BMBS Round 4 and season so far...

Kirroughtree was a fast and dry track back on April fools day when the Scottish MTB round was there but this weekend it was far from those conditions with a couple of days of heavy rain the track turned into a very muddy and unpredictable affair!
Race day I got up to watch first race of the day at 9.30 to see what the course was riding like and to cheer on a rider who will be joining the team in 2013, Frazer Clacherty who put in a brilliant ride, finishing in 12th place and racing the majority of the race in contention for a top ten place! And for a first year youth in only his second national round it is a result that he should be proud of and one that I think he can definitely improve upon, so a rider to keep an eye on!
My race was at 12.00 and starting on the first row and with the course conditions being sketchy I knew how important it was to get into the first piece of singletrack in a good position, I had a good start and got off the line first and after a long fire road climb I entered the singletrack in 3rd position, after the 1st lap Alex Welburn got away with me and Harry Franklin in pursuit around 20 seconds behind with riders just behind me and Harry so we knew we had to push, as the second lap went on me and Harry were catching Alex and the gap was around 8 seconds, we both knew we could catch him and as we hit the descent to the arena he was at the side of the course with a ripped front tyre, he did manage to get a new wheel and finish the race in a respectable 15th place. It was then down to me and Harry, I had done all the pace making throughout the race and knew at some point Harry would attack, we got close to the finish and he attacked before the final swooping descent, he got in front and couldn't get around him even in the small finishing straight so he took the win by a second, he deserved the win as he rode well from the gun. I was really pleased with the result.
I now have a 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the series with one round to go, and with 4 out of the 5 rounds to count to the overall series it is still all to play for with many riders in contention for the overall series title.
This season I have also been very proud of being selected to ride for GB in the junior ranks at 3 rounds of the UCI MTB XCO World Cup Series, I rode in the 2nd round in Houffalize, Belgium which was a shock to the system, starting 105th on a grid of 140 riders, the start is absolute madness, i eventually finished 88th on a challenging course, an experience I loved, just to be riding round in practice along side the best riders in the world! The next two rounds were just a week apart and after finding out I had being selected I was delighted. The 3rd round was Nova Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, voted the best round in the 2011 season and home to the World Champion Jaroslav Kulhavy! The course was truly incredible and the temperature was really hot, Race day I woke up to pouring rain and at breakfast the coaches had to break the news to all the Junior riders that all the bikes had been stolen, we were so shocked! with hours before the race we all had to make do on borrowed bikes that we had never ridden before! Again the race was mad, with over 120 riders, I rode feeling strong to 49th after being gridded 65th. The week after i was racing in France and after a couple of days at home Debbie and Ian at Richardsons were on it, to get a bike ready for me, one which I was familiar to and one that would be up to standard for the race in France and the British round a week later and after hours searching and working for me they could not find a solution within the few days that I was going to fly back out to France. Luckily the owner of Godleys cycles owned a bike which would do the trick for France and would give Debbie and Ian time to get a serious race machine ready for the British series a week after France. The race was mad again, 128 riders took to the start and gridded 78th, with some mad descents and gruelling climbs under such high tempertature under a beating sun I managed to ride up to 54th, again a result I am very happy with!
I know have 2 main objectives left of the shortened MTB season due to the Olympics, Firstly the last round of the national series on the 15th July near Essex and a week later the MTB National Championships at Wasing Hall near Reading, with around a month to these two important events I will now enter a few weeks of very hard training!
I would like to make a special thanks to Debbie and Ian at the shop as otherwise I would be seriously stuck, the bike they have managed to put together is truly a beauty, a very nice bike which I will keep riding to its limit to get the results it deserves! The support from both of them has been more than I would ever have expected and I hope I can do them, the shop and the team proud in the remaining races.
I will write up after the National Championships in July.

Mike Thompson