Southern XC - Wasing

The stumble into unchartered territory continues.
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Round 2 of the Southern XC series, at Wasing, was also combined with the Southern Championships so there were a lot of (extra) competitors there. How embarrassing to have my name called out to take a place on the second row of the grid .. only secured because I rode the last race at Checkendon I hasten to add. Second from left and slow off the mark !
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After some advice from friend Sarah (Carter), I had decided on a pre race plan to push (much) harder and see when I ran out of steam. The start was faster and I had seven or eight behind me early on and I overtook two more when they took the chicken run at the steep'ish drop and I just threw the ARC off the edge. 
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[action picture soon ...]
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I was was pleased with lap one and came in a shade under 26 minutes. One guy who had been hanging on behind me came past on the first short fire-road climb and, about the same time, I realised I was losing touch with the guy in front too. Laps two and three were 28:36 and 29:02 and I was overtaken by three of the Elite guys 'bimbling' round on their freakin' warm up lap - I had to smile. I did have a pit stop before lap three to change bottles and grab a gel, so lap 2 actual time was about 28:00, but by this stage I was in no man's land with no one I could catch and no one was going to catch me.
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Even though I am (relatively speaking) slow, I can't help thinking of ways to improve next time. Using 'my finish time compared to my age-group winner' formula I was bit better than last time (only 1% better though). I got there by equal portions of trying harder and failing faster, but that's OK because I really was trying harder. I have missed the quality miles since Checkendon and have some catching up to do in order to register a better improvement next time. Amazing that we can always find a way to justify doing what we want to do !
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A huge thank-you to Molly, my self-proclaimed 'Hydration Consultant', without whom I may have been even slower and who supports me in everything I do - service includes drinks, photo's and regular reality checks.
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I am off to Spain next week for the annual golf pilgrimage. I have two extra bags booked on Easy Jet - one set of golf clubs and one bike for my spare time ! The next race in the series is only three weeks away and I need to get some fast miles in before then. I have miles of undulating coastal path running south from the hotel and the SS will be in action.