Southern XC round 1
Checkendon: 23/04/06
Flints, rocks and punctures abound. By Paul Howard.
The RATZ club have had a busy winter building new trails and even a bridge crossing to open up the options of providing more varied course layouts, so we were greeted with a very different five mile lap to usual. But one thing doesn't change – the sharp stones and flints littering the singletrack. Many riders suffered gashed sidewalls or punctures with those using sealants spraying "white juice" all over the place, so careful bike handling and a good tyre choice was paramount. No doubt when the NPS comes here later this year many riders will be better prepared for the unforgiving trails. But what a great course, all credit to Steve Jones, Andrew Claridge et al for it. The overnight rain had done just enough to wash away any dust leaving a slightly greasy surface. The steep switchback climbs, slippy roots and wet grass were quite entertaining once you got the mindset to let the bike "just do it's thing".
On with the racing. A Youth field of 22 riders set out with Calum sadly retiring after his first lap. In Masters, Dean had a comedy start only just getting onto the line before the off, after assisting Stefano with a mechanical. As the pack disappeared up the field Dean was spinning wildy at 180rpm clicking through the gears only to find he's still in the granny ring after his traditional low speed recce lap warm-up. Fortunately he stopped giggling at his schoolboy error, composed himself and set about playing catch up to finish 13th, six minutes behind the leaders.
Dean Morgan hot on the heels of Stefano De Tomaso
For the Juniors, Ben was up against probably some of the best youngsters in the South, the leaders were lapping in sub 25-minutes. Ben rode a strong first lap easing his pace for the remainder to finish fifth.
Paul Hopkins was, as ever, at the sharp end of the newly combined Supermasters/Expert category once again up against Jamie Norfolk, Sam Gardner and Expert Mark Russell. The group split away early from the main field and stayed together until the fourth lap when Jamie made a move to take the win. Paul just lost touch with the group on a climb to finish fourth. I unfortunately lightly pulled a hamstring during the first two minutes warming up, no idea how as I was spinning along easily at the time. I gave the first lap of the race a go to see how it felt – pretty sore was the answer – so retired allowing it to recover before the Gorrick Enduro next week.
Good luck to the team at the Enduro and the first NPS at Sherwood Pines in a fortnight when we can see how our performance ranks nationally. Round 2 of the Southern XC is on the 14th May at East Grinstead. A very fast course in the dry it surrounds field edges interspersed with tight singletrack and bombholes, with the promise of more new tracks this year.
Pos Laps Time Time+ Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUTH 21 1 00:29:46 CALUM CHAMBERLAIN 29:46 - JUNIOR 5 3 01:23:01 07:02 BEN THOMAS 26:25 28:05 28:31 MASTER 13 3 01:26:30 06:28 DEAN MORGAN 28:12 28:47 29:31 SUPERMASTER/EXPERT 4 4 01:40:32 01:20 PAUL HOPKINS 24:52 24:38 25:06 25:56 33 1 00:29:20 PAUL HOWARD 29:20 - - -
Photo courtesy of Mike Keynes.