Consistency is Key!
With our Club Champs finally able to get started, we headed to Culham with the mighty Cotswold Youth & AMX Club this weekend, for 2 days of racing, with a packed field of riders and a total of 9 groups. Finally a dry weekend, with sun, sand and success!
Saturday – Rafe woke up early and headed for a run to get the blood pumping and to clear his mind, ready for the day.
Race 1 – Excellent start saw Rafe get ahead of the pack and maintain a good consistent ride, but avoiding the deep ruts, meant he had to fight hard to maintain a fifth.
Race 2 – WOW, total focus from Rafe as he settled into Fourth place. He pulled away from the riders and focused on being consistent and protecting his race position. Rafe crashed, but having pulled away from the pack, meant the crash did not cost him any places. Again avoiding the ruts to protect his position, he crossed the line in Fourth.
Mentally and physically tired, Rafe felt he couldn’t manage a third race. But as he headed to the line, the MX gods looked favourably on Rafe and he was told that racing had stopped for the day, due to time limits.
Straight back to the camper, shower, takeaway Pappa Johns (to calorie load) and early to bed!! As there was a promise on 3 blocks on Sunday. Our aim for Sunday… Attack those ruts!!!
Sunday – Rafe woke up in a top mood, he headed off for a run at 7am and came back pumped for the day. And what a day it was… He was on fire. Today’s goal was to attack those inside ruts, as they were his only weakness.
Race 1 – Hell of a start! He powered on through the race attacking those inside ruts as promised, confident and pulling away from the pack. Those boys in first and second were too fast to catch, but he earned a solid third place.
Race 2 – Rinse & Repeat!! Another third place win! A purely solid ride, settling into third and pulling away from the pack. No crashes, we were home and dry.
Unlike the day before, Rafe was ready for Race 3 and the tough track conditions! “Let’s have the same again please Rafe”
Race 3 – Another solid ride, cracking start, cracking ride, settled into third place again and pulled away riding his own race, working with the bike and track to execute a ride to be proud of.
What a fantastic weekend, well run by Cotswold and good to be back in the sunshine. Rafe secured third overall for the weekend and first overall in the championship.
Thank you to the Team for their help to date and the advice and guidance from Coach Robb which has definitely helped with this weekend’s success.
