Elissa Challis

I actually don’t like riding through ruts (who does???), but they feature in a lot of my local trails so they can’t be avoided 😅

No joke I say affirmations about how much I love them while I ride 🤣 and make sure breathe slowly to stay relaxed. I think it’s helping?

These ones will only get better (harder) in the winter!!

I started Place Top Five because I wanted a target.

Something that would push me to ride faster, navigate better and stop waiting until I felt completely ready.

What I hadn’t fully clocked was how quickly that target would expose all the bits I still need to work on.

Not just the riding.
The frustration.
The tiredness.
The point where concentrating feels almost impossible.

Dorset Hard showed me some limits, but that’s useful information. Because you can’t improve what you haven’t found yet.

And I’d rather discover those edges now, with good people and snacks nearby, than during a bigger event when the stakes feel higher.

The goal is still to place in the top five women.

But I’m learning that getting there won’t just mean riding faster.

I’ve got to stay calm enough to keep solving the problem when I’m hot, tired and very tempted to declare the whole thing a bad idea.

You’re up next, Somerset!