#frogbikes

My first race finally came after all my training over the winter. I went to North Wales to stay the night before as it was closer for us to go the next day and we wouldn't have to get up as early! I woke up on race day at 6.30, had some breakfast and my dad and I left by 6.50am.We stopped on the way there to get flapjacks, jelly babies, drinks and a coffee for dad!

We got to Llandegla for 8.15 and my friends from the club were there. Dad got my number - it was 13!! He then got our bikes out and took me and my friends around the course so we could do a route check and see what the best lines were. The hill from the start was long and steep. On the trail there was 2 sections which had an “A” or “B” line, A is hard and B is easy. We rode the first “A” line which was a steep drop but when we got to the second one we were told it wasn't being used in our category and weren't allowed to ride it, boo!

On the start line the girls had to start a minute behind the boys. This made it really hard at the start at the climb was narrow and we were stuck behind the slower ones. I had passed a few girls on the hill but didn't know my position until I came to the “A” line drop where all my family were, they were cheering me on and dad was shouting “Cari, your 3rd, keep it up, well done!”.

I kept riding as fast as I can but then we had lapped the ones at the back and kept getting stuck behind them! As I was in the top 3 girls we had to do an extra lap so 3 all together. When I came over the finish it was really busy and loads of people were calling my name!

I was very happy I came 3rd as I got to go on the podium. I had a medal and some prizes.

This was my first race on my Frog 69. The bike rides really good, the hills are easier and I get up faster with my bigger gears, its faster downhill and smoother as the front is a little bit higher so its good for steep stuff.

Hi my name is Cari and I'm 9 years old. I'm a passionate mountain biker and cyclist. Just over a month ago I became the ambassador for Frog - push the limits.

I got to choose what bike I wanted so I went for a Frog 69 MTB in grey and neon red. When it came Jim at Summit Cycles set it all up for me. When I chose the bike I thought it was black but when we got it was dark grey with a glitter in it and the neon red looks like its glow in the dark!

My first ride on it was at a DH track not far from home. On the first hill the bike was really quick and dad couldn't keep up! On he trails the bike felt really different to my other bike so dad had my practising on really steep bits by showing me what to do then I would do it, first couple of goes and I soon got the feel of the bike.

For the next week we couldn't ride as the snow got really bad so I went on the turbo trainer instead! I had to do a warm up and then 1 minute riding in the hardest gear standing up as fast as I can and then 1 minute sitting down easy, I got really hot and sweaty! The following week my sisters and I had tonsillitis so no bikes.

My first proper ride was on a Friday night with my dad who was also trying out his new bike! It was dark so we had our lights. They had fixed a trail called  “Camels Hump” and they had made one of the humps a lot bigger so we stopped there and were doing jumps over it!

On the Sunday the weather was really nice so we went for a ride at Bwlch Nant yr Arian with my biking friends who are in the Ystwyth juniors club. First we had a few laps on the pump track and we were trying to do big jumps! It was lots of fun. We then went around the trails, it was really good fun, the bike felt really good and I was going fast and racing with my friends. Dad said we rode 12k.