Pembrey is one of my favourite venues for a bike race, whether it was Cross or Mountain Biking. The course had changed after last year, and after riding one lap of the course I decided it suited me, with the long fast straights and sand dunes. The first half a lap was all on double-track, so it was all about power. After a small trench there was a section on sand dunes, and then some more track before a windy section just before the finish. My bad start the previous week meant that I knew I had to warm up properly to get the best start possible.
In the end I did get a good start, entering the sand dunes in 3rd position. I messed up one of the sand dunes so I fell back to 6th, but after the first lap I was where I wanted to be. On the second lap the front group became 5 riders, and then 4 entering the final lap. One rider broke away with half a lap to go and I entered the final section in 4th place. I couldn’t quite overtake anybody so I finished 4th, but 2nd U16. I was only 6 seconds away from the leader so this was the closest I had come to the leader in a Welsh Cross race before.