Southern Enduro Round 2 - Head Down, Hampshire

26 Jul

Photo: Piers Fearick

Coming around the M25 with the sun burning through the early morning mist I was in no doubt that racing the Southern Enduro series was a great decision. There was a feeling of excitement as I drove, spotting vans and cars laden with enduro bikes, wondering if they too were heading for the same place as I was. As soon as I left the motorway and hit the A3, I found myself leaning into the corners as I swept the car through the turns towards Head Down – the venue for Round 2.

I've been busy since the first round at Okeford, The trusty Boardman FS Pro has been passed onto my son and aforementioned Juliana Roubion (aka Liberty) has arrived from Biketart! Together we’ve clocked up over 325km since I built her at the beginning of July, and one of my first trips out was to my Happy Place – the Forest of Dean. Here I had another great coaching session with Katy Curd, we worked on conquering one of my major fears; drop offs, and also trying to master the basic manual. I was lucky enough to be able to spend the whole weekend splitting my riding time between FOD and Katy's back garden/giant pump/4x track otherwise known as Redhill Extreme. I certainly came away feeling as if progress had been made – conquering previous problems and upping my

mental game!

Enduro Viking marshal, naturally!

Head Down, alongside QECP in Hampshire is private Forestry Commission land that somehow Scott secures once a year for this event. Driving along the lane to the entrance, I became aware of the woods climbing to my left, this was to be the setting for stage 2. Including what were soon to be dubbed the 'Roots of Death' although at that point I was blissfully ignorant of this and all I was aware of was the excitement swelling inside me! With my favourite song on repeat at full volume, I pulled off the road onto the track and was welcomed by the first of many smiling marshal's. How the marshals smile and chatter constantly, regardless of the dismal weather, and despite the fact that many of them are doing this due to injury is testament to the spirit of both Southern Enduro and MTB'ing as a whole.

Right on cue Mike appeared as I entered the race village. His smile and hug quashed any tension from the drive and the excitement fully took over. Then Nikki and Martin appeared, followed by Marcia and Lisa, then Katie and Maddie. There was much cooing over new bikes and catching up on what we’d been up to in the intervening weeks. The race village was set up on the fire road at the bottom of the hill and the stages transition above it, with stage 4 ending right in the heart of the village.

Race faces!

Nikki, Martin and I 'rode' together through practice and while Nikki and I laughed and gossiped, Martin very seriously studied the stages and tried to show us which lines to take! As we emerged at the bottom of one practice run we came across Katie who said she’d heard us laughing well before we finally appeared from the woods!

Nikki and me: post race elation

With the exception of the technically challenging ‘roots of death’ on stage 2, I came out of the practice session elated. While some riders were intimidated by them and much as I would have loved to have had a day to practice them, my mental game was strong, and they were not a concern. Okeford had prepared me for this, and while it was bloody hard at the time, I'm grateful now. 'Downduro' had been hard, but I was reaping the rewards. Suddenly steep, loamy switchbacks were fun and thanks to the coaching I’d had, I rode them confidently and loved them!

Top of Stage 1 - smiles for miles! Photo: Lisa Pugh

Corralled in the race village at the start of the first transition, the atmosphere of excitement and anticipation generated by 300 riders was palpable. Despite the torrential rain which started as we were transitioning from stage 1 to 2, I had an amazing race and loved every minute of it. There were swoopy berms, tight switch backs, fallen trees to jump, pedally bits, and all packed into 3 minute long descents.

Kent Trails Chix - Laura and me

I came off the hill at the end of stage 4 right next to a new friend and local Kent rider, Laura. We were both elated and compared notes on all the stages. Laura was in front of the timing stand so I gave in my timer and got my print out detailing the time overall and my times for each stage. I was already on cloud 9, I’d hit everything I wanted to and felt I couldn’t have done any better. However, I was knocked sideways when I looked at my printout and it said total time: 12 minutes! Unfortunately as I turned back to the screen my name came up and it said my total time was 17 minutes. We looked more closely – I’d been given the wrong ticket, the ticket for the winner of the ladies Elite category. No wonder the time was so fast! A delicious chicken fajita wrap, another flat white, and a quick pep talk and I was feeling back to normal. As it turned out, I was only 12 seconds off a podium place in my category so that wasn’t bad and more to the point, I’d hit everything I wanted to and ridden the best I could in the conditions.

Heather, Marcia, Lisa, Me, Renee. Photo: Bryony Glover

Driving home I felt exhausted but so happy after a day riding and laughing with friends.

I am in awe of how Scott and his team create stages and transitions that keep over 300 riders going for an hour or two from 11.45am – 4pm and deliver interest and challenge for riders ranging from elite to fun. It’s a real skill and takes time and effort. Once again, thank you for your hard work, I am loving it!

Bring on Round 3 at Pipingford!