first xc race was a couple of years ago aged 14, got annihilated by most of the other kids that had raced their entire lives, after i had just switched from competitive swimming. i suffered on the climbs and the descents. now i still suffer on the climbs (although not in relation to the competition) but find the downhill is getting easier as the years go by. actually, the standard of the guys i race, coming up through the SXC series right now is immense, future champions for sure. It feels weird not heading down to Kirroughtree right now for the first round of the Series, but exams are just around the corner so racing has to take a backseat.
[edit]Remember frantically trying to get gridded further up the field and then being blitzed on the firetrack. first race was SXC round 3 (aberfoyle 2009) and was amazed at the technical difficulty. turns out it was an exceptionally difficult track in the conditions. went over the bars 8 times in a race.