Grindleford

Last night Kettleshume, tonight Grindleford. I hadn't done this race for a couple of years so it was good to see that it hadn't changed at all. Two laps of the cricket pitch to sort the men from the boys (I'm still a boy!), out onto the road, across the bridge and onto the lane at the start of the climb up into the woods. It's very important to get a good position early on because after about 10 minutes of tough climbing the track narrows down to a steep single track with no overtaking possibilities. I did OK but should have pushed harder. Topping out beyond the treeline the route tracks across a swampy field that is another singletrack affair. From here you turn left onto good bridleways through Hay Wood with a chance of catching and overtaking. The climbing is all over so you can cut loose knowing there's a good stretch of downhill to come. Then decent through Windses Wood is fast and technical. You need strength left because you take quite a hammering coming down through here. Emerging from the wood and the route flattens out across fields and a race back toward the playing field. Keeping form and concentration are key here. There's just one more obstacle, the river crossing. Scurry down the bank and across the rocky bed. It's not very deep and there are nice wooden stairs at the other side now (a change from the slippy mud bank of previous years.). Onto the cricket field and it's another sprint for the line. You don't want to be passed here! 40.38. Two down one to go.