After coming 4th at the Innerleithen SDA I was feeling a bit disappointed and that I really wasn't on form this year-I hadn't felt fast or confident in my riding at all.
On the Tuesday before the BDS I went out for a ride with Jamie who had won the SDA at the weekend and was riding well this year. The snow had come back and we went over to ride some of the steepest trails in Grantown which was pretty sketchy but I was feeling a bit better and found following Jamie good for pushing my riding. I was also feeling a bit fitter than I had a week before.
Then on the Wednesday night it was back down south again to Abbington services ready for a coaching day with Ben Cathro at Ae on the Thursday. As there was no uplift on the coaching day we were just sessioning a few of the lower trails below the fireroad. At the start of the day I didn't feel great but as the day went on Ben got me to be more aggressive and confident with my riding and helped me learn how I would spot and choose lines. I felt like I was pushing myself more and going faster.
Friday was a pretty chilled out day. The guys at the Hope tech tent very kindly bled my brakes and in the evening I did a track walk with Rona and Rachel. The track walk was a completely new thing for me as I had never done one before, but I found it quite helpful. The track looked hard though! It was wet and muddy and rooty and had quite a few jumps and gaps in it including a very awkward looking stream gap.
On practice day the weather was getting better and the sun had come out but the track was still very slippy. I was pleased that I managed to do the stream gap and this rooty drop off a tree. However as I started going a bit faster I then crashed on that drop which kind of knocked my confidence on it a bit. I also felt I was getting the hang of the muddy rooty sections and corners a bit more as well.
I had decided that I was going to go round the big coffin jump and so there was only one more thing left for me to ride: the step-down. I really wanted to do it and I knew that I was probably capable of riding it but I just stood looking at it for ages and couldn't bring myself to just go off it. I left practice day feeling pretty disappointed in myself for not doing the step-down and really worried for the race the next day.
Race day came and the track was still quite wet but was definitely drying out a bit. Before my seeding run I was feeling really scared. As I was pushing myself a bit more in seeding my run felt messy and I felt like I was making mistakes all over the place. I was really surprised to hear that I had seeded first. I did know that a few of the other girls had had crashes but it still felt quite good and definitely boosted my confidence for the race. Although in the first ever Junior womens category at a BDS there were 8 riders and some very strong competition so I knew I would have to up my game to win the race.
My new Banshee Darkside was handling well and I was getting more used to it. And I made sure to do a proper warmup at the top. I felt ready to race. As I had seeded first I was going off last for my race run. This both felt like a lot of pressure but also felt pretty cool. I really wanted to win after having such a bad first two races of the year.
It felt like my best run yet. I felt fast. And then I took off over the stream gap squint and as I landed on the grassy banking my wheels just slipped out from beneath me. After that there was a section of flat with a berm and then a step up so I had to run and jump on my bike and then peddle up the step up. I made sure not to give up but was thinking in my head that I had messed up my chances of winning.
After jumping down the elevator I sprinted as hard as I could to the finish, trying to get back any time I could. I could not at all believe it when the commentator announced that I had gone quickest.
And one of the best parts was as the Junior Womens Category was sponsored by Rachel Atherton this year I won a sweet GoPro Hero 4 as my prize!
Photos: Peter Smith and Sarah Barrett
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