Carling left deflated after early punctures

OVER almost before it started. Jimmy Carling suffered a disastrous start to the 2004 NPS Mountain Bike Series at Newnham Park in Plymouth.

Fellow Sarnian junior rider Tobyn Horton enjoyed much more success with a 12th-place finish in the first race of the season, but 2003 National Youth Series champion Carling , who is now competing in the junior ranks with Horton, was out of the race within the opening minute.

'There was a 150m grass start, which was a flat-out sprint, and then we dropped into a river crossing of about seven or eight metres, a foot to a foot and a half deep,' said Carling.

'I got a really good start, I was up into fourth and I went into the crossing behind junior champion Richard Firth. But when you hit the water, you decelerate quite sharply and he did not keep his weight back so he just went straight over his bars.

'I had no choice but to try to ride over him, but I ran over his chain ring and burst both of my tyres.'

Carling at first thought that he had punctured only his front tyre but when he turned his bike over to repair the damage, he heard a hissing coming from the back one.

Although he uses self-healing tubes, the holes were too big for the gel in the tubes to repair.

'The whole race took about an hour and a half. My race lasted 20 seconds,' he said.

'Judging from the final results, I reckon I could have probably got a top-five place. Firth got back on his bike and finished fourth, which was really rubbing salt into the wounds.

'I was hoping for a good result there and then in the next round in May because the Junior Great Britain team selectors were watching and you are pretty much guaranteed to go to the Junior World Championship if you get a top placing,' Carling added.

Horton felt a little tired on his first lap, probably startled by the fact that Carling was handing him his energy-boosting gel at the feed station, but by lap two he was settled into a good rhythm.

Riding with the sole Jersey competitor James Paterson, Horton tackled the technical sections smoothly and really attacked the climbs.

On the third lap the 17-year-old pulled away from the Caesarean rider and eventually came a very creditable 12th in the junior category.

Both Guernsey riders will be going to the next round of the National Series in Dumfries next month.

Before then, though, Carling will be tackling a three-day stage road race in Wales on the first weekend of May.

'That is just to gain more experience on the road and show the Junior GB squad selectors that I can ride well in another discipline,' he said.