So my first downhill race I was super nervous and had a couple of average runs but really enjoyed it so as soon as I had chance to do another race I couldn't wait.
Second time round I was no where near as nervous.
It was round 3 at Tavi woodlands winter series so not as much pressure as southwest champs but still almost as many entrants.
My husband and I arrived on the saturday and It was wet! As usual when I race its so muddy and the course was man made but built into the hillside with not much texturing so there was a lot of getting side ways. The course was so much fun with roots, drops and jumps. On the saturday there was hailstone so practice was really different to race day. Riding on hailstones was like riding on ball bearings it was so hard to keep control and even harder to push back up!
After a comfy night in our van we had 3 or 4 practice runs but the course was getting really cut up so our tyres were clogging really bad and it was hard to get enough speed for the jumps.
THe only thing I would have changed over the weekend was my tyres, I had spikes on but wasn't sure what else to change too, I think next time I will just have the same as my husband because he has a lot more experience.
My first race run I aimed for a safe time and went around a jump which was getting hard to get speed for and then also came off on a tight bend after a really steep stepped section so my first run was less than impressive but I was no where near as nervous as last time I raced so new I could focous and improve on my second run,
My second run was near perfect everything was so clear, calm and methodical, I pedalled in all the right places and hit every line I wanted to, the only thing that could have gone better was if my tyres could have got up to speed and maintained less resistance but they were so clogged and sluggish. Despite that what felt like an slow time was smooth and fast and landed me in a very unexpected second place.
Women
