Jack Sheppard: Getting into the groove
By TMX Archives on 20th Apr 16
This month sees the start of the season for national events, getting me back in the swing of things and getting prepared for the upcoming British Championship and SSDT.
March 20 saw me ride the Cleveland trial near Whitby. At the start it looked as though we were going to be in for a fair spout of rain, but after a very light shower it cleared up, dried out and turned out to be a great day!
I started off very slowly throwing away very silly fives and very slack marks and after the half way point I was sitting back in sixth, so I knew I had to up my game and ride how I know I can.
Fortunately I did this and rode much better the second half and had the best score on observation for the later part of the trial.
Overall I managed to pull myself back up to second behind Michael Brown. After my very poor start I was pleased with this result.
A couple of weeks later I had my next scheduled trial the Chris Carter, back up north in Yorkshire. I set off riding pretty well this day, quite consistent and felt pretty solid on the bike.
Unfortunately half way through the first lap I got to a deep water section and along with quite a few other front pack riders decided to take fives due to the depth.
This proved to be a tough but wise decision as upon arrival we couldn't miss the few bikes that had already succumbed to the section water level.
Other than that decision my first lap was clean and my second lap was also pretty steady just making small mistakes on a couple of sections.
The second lap also meant I got to ride the deep water section but by this time the water level had sufficiently dropped. I managed to finish the day in second position behind James Fry who was on very good form.
After a couple of nationals it was now time for the first British championship up in the Lake District.
Normally known for its rain, this year we had a surprise of two exceptional days of sunshine, which of course everyone enjoyed.
My first day started off a bit shaky and slow to get going with my first lap not being great, but I kept chugging away and improving lap by lap to pull up in the results.
I didn't feel to be riding bad I just was making too many silly mistakes and having too many fives which add up very quickly to spoil a lap or day.
I was pleased to finish the day in fifth which is not a disaster in the British championship as its very hard to get good results with so many good riders.
The second day started off very well with me riding very comfortably and I felt very happy on the bike. After the first and second laps I was leading the trial but knew as the scoring was a bit lower than the previous day it was all to play for on the last lap.
It was a strange feeling on the last lap as I still felt to being riding well but ended up with a couple of fives. I thought I was riding the same and taking the same lines as before but I must have been very slightly off as the outcome was very different to previous laps.
I managed to pick myself up after these fives and finish the rest of the sections strong which in the end only lost me one position and put me back down to second.
Now the focus changes slightly and moves towards the fast approaching SSDT, which we all look forward to. I'm hoping to learn from the past few weeks and channel that into my riding for Scotland.
However all riders know that what happens during the SSTD varies so often that it can be out of your control, you just have to take it as it comes and enjoy the week.
Until next time feet up!
