SWXC XCR and XCC Regional Champs

The dry, sunny weather kicked in just in time for a full weekend of XC racing for the Southwest. The academy at Wheal Velocity gave us a new format, XCR (XC Rapid), a 45-minute race on Saturday night, and the 3 race, XCC (short track) Regional champs on Sunday.

Saturday night’s race was either a long XCC or a short XCO, depending on how you want to view it. New teammate Jason Pascoe joined the regulars Lucy, Lewis and Will and we all headed off for a course recce. There were some challenging features on course, and I don’t think any of us felt overly confident by the time we got back. Will had a big crash on the ‘B’-line. The lads were ready for the race, but we had to encourage Lucy to the start line.

Gridded, and off. 45 minutes means a fast race and I’m not sure any of us knew quite how to pace it. A lot of position shuffling in the first few laps but then it stabilised and it was time to hang on and bring it home. Lewis had a big flat on his penultimate lap and had to DNF. Lucy, who was doubtful before we started had a good race and enjoyed the event. This is part of a 3 race, charity series so no podiums at the finish. There were only a few riders in each Cat so I think all of us that finished where on the podium for our races. An interesting format and it’ll be good to see more riders at the next one.

Sunday was the XCC Regional Champs and a full day of racing on a very hot day. Simple format, 3 x 20-minute races for each Cat, the overall win goes to the rider with the best combined score. Jason, Mark and Will, all Masters 50 lined up. Mark was on his retro Kona and Jason was racing only his second XC race in years and his first taste of XCC. These races are frantic, roughly 4-minute laps with quite a few technical features (more so here than at the Nationals). I think all of us found the Rock-steps frustrating, either because we couldn’t ride them, or we were hampered by traffic. Jason did the first race and decided Father’s Day with his son was going to be more fun.  Mark and I raced the next two and while not ideal, Mark’s 26”er Kona made it round all three races.

Great to see Teammate Tim hiding on the bushes on race one, thanks for the photos.