20/07/2016 - EWS La Thuile
We've always thought that young rider (can we still call him that?) Nial Oxley has the right attitude to riding, paired with a whole bucket load of skill. So, when asked if we could sort him a Rocket frame for this year's Enduro season, we jumped at the chance. We knew he'd ride it hard.
Last weekend, young (still not sure we should call him that) Nial made the trip to the Alps to race the Enduro World Series rd 4 at La Thuile, where Duncan caught him on camera, and send us a shot... "one of your guys?"
So, having explained it was Nial, we asked if he had any more shots. We also asked Nial to write a few words... here we go...
Words : Nial Oxley
Photos : Duncan Philpot
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to race my first ever Enduro World Series race in La Thuile, Italy. The tracks there are nothing like I've ever ridden, all around ten minutes long each with up too 1000m of decent, and almost certainly rougher and more technical than most of the World Cup Downhill tracks I've raced. Sore hands, cramp and "rattled knuckles" were all part of the experience!
I took my Cotic Rocket to La Thuile with the only addition being a full chain device for extra security. Racing went fairly well for me but not without the usual mishaps, I forgot my goggles on stage one which I will freely admit was my fault and I also had a crash on stage three. Probably the most notable factor in racing was just how tiring it was, 30 degree heat, body armour and a full face make for heavy work and the main thing that was effecting my riding was tiredness. Definitely a cut above anything I've ever raced previously! The only thing I can compare it too would be racing Val Di Sole back to back for three runs. My rocket held up really well for the duration of the weekend, other parts needed replacing but the frame with all its bearings and bushes are still like new!
In the end I managed to have a fairly good run on stage six which brought my position up in the Under 21's men's overall to 14th position, I'm pretty bloody happy with that as I've never done anything so hard before! Although with some specific training and hard work I may be able to improve slightly. All I can think about now Is going out and doing another!
Cheers
Nial
