Round 2 was on Gnarkill. I had never ridden the track since it had a new start but I have to say it's one of my new favourites. Much more enjoyable than Scotsman used in round one.
For the first time I choose to ride my new On One codeine, a 29er enduro bike. It suited the course perfectly over the Demo.
The codeine came into its own on the flat turns and sailed over the roots and through tight techy sections. Honestly that bike can jump! whoever said 29er can't jump was obviously on the wrong 29er!
Being my second race back after over a year off I was much more settled and calm.
With a fresh perspective I put down a solid, safe first run putting me in 3rd place. Feeling confident that all of the girls were only a couple of seconds apart I really went for it on my second run. Unfortunately I clipped a tree and my cleat came out and I couldn't get it back in before the big drop. Even though I lost lots of time in the middle section I got a 1:29 again so must have flown through the start and end sections to have made up all the time.
I finished in 4th but was really happy as I was 2 seconds off 3rd place so felt Im getting back on my game with a competitive time.
From this race I learnt new shoes with different position cleats take more time to get used to than I thought!
I've been really happy with my progress doing all of the jumps in both rounds. It's one less advantage that all the 4x girls have.
