Made it back down to Osaka last Sunday for their final meeting of the season and annual relay race. There were 20 riders in the over-30s mixed class, divided into 4 racks of 5 with the top 4 going through to semi-finals. After surviving a scare in the first moto when the rider in front went down and their bike bounced into me, I went 3/2/2 to qualify for the semi. I got to choose lane 3, so I was hopeful for a good finish but got a bit loose over the first set of jumps and got beaten into the first berm by my main rivals. I slotted into 5th but couldn't get close enough to challenge for 4th, so came home in 5th and missed out on the main. Disappointing but still fun.
I stayed on after the award ceremonies for the popular relay race. Although I'd seen it before, this was my first time to actually enter it. Each team had a mix of ages, and riders over 13 have to pump the track. After you finish your lap, you jump off your bike, run up the slope at the back of the start hill and hand over your team's coloured sash to the next rider. Our team came home second (out of 7), so that, along with a couple of prizes from the end-of-year prize draw, was a good finish to the day and a nice way to wrap up the 2024 series.
The Redline felt fine on track with the slightly shorter wheelbase, so I'm going to continue running it in this spec during the New Year. Before then I'm hoping to check out a new pump track that's just about to open not too far away, hopefully during the Chrismas break when the weather in my neck of the woods will be shite!
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