerphilly Mountain during one of the two ascents I made on Wednesday at work. Still, the purpose of the mission was accomplished - very happy to finish the race and coming eighth was a massive bonus!

I'm now looking forward to the season closer at Coed y Brenin for the Welsh XC champs this weekend. It promises to be a really tough course. Having viewed the preview video I'm even more excited. There's some long down hills and we all know who enjoys a nice down hill... All I have to do is keep myself out of trouble this week and recover those legs!

Big thanks to all my friends, family, colleagues and employers who supported, provided shelter and transport, food and direction this weekend! It all goes greatly appreciated!

Si.