I was challenged by enduro - Moseley (From Ledbury Reporter)

I was challenged by enduro - Moseley

11:10am Sunday 15th July 2012 in Sport

MALVERN mountain biking ace Tracy Moseley made a successful foray into gravity enduro racing overseas.

The 33-year-old former world champion had spent the year doing cross-country and easing herself into enduro with competitions in the United Kingdom.

But Moseley went on to experience two of her toughest challenges, starting with the French Enduro Series from Samoëns.

In muddy conditions, she fixed spikes on her front tyres which proved valuable during two runs of a full-on first stage through open meadow and then a steep drop through a forest.

Moseley tackled a second stage before going on to Morillon for the third, part of which would have been worthy of a downhill race.

The next day brought some more tough sections for the Worcestershire rider, who rode enough to take the win in a good field ahead of Anaïs Pajot, who was junior downhill world champion in 2007, and the experienced Estelle Vuillemin.

The following weekend after moving further south in France, Moseley tackled the 10th edition of the Tribe 10,000 in Allos with a 10,000- metre descent over two days.

The fast course proved something of a shock for Moseley and she fell behind Pajot but then stayed ahead of her in the second stage.

After a successful second day, she managed a gap of just over four minutes after two hours nine minutes of racing and a 43rd place finish overall.

She said: “I really thought this year had already given me some pretty amazing experiences, some pain and great character-building moments.

“But it seems like that theme is just going to continue as I try my hand at yet more different mountain bike races. It was amazing how much shorter the stages seemed on the second run on the first weekend when you had some idea of what was coming up next.

“I still seemed to overshoot the same corners, though, even though I had ridden it once. The fatigue really started to build up and the last run on the second day of the first weekend was really tough.

“But it was a great two days of riding. I really felt I had been challenged in all aspects of my riding and fitness.

I managed to stay on my bike and had no mechanical issues which in itself is an achievement.”