Southern XC Round 5
Yateley Heath Wood: 03/09/06
By Paul Howard.
Yateley is a great race venue with varied terrain and a myriad of trails to choose from. So once again Gorrick surprised us by pretty much reversing the course from previous events and adding some new linking sections. It rode just as well if not better, though the strong wind which always seemed to be in your face was tough going at times. The sting in the tail was the ever steepening fireroad climb to the finish which was something I've been asking Jon (of Gorrick) to add into this course for ages and he duly obliged. There was a big crowd of supporters gathered at the summit willing on the racers to put in a final big effort to catch their competitors. I for one hit my highest racing heart rate this year at the finish trying to gain one place. But as the legs began to seize I fell short by a few lengths after gaining well over 100m.
The morning racers were greeted by light rain and a cool wind, although the rain wasn't even enough to make the roots slippery. By midday the clouds had cleared and we raced in blazing sunshine and 25degC, probably the warmest day for at least a month. A bit of a shock to the system.
It was good to see the whole team turn out and everyone was a finisher (that must be a first) with some notable results to round off the series. Calum won the Youth 2 lap race in spectacular style by crashing into the finish line board drawing blood from his legs. He also finished second in the Series.
Ben fought very hard in the Junior race taking over the lead for a while when the leader punctured but he made it back past Ben relegating him to a well deserved 2nd. Warren rode a trouble free race to a great 4th place in Sport missing third by a mere 2 seconds. Paul Hopkins secured the Expert/Supermasters series by a scant one point and a 6th place finish, although he wasn't quite on form after suffering with a cold recently.
The rest of us fought on valiantly in our own little battles. John seemed to be suffering after his recce lap complaining of an unusually high heart rate for a warm-up but his legs felt ok. He decided to race anyway to just enjoy the course but his lap times were not to his usual standard. Dean was in the thick of the Masters pack trying to find a way past some of the riders who were fast on the fireroads and climbs but astoundingly poor in the twisty bits, eventually he made his way up to 11th. Chris started with Warren in the Sport race and soon settled into a nice pace although once again suffering for some reason or other. Finally myself in Expert/Supermasters, I rode as hard as possible for the opening laps to stay in touch and work with a small group but by the fourth lap I was blowing up and the legs were tightening on the steep climbs.
So why did so many people suffer today? Was it the sudden change in temperature? The strong wind? Or just the manic final round pace with everyone wanting to finish on a high? Answers on a postcard please!
Our racing continues at the final round of the NPS at Checkendon on the 16/17 September. See you there, after we've all had a good rest!
Pos Laps Time Time+ Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUTH 1 2 00:49:44 CALUM CHAMBERLAIN 23:53 25:51 JUNIOR 2 3 01:16:56 02:46 BEN THOMAS 24:17 25:48 26:51 MASTER 11 3 01:20:04 04:44 DEAN MORGAN 25:12 27:34 27:18 VETERAN 46 3 01:43:47 31:38 JOHN NEWPORT 35:22 33:26 34:59 EXPERT/SUPERMASTERS 6 4 01:41:47 04:44 PAUL HOPKINS 22:20 25:25 27:05 26:57 13 4 01:47:46 10:43 PAUL HOWARD 24:09 26:38 27:50 29:09 SPORT 4 3 01:20:03 04:33 WARREN BATES 24:28 27:47 27:48 15 3 01:33:38 18:08 CHRIS WHITE 30:09 31:00 32:29