Oli Beckingsale at the National Championship

An update from elite MTB-er Oli Beckingsale dropped into my inbox this morning on his ride at the UK National Championships, he had [high hopes](http://wattbike.com/uk/blog/post/beckingsale_fights_back_in_the_us_mtb_world_cup_race) going into this race and put in a great performance. We're experiencing some pretty horrible weather here in the UK at moment and it seems like it impacted on Oli's performance. The weather is fine if you have a Wattbike as you can continue to train indoors but if you're competing then there's little to do except pull back the curtains and head out into the rain. Thanks again to Oli for providing us with these superb updates, another honest assessment of how his season is unfolding. > Hello > > Last weekend it was National Champs time, my 13th senior champs and having won the title 5 times in the past I was well up for grabbing another one. > > The race took place up in Richmond, North Yorks on a tough but relatively flat course. The weather hitting the UK over the weekend made the long singletrack sections really difficult and tough to ride, and this would have more of a bearing on the race than the 3 power climbs early on in the lap. > > For the past 3 years I've finished runner up to Liam Killeen and after a lap it was the two of us off the front. However I was losing some time to Liam on the technical stuff and having to close back on the climbs. On lap 3 I started to hurt for this effort and was distanced. > > After a lap of being grumpy and having to come to terms with losing again, I was then under pressure from Lee Williams in 3rd but that was the kick in the arse I needed and in the end I was a comfortable and happy 2nd. > > Next up is the European Champs in Slovakia on August 7th. > > Thanks for the support. > > Oli A full report and results can be found at [British Cycling](http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/mtb/article/mtb20110711--MTB--British-XC-Champs-Live-Reports-0)