And yes, another successful weekend for our CubeNutswerk rider from Great Britain, Dan Wells
This weekend he rode Round 3 of the Midlands XC series at the Wyre Forest.
This was the first time a XC race has been held at this venue.
The best 3 results from the 4 race series count towards the final standings so Dan knew that a top 5 (if 2nd placed Lee Shunbourne (a top CX racer) won the race) would secure the series for him.
The weather was great (finally..) and the course was dry except for the 5 stream crossings per lap. 5 laps x 5 crossings = a very muddy bike!
The start was good and Dan got to the front quite quickly and drove the pace into the singletrack knowing there was a very short but very steep slippy climb where, if Dan could ride it clean, could start to form a gap.
It went to plan and a gap formed and after that Dan rode fullgazzzz ;)
On the third lap lots of small tree roots started to appear as the fresh course began to get cut up. Dan had a small crash on a root he did not see until he was on the floor.
This left him with crunching gears as my front mech was affected after it and he had to stop and free his chain.
He eased back into riding to assess the damage and what gears he could use without too much trouble. The gap got smaller and Dan was feeling good and knew he had good legs for the laps 4 and 5. He concentrated on riding smooth on the technical sections and putting in big efforts on the climbs to maintain the lead. Dan crossed the line with a winning margin of 2minutes and 30seconds and with a third consecutive win he took the series with one race left. Massive performance!
Dan has week off now and then it is his first National Series race where he thinks his winning streak of 5 in a row might come to an end as the competition will really be strong!
( We will see of the streak will end Dan ! Guess not ;). )
This weekend he rode Round 3 of the Midlands XC series at the Wyre Forest.
This was the first time a XC race has been held at this venue.
The best 3 results from the 4 race series count towards the final standings so Dan knew that a top 5 (if 2nd placed Lee Shunbourne (a top CX racer) won the race) would secure the series for him.
The weather was great (finally..) and the course was dry except for the 5 stream crossings per lap. 5 laps x 5 crossings = a very muddy bike!
The start was good and Dan got to the front quite quickly and drove the pace into the singletrack knowing there was a very short but very steep slippy climb where, if Dan could ride it clean, could start to form a gap.
It went to plan and a gap formed and after that Dan rode fullgazzzz ;)
On the third lap lots of small tree roots started to appear as the fresh course began to get cut up. Dan had a small crash on a root he did not see until he was on the floor.
This left him with crunching gears as my front mech was affected after it and he had to stop and free his chain.
He eased back into riding to assess the damage and what gears he could use without too much trouble. The gap got smaller and Dan was feeling good and knew he had good legs for the laps 4 and 5. He concentrated on riding smooth on the technical sections and putting in big efforts on the climbs to maintain the lead. Dan crossed the line with a winning margin of 2minutes and 30seconds and with a third consecutive win he took the series with one race left. Massive performance!
Dan has week off now and then it is his first National Series race where he thinks his winning streak of 5 in a row might come to an end as the competition will really be strong!
( We will see of the streak will end Dan ! Guess not ;). )