Before the race, the standings in the league were tight, with me and one other battling for 1st place on the same amount of points. It was going to come down to the last 3 races, with the first being here. The course was a lot shorter than last year, and some of it was on windy single track. After riding a lap on both my cross bike and mountain bike I decided that I thought the cross bike would be quicker. I warmed up on the road to the car park and then went to be gridded, and I started on the front row.
My start was good, and I was third into the first muddy section. I powered through the mud and into 1st position, which I held throughout the first lap. I got overtaken across the finish line, and I wasn’t quite strong enough to stick with him. Luckily he was an U14, so I was still leading the U16. I powered through the faster sections, and managed to get through the technical sections, though I wasn’t quite as good through those as some of the other riders. The final corner was slippy and awkward, so I carefully negotiated my way around. The other rider flew round it, but luckily I had a big enough lead to hold him off and get the win. This was my first Welsh Cyclocross league win, which is a major step in the right direction!