Taff Buggies Rnd 3

[kate betts]

With rain all week no one could quite believe that once again the Sun Gods were blessing the series.
All three rounds, we have had perfect weather, that has to be a good sign for the future of downhilling in Wales!
I have to admit I had been dreading returning to the same venue where 5 weeks ago I bashed myself up pretty badly.
We walked the course on Saturday morning and by the time we had gotten to the end I felt sick and my legs were shaking. The drop that I had crashed on during my last practise lap at the last round had been made a foot bigger and the double that I crashed on twice was still there! There were a few new sections as well, two rock gardens and an off camber entry into a steep little shoot which gave a faster entry into the double. As I was still nursing a wounded shoulder I had decided not to attempt the double again this weekend but it wasn’t sitting well with me. I felt disappointed with myself for letting it defeat me.
I started my first practise lap with fellow downhiller Angela Proctor, with shaking hands and legs. I took every chicken line and just tried to limber up. I tried the line I wanted through the first rock garden but froze on the entry, stopped where I couldn’t put my feet down and had to jump away from the bike before it fell on top of me. I pushed back up and redid it, choosing the easier line. Angela did the drop whilst I stood by and watch feeling inadequate and pathetic. Finally I made it to the bottom and made my way up to the uplift trailer. I felt rubbish! I could surely only get better. I had to bite the bullet and harden up. I asked Des to lead me over the drop so I could get an idea of how fast I had to go. I picked my way through the rock garden and we stopped in the burm before the drop. Des kept asking me if I was confident. He said I shouldn’t do it if I wasn’t 100% committed and that if I braked it would end in disaster. Not knowing what was going to happen next, but knowing I wanted the drop in the bag more than anything at that point, I just told him to go and I would follow. So, follow I did! Before I knew it I was flying over the biggest drop I had ever attempted, I landed it and rolled away. I had been a bit tense on landing as I jarred my shoulder as I landed but no real harm done. I heard some of the boys up the top cheer as they knew what I had put myself through to get over my fears. Des asked if I wanted to do it again. I didn’t, but knew I had to. We pushed up and I had to go through all the nerves again as I rolled into the drop. This time, I barely felt the landing it was so smooth. We carried on to the end of the course and gradually I started to feel a bit happier. The only part of the course that was really bothering me now was the first rock garden. I was picking through a slow, awkward line that I hated. At the end of practise I asked Des to show me his line through. To my amazement it was the line I had tried to take on my first practise run. I stood and looked at it, watching others try and fail, watching others try and fail on other lines also but I didn’t have the bottle to try it again myself. I pushed back up to the van and started to get changed. Angela and Rob Franks came to the van and told me they were going to the rock garden. I couldn’t let my fear get the better of me so I put my body armour back on and went with them. Angela and Rob both went down through, trying their new lines whilst I stood and watched, trying to pluck up the courage to not brake in the wrong place again.
I bit the bullet and went for it. My line flowed well and the bike just popped over the rocks. I was really pleased. I did it once more and thought that I had done enough for one day. My emotions were running high. I felt like I’d really put myself through it so with shaking legs, I pushed back up the hill to the van where a well earned drink was waiting for me.
Sunday morning dawned with the sun burning down. I did three practise runs and felt confident. I even thought that I might even do the double on my last race run! My first race run was clean. I didn’t feel too slow and I rode all my lines technically well. I wasn’t too disappointed with my time (8 seconds slower than Angela) considering how far I had come since Saturday morning. I hadn’t been able to eat anything all day (bad stomach, nerves, nuff said!!) so I didn’t have a lot of energy in my legs but I was determined to pedal as much as possible on the second run. I spoke to a couple of people about doing the double on the second run but the general consensus was that I had come a long way during the weekend and shouldn’t jeopardise that.
I took every line with as much precision as I could and pedalled as fast as I could where ever possible. I was shocked to see I was only 1 second up on my time. Unbelievable! Still, I had to be pleased. Saturday morning I’d have happily gone home and got the road bike out, Sunday afternoon I wanted to race my downhill bike. Result!

Thanks to Team Bicycle Doctor, Dakine and EAS energy for your continued support. A huge pat on the back must go to Martin, Ian and John for organising the brilliant Taff Buggy race series and for all their effort in building the courses.