XC Mountain Bike Nationals 2022
The 23rd and 24th July 2022 saw Hannah Williams and Matt Lawton race the MTB Cross Country National Championships at Kirroughtree Forest. It was a sterling performance from both of them, and you can see Matt Lawton’s write up of the event below!
[The 23rd and 24th July saw] Hannah Williams and I race the MTB Cross Country National Championship at Kirroughtree Forest, Dumfries, Scotland. Both riders had competed in some of the more local National Series races, but this was the biggie of the year with winners of the main races crowned National Champions; each taking home the National Champs Jersey for gloating rights on the local chainy. The course was unusual in that it effectively consisted of one very long climb to the top of a big hill, followed by steep and technical decent back in to the start/finish area before you tackled the next lap with some trepidation. The descents were purpose built for the event and consisted of drop-offs, berms and lots of slippery tree roots. One section was aptly called ‘The Root of all Evil’ and evil it was! In true Scottish style the weather didn’t hold and torrential rain turned the course into toboggan track of slurry - unrideable at best and terrifying in places.
Hannah raced on Saturday afternoon in the worst of the conditions and finished 3rd in the Female Open category. More heavy rain during Saturday night didn’t do much for the course, but the trail centre staff were on the course at 6 AM on Sunday morning clearing the slop and reinforcing berms. The Youth races did great wonders for further drying out and packing the course firm. Competing in the Vet 40 race, Matt got off to a good start and managed to hold on to 2nd place till the end but was no match for the winner, who remarked on the podium that his National Champs jersey was too small but declined to hand it over to the smaller rider who would have fitted it much better. I prefer orange anyway...
