I took the opportunity to spend a week in Innerleithen before the first winter race, to do an uplift weekend and then spend the week training ahead of the first race. Glentress and Innerleithen are such great places to ride as I was able to do some xc, dh, some road riding and go to the gym all within a 10 minute drive. We also had a pretty good week of weather which made the riding even better. This was to be my first real outing on my new Trek Session 88. I felt really good on the bike and I was looking forward to see how fast I was actually going on it ! I was amazed how many other Trek bikes there were at the race, they certainly seem to be a popular bike this year. The race weekend was bitterly cold, but the snow managed to hold off and the track was pretty dry. As with all Innerleithen tracks it was tight and twisty through the trees with a few new sections which are always challenging as they wear in throughout the weekend. I had a good race and took the win ahead of Katy Curd. I was also pretty happy with my time as it placed me just outside the top 10 overall which was good.
Although the two races were a few weeks apart, I seemed to be back up at Innerleithen again within no time. This time it was a different track, a bit longer and a lot more technical. The weather was also not as kind and the damp conditions made the top section very challenging. I really enjoyed the track and the tough conditions. I had some more competition this weekend and I knew the slippery track would be hard to get together a perfect run. However I was really pleased with how I rode to take 1st place ahead of Helen Gaskell.
It felt great to get a couple of races under my belt and really good to be riding in some hard conditions. Trek were sponsoring the event and supported me really well, so I was happy to start of the year with a win for them.
Next stop will be the first time we all get together as one team, Trek World Racing at the Maxxis Cup in Portugal and get chance to wear our new team kit !