So it finally arrived. The Foxhunt 2013 which also ended up being the last big race of the year. What a weekend it was. Dad, Matthew and I travelled down early Saturday morning to Rostrevor. After getting signed on and collecting my timing chip, I then headed up the mountain on the uplift. To get to the very top of the mountain you had a 20 minute push up and it was steep! The race course was worth it though. It started with a uphill sprint along some single track, then into some downhill singletrack before the real rough stuff started. After the single track it was into a long rock garden before hitting loads of jumps and berms down what can only be described as a dual slalom course on a fireroad. Then it was into The Pulse which is one of Rostrevor's downhill tracks. There were plenty of big rocks and drops which cause some mayhem on the Saturday. I got 2 full runs in and 3 runs of The Pulse before it was time for seeding. During Practise I got 2 punctures and smashed the bottom part of my chain guide off so I was hoping to make it down the seeding run without a mechanical. I got a good start up the climb and quickly got into the run. I managed to catch a lad on a full downhill rig which made a bit hard to get by but after that it was plain sailing. I went on full attack down the doubletrack and dual slalom sections. In The Pulse the main aim was to be quick but not get another puncture which I managed not to get and put a good sprint into the finish. I won seeding by 3 seconds and took 15th overall which meant I got the choice of where I wanted to start for the FoxHunt.
On Sunday morning I managed to get in one run of the course before everybody headed to the top of the mountain for the FoxHunt. I chose to start over to the right hand side of the pack with the rest of the top guys. 5,4,3, Go! I got a good start of the line and got down to the bridge in a good position. I managed to pass 2 people on the beginning of the singletrack climb and then things settled down till we got to the doubletrack. I was fast down the doubletrack but knew there was someone right on my back wheel chasing me and I was determined not to let him get by me. We raced on down the course taking pretty much the exact same lines the whole way down. I just couldn't shake him off my tail. As we came out onto the tarmac road to the finish line jump I put in a big sprint to try get away from him and I just about managed to hold him off. It turned out to be one of the guys I had been riding with all weekend (Jordan Kelly). I ended up Finishing 1st out of the Juniors and came 13th overall with a time of 8:08minutes , 2 places up on where I came in seeding and 9 seconds quicker than my seeding time.
Scott
