SWXC Rnd2 Grammarcombe

Mark Turner-Smith was on the comeback trail this weekend.

I returned to the XC grid today after a less than ideal end to the NPS RD1 in March. I crossed the line but crash just before the end, ending up with a cracked rib and a hairline crack in my right collar bone; I wasn’t well enough for SWXC Rd1 in April.

Anyway, onto today.

Due to issues with my regular XC bike I have had to bring my 1994 Kona Kilauea (complete with Pace RC35 Mxc forks) back into race action! It has always been a well-kept bike since the day I owned it, so it’s reliable and faithful. I knew it was going to be a difficult call using it for the rest of 2026 season, so I went into today’s race with a fair amount of fear and nerves, but also fully aware it’s not going to be modern 29er XC fast.

However, I felt good, strong and powerful. I did hang back at the start as I didn't want to be a slower bike in the middle of the charge off the line to the first section of singletrack; I just stayed with the pack at the back. They did of course pull away by the end of lap 1, but the bike felt good, like putting a glove back on. I clicked quickly with racing it again (complete with Smoke and Dart tyres). I really had to muscle it into the really rooty sections to keep speed up and then move about, pick lines a bit more than say a 29er. Yes, the rear Smoke is slow so I may have to rethink my rear tyre choice, but I still had a fun race, even if my lap times were down on normal times, but in fact not as far as I thought.  A very hard going race being on old 26" wheels. I did get passed some on course, picking off quite a few from other categories who were slowing up as the race progressed, which was nice.