Clifford Park Assault

The course was excellent! A short loop with four laps for expert riders, it had quite a few technical sections which were fun but mostly rideable. It was like racing on the white trail in the fells for two hours. They started vet I and vet II at the same time. North Shore Dave was right behind me until we hit a downhill section where a ladder had become misplaced and one of the boards was torn off with the nails sticking up. I got off to go around, and Dave and one other guy figured a way to ride past me. About four or five other guys got between Dave and me and were going a bit slower than Dave, I worked passed them and caught and passed Dave right after the second lap.

For a while I couldn't see Dave and thought I might have dropped him. I think that caused me to slow down, because the next thing I new he was right behind me again. I tried to kick it up a notch and drop him again, but I think that made me misjudge some technical sections and and ride sloppy because he stayed right behind me. I was still just ahead of him with about 10 minutes to go when I got a flat! I tried to fix it quickly, but my CO2 was dead. (I'll always bring 2 from now on). Some guy gave me a cartridge, and I was back on the course. Dave finished 7th and I was 9th about five minutes back.

I would definitely do this race again.