Gorrick Spring Series Round 3
Crowthorne Wood: 18/03/07
By Ben Thomas
The Mountain Trax race team gathered for the third round of the Gorrick Spring Series which saw superb sunshine as once again over 550 racers turned up to enjoy the event. This round of the series took place at Crowthorne, an old classic that everyone enjoys with its fast fireroad sections, the famous Corkscrew, the flowing singletrack and much more. After a couple of wet spells leading up to the event there were fears of a very wet course, however the course designers yet again did a superb job missing most of the mud. There was only one really wet part of the course near the end of the lap that looked like it could catch some riders out, the quickest route being directly through the deepest part of the muddy puddles.
With several of the team having spent a week out in Tenerife there were strong hopes of improved performances. Tenerife had involved a lot of hours on the bike and a lot of mountain climbing so the hills of Crowthorne Wood should have been more like molehills for these riders.
Dean who's currently flying the flag for Mountain Trax was confident of another good race. One of Dean's main competitors Steve Jones from AW Cycles had reportedly upped his training in an effort to beat Dean at this round. Dean started extremely well sprinting over the top of the hill onto the fireroad leading out the Veteran's category. Dean completed his first lap in 23 minutes and 8 seconds and with Steve Jones and Dave Nelson just ahead. Unfortunately another competitor managed to clip Dean's wheel throwing him of his bike, the crash allowed the leaders to "snap the elastic" and open a gap from Dean. Despite being disappointed with the end results Dean had ridden another strong performance and finished in 6th place. Dean managed the second fastest average lap time of the whole team.
Dean engages his laser targetting system to tame the Corkscrew
[ Photo courtesy of: Stuart Brazier ]
Starting not long after Dean was new recruit and team member Clive Ely competing in Grand Veterans. Clive has this season "retired" from planning Gorrick race courses after over 10 years of skill and dedication to the cause. He is looking forward to regaining his race speed and utilising his good bike handling skills and course knowledge to achieve top placings in his category this year, and to give John someone to chase! Also riding with tired Tenerife legs Clive didn't have the zip of previous rounds but nonetheless placed a creditable fourth. His target is of course Ray Crosthwaite, a known speed demon on the hills and flats but not so good in the technical areas, by his own admission!
In the extremely tough Super Master category Paul Howard had a flying start with a 23-minute lap having found himself initially in the top five entering the first singletrack, so he went "sh*t or bust" to maintain position. Lap two unfortunately began with moments of vomiting and the inability to breath, never a good sign! A brief period of slow riding brought the situation under control and he pushed on over the third and fourth laps to gain back some places, however slowing to 25 and 26-minute laps. A case of returning with tired legs from the Tenerife trip four days previous and the culmination of a very high load training phase. Paul is becoming a consistent finisher eventually finishing here in 12th place just one place down on his previous result from round 1 at Tunnel Hill. Paul recognises it's "still only March" and now moves into his speed work phase so is looking for improvements.
Paul focuses on a smooth line through the Corkscrew
[ Photo courtesy of: Stuart Brazier ]
Lorraine seemed to leap off the line and to the front of the Master Ladies category. Unfortunately the effects of hay fever meant that Lorraine dropped back several places. A heavy crash on lap two left her scrambling for her multi-tool to straighten the handlebars on her bike. Lorraine managed to improve on her previous performance from round two but was still unhappy finishing in 6th place. However Lorraine did enjoy the race on her local course and was glad just be out riding in the "glorious sunshine".
In the Sport category Calum, Warren and I once again lined up ready for the off. As normal all three of us were slow to the line and didn't get very good start positions. Calum's race didn't go as well as he had hoped where "nothing went quite right" not just during the race but the week before. Stress from school and having missed several training sessions meant Calum had a lack of confidence leading into the race. Calum lined up behind me on the start line and set a good first lap in 22 minutes 55 seconds. However during laps 2, 3 and 4 his laps times increased to 23 minutes laps and eventually 24 minute laps. Calum was unable to maintain his top 10 despite his legs feeling good. Calum finished the race after four laps in 11th position, while he was disappointed with the result he hopes he was able to learn from the experience.
Ben and Calum warming up
[ Photo courtesy of: Stuart Brazier ]
Also in Sport category Warren rode a consistent race with lap times in the 24's and 25's and was happy with his "good pacing for the whole race" and pleased that his "endurance was ok even after being ill". Warren felt confident on the hills and strong the whole race. Warren had a good battle with Daniel Eastment and in the end he finished 14th position after 1 hour 39 minutes of racing. This is a superb improvement on his previous Gorrick performance this year where he finished in 21st position. Warren was happy with his results "at this stage in the year" but admitted there was "plenty of room to improve". Hopefully by the next round Warren will be able to battle for a top 10 finish, Calum and I better watch out.
My main objective was to get a good start and avoid a crash as all 61 riders filed into the narrowing fireroad. Although I didn't get the best start off the line once on the fireroads where it was possible to overtake I was able to push on and pass more and more riders. By the end of lap one I was well up in the top 10, as the race progressed I caught and moved into the top 5. A crash on lap two delayed progress but once recovered I managed to catch series leader Jake Moxham. After riding around with Jake for some time I managed to break away on a short section of fireroad. I eventually finished a very satisfying 3rd place. My legs felt brilliant all race and still felt superb at the end, the only regret was not breaking away earlier and trying to catch the riders in 1st and 2nd position. (Also I must point out the fact that I was the fastest Mountain Trax rider!)
Riders absent from the team included Paul Hopkins who is still recovering from illness. After a week in the sun in Tenerife Chris was sure he would have been able to beat Calum, Warren and myself in Sport category had he been able to race, unfortunately though he was once again working at the shop. After a pre-ride of the course John decided it wasn't a good idea to race after suffering from back pains due, I believe, to jumping a fence whilst walking the dog on Saturday.
It was a troubled day of racing for some with crashes and bad preparation showing in the results. However "things are starting to come together" and with just 4 weeks to go to the first race of the British Mountain Bike Series time is ticking. The next round of the Gorrick Spring Series takes place at Porridge Pot Hill in Deepcut on the 1st of April.
Pos Laps Time Time+ Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUPERMASTER 12 4 01:40:26 12:04 PAUL HOWARD 23:17 25:22 25:11 26:36 VETERAN 6 3 01:10:42 03:07 DEAN MORGAN 23:08 23:47 23:47 GRAND VETERAN 4 3 01:17:48 04:47 CLIVE ELY 25:02 26:29 26:17 MASTER/VETERAN WOMEN 5 2 01:05:14 06:50 LORRAINE STALEY 30:58 34:16 SPORT 3 4 01:33:02 06:26 BEN THOMAS 22:42 23:11 23:49 23:20 11 4 01:37:30 10:54 CALUM CHAMBERLAIN 22:55 22:51 24:41 27:03 14 4 01:39:28 12:52 WARREN BATES 24:19 24:33 25:09 25:27