Simon spent most of the week off the back wishing he'd spent more time on the bike over the Christmas period. OK, so the guys were quick uphill, but on their Trek carbon race bikes they wouldn't stand a chance going downhill. With only 80mm Fox forks up front there was no way they would take the technical singletrack at a faster pace than Simon. This was his terrain and Simon had a 130mm and intended to make some time back. And failed.

Ian Bibby, Ross Creber, David Fletcher, Alex Paton and Hamish Creber are all medal hopefuls and it was easy to see why. Thankfully Phil had brought Ian Wilkinson (Trek/SIS) to ride upfront and stop the guys from leaving Simon in the gutter.

The usual day rides became half day rides with a 'warm-up' in the morning consisting of a 3hr technical 'run out' followed by lunch back at the base then longer tempo rides in the afternoons. Rides like 'The Advetures of Ryan' which are usually a good day ride where being ripped out in a few hours by the GB elite. There was no stopping and the test was to stay sharp on the singletrack after hours of physical abuse.

Left to right:

Alex Paton puts in an attack on the temporary circuit. Singletrack to the Cortijo was a cheeky challenge! Top to Bottom, Ian B looks cool in the heat, a 7km climb in 26deg heat is enough to prepare anybody for some high intensity efforts, Ian looks back for some competition!