THERE was no fairy tale factor in Victoria Wilkinson's appearance in the Commonwealth Games mountain bike competition at Rivington Pike near Bolton on Monday.

But there was great satisfaction with her ride and even greater delight at being involved in a tournament which has earned gold medals all-round for the British sporting public.

The Hebden rider finished 10th in a women's event that did not have as a strong a field as she was hoping for in terms of quality and numbers, although she conceded that the race itself was a real test despite the lack of bodies.

The race involved four laps of a 7-kilometre course, which included around 17 minutes of climbing on each lap and some very technically challenging descents. From Wilkinson's perspective, a course where the gradients were more evenly distributed would have been preferable, but she still enjoyed the punishing circuit.

"There was no time to become bored on what was a very interesting course," she says. "It was hard going up the hills when the temperature climbed in the late morning, but the downhill sections were all rideable, but demanded great care and concentration."

The strength of the challenge she had to confront was made abundantly clear on the first lap by race favourite Caroline Alexander, who set a scorching early pace in her bid to clinch the gold medal. Sadly, she suffered a slip tyre that could not be repaired by the normal means and she had to retire.

Her withdrawal brought Christy Redden from Canada into the pole position and she held on to finish in 1hour 32.10mins, less than a minute ahead of her podium rivals.

Wilkinson finished in 1hour 45.12mins, which fulfilled the ambitions she had set for herself before the race.

"The atmosphere and support was absolutely amazing," she says. "It was estimated that there were over 50,000 people on the hill and they really got behind the riders. It was great for me because in addition to having lots of family and friends and workmates there to give me a cheer, the public really got behind me.

"Even when it was hurting a lot, you almost forget the pain because the noise was so intense. I've never had so many people shouting my name in a race. It was unbelievable. The World Championships in Belgium in January probably had the same sort of numbers, but not for mountain biking. It just showed what the British public are capable of and was very encouraging for the future.

"I stayed on to watch the men's race and even when it was down to the real tail-enders, people were still there is their thousands to give support."

Despite being located in a Bolton hotel in preparation for the event, Wilkinson was also part of the spectacular opening ceremony, another experience that will stay with her for a life-time.

"That was a very special occasion, with the public again really getting into the spirit of things," she says.

Having done her stuff at Bolton, she plans to move into the games village for the second part of the week having had a taste of what's on offer prior to the official opening.

"There's everything there you can think of and the atmosphere is really good," she says. As part of the cycling team, I can get tickets for the velodrome and intend to see some racing there, but I also want to get tickets for the athletics.

"The whole thing has gone exactly to plan from an organisational stand-point and has proved just what we can do when the time comes to put on a show. Just being part of it has been a great thrill."