So finally got my first few races under my belt. Had a really great start to the season and although this is my first season of racing the results are already showing. I've been putting in a tremendous amount of work. Early mornings in the rain off to the gym or hours on the training trying to keep the boredom at bay has paid off. My first race I finished second overall and first in my category,19-29 years. This was a great boost to the start of the year but there and then I realized if I want to compete in the expert category I will need to put in some more effort and gain tons more experience. I started slower than expected and got stuck behind some of the younger guys going into the first single track. There my technical skills came in but I was held up until the next hill where I start making amends. The track was not that technical but really flowing and fast so I made it up to four by the end of the second lap. On the last lap I put in everything and finished just 30 seconds off the front.
This last Friday there was another race in the center of Israel near J-Town. So we made a weekend of it and headed to the center. Mirit's brother also joined in the fun and pipped me on the podium. I finished forth overall and again first in my category. So 100% category record is intact and actually feeling that at the current rate I may be racing in the expert section sooner rather than later. I will need to still get quite a bit of learning in because I'm sure I'm far from their level but I'm learning and enjoying every race, which is the most important thing.Two things I've learnt from my first two races is that you need a fast start. Doesn't matter if you think you're pushing to hard you need to get to the first bottle neck before the slower guys. You'll find that you'll catch your breath some time during the race when you've found your pace. The second and probably more important is that once you've pushed hard to get to your position then click down a few notches and concentrate on enjoying the ride. I made the mistake in the last race of pushing hard to get my position but then continuing to push. I lost my concentration and came off on a slick corner. this probably cost me the race overall because my chain came off and all my momentum was lost.
