Now I know its been a while since my last blog, but i'll talk more about my lack of consistency in the next one! My first Xterra race of the year was in Norway, very idilic, wet, cold Norway. I rode the course on saturday and my first impressions was it was a bike course of two halves, one of these being some awesome pieces of single-track were I could get my advantage down on the mountain bike. The other Tarmac (hardly cross country). Anyway I walked away with 5th which was a pretty solid result for me. After the tropical 10 degree water I managed to pick up a nasty chest infection and so three weeks sitting on the sofa started. Xterra England was now going to be the big race of the year.
In the build up I was feeling strong and sessions were going well so I set my sights on a better finish than last year (9th) and potentially a podium, then the start list came out. Ben Allen (defending champion), Asa Shaw (2nd at the 2013 World Champs) and then the one and only Conrad (caveman) Stoltz who only had 49 titles to his name. The list went on with big names on the British ITU circuit putting their hands to off-road triathlon. Those goals were looking a lot tougher now... but I knew I was in good shape.
We knew the swim would be taken out hard as Stannard and Allen were lined up so this was about getting on some feet and damage limitation for me. Started great, I got myself right into the mix and was feeling strong on the feet of the front runners, first buoy and my god did it feel like a long way out! A moment of lost concentration and id lost those feet! "You silly idiot Dewis you just made your life a whole lot harder" these thoughts went on for a hundreds yards or so until I realised I had to get my head down and swim the hardest I could so I swam the back straight all on my own, surprisingly with no one coming past me and excited the water on my own as the 3rd group. Onto the bike this is what I was waiting for and knew I had to make the most of it, I quickly started passing people on the first lap and had lots of people to chase down which kept my momentum high. Second lap was a different case, I saw nobody and this began the mental games "where in the field am I, do I push or am I out the running". This was quickly answered coming into T2 with family shouting 9th place, Stannard is just in front of you! The run course in Vachery is great, twists turns, fallen down trees to jump over as well as a pretty big ditch that was jumped over two times a lap and I was loving it my run speed felt great and I could see the gaps coming down overtaking stannard in the first lap and Jan Poyt in the second to take 7th place overall and 1st Brit home taking the title British Xterra Champion.
With my two top ten finishes and British champion title I have now qualified for the Xterra World Championships in Maui Hawaii. So with just under 60 days to go I've got two solid training blocks lined up, as well as a desperate search for a sponsor to get me to Hawaii to perform the race I know I can. As always a big thanks to those that support me through the year and on this occasion a massive thanks to Giant who provided me with an awesome bike at the beginning of the year that really came into its own on that bike course.
Till next time, Aloha (apparently it means both hello and goodbye).
Till next time, Aloha (apparently it means both hello and goodbye).