British Mountain Bike XC & Trek Marathon, Round 4
Newnham Park, Plymouth: 21-22/07/07
By Ben Thomas
XC
While most of the country seemed to be under water the British Mountain Bike Series moved down south to the former World Cup circuit of Newnham Park in Plymouth. Amazingly despite one of the wettest early summers on record the Plymouth course was dry, fast and ready to host round 4 of the series. Numbers were down ever so slightly as people struggled through the floods but despite this there was a good atmosphere. Round 4 was combined with the National Cross Country Champs, a day where a good ride would award you with the national champions jersey.
The course at Plymouth never disappoints and this year was a great mix of flowing singletrack, testing climbs and gnarly descents. There was a short start loop to spread everyone out before starting the course proper. The start loop included a long steep bumpy climb on grass before heading into a long flat singletrack section, before turning left into a bombhole and out into the camping field and back through the arena. Come race day the start loop definitely achieved its job of spreading out the field of riders with people already suffering on the long climb. The main circuit started out with a climb, before climbing some more...and a bit more. The Mineshaft downhill was a great test of one's technical ability. There was also plenty of more fun singletrack that made up for all the climbing.
With Calum absent the team could relax until 12 o'clock when the Sport race began. Chris, Warren and I all lined up. Tension was high as we waited and a weird mix up on the grid meant that I wasn't called up for the front row, a quick argument with the UCI commissaries did nothing to help! By the first climb on the start loop I had managed to get into a group of 7 that led the way, Warren was doing well around 10th place and Chris wasn't many places behind. By the end of the start loop I was in 3rd just behind Nick Evans and Gerald Tudor with several other riders hanging on, Warren was still just a few seconds back. Half way round the circuit Nick Evans, Gerald and I put in a large effort across the open field climb dropping riders from the back of the group. Misery for Chris on lap 1 as a flat tyre meant having to fit an inner tube, however with not enough gas left in his C02 gas canister he wasn't able to inflate his tyre. Note: Always carry 2 gas canisters! By the time we got to the Mineshaft Beyond MTB's Nick Evans was leading the way but crashed, somehow on the slippery slope I managed to avoid him and this allowed me to get a small gap on the rest of the Sport riders. At the end of the lap 1 I was leading by 11 seconds over Nick Evans, Warren was 1 min 34 sec behind and Chris was out of the race. At different points on the course I could see Nick Evans trying hard to catch me but I felt good and was able to extend my lead each lap. By lap 3 Nick Evans was out of sight and I was able to enjoy riding on my own leading the National Championships. I won the race with a lead of 2 minutes 48 seconds. My nearest rivals in the overall championship Nick Evans managed to finish a well deserved 2nd, Gerald Tudor was 4th and Chris Andrews was disappointed to finish 18th after a nasty crash on the Mineshaft on lap 3. Despite suffering the effects of a nasty crash on his road bike a few weeks earlier Warren achieved his best results this year in the nationals with an 11th place finish, top 10 at Coed-y-Brenin maybe?
Ben takes his rightful podium position [pic: Newpee.com]
This year the quality of riders in Masters has improved and competition is much tougher. However Paul Hopkins rode a strong race with an average lap time that would have left him within the top 25 in the Elite category. A good ride down the Mineshaft allowed him to make up time on people in front of him who were struggling with this technical section. The eventual winner and pro triathlete Sam Gardner rode a consistently fast race, with 2nd place Jamie Newall a minute and a half behind. Paul finished in 10th place.
John Newport lined up with Clive Ely for start of the Grand Veterans race. Clive set a steady pace during his first lap before setting 2 consistent final laps to leave him with his best result this year in 8th place. John struggled on the Mineshaft, on the 1st lap his only just managed to hold onto his bike as it slid sideways down the muddy hill, on the 2nd lap he suffered from cramp swerving to the right in pain and crashing into a lady he was overtaking. Photos reveal John sitting down in the middle of the tricky descent clutching he leg in pain. John struggled particularly on the section of the track that included a sharp tarmac climb leading to a long drag on open fireroad. After thinking about pulling out John pushed on to finish in 16th place after slowing on the final lap.
"Oooh, ouch!!" In common with many riders John had a mishap on the Mineshaft.
And yes it is a lot steeper than it looks! [pic: Newpee.com]
Pos Laps Time Time+ Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPORT 1 3 01:25:23 BEN THOMAS 31:16 26:55 27:12 11 3 01:33:00 07:37 WARREN BATES 32:50 29:25 30:45 GRAND VETERAN 8 3 01:39:56 13:36 CLIVE ELY 35:12 32:02 32:42 16 3 02:08:22 42:02 JOHN NEWPORT 42:43 41:03 44:36 MASTER 10 4 01:50:28 06:26 PAUL HOPKINS 29:48 26:28 27:24 26:48
Trek Marathon
Along with the absentees from Saturday's cross country race was Dean Morgan who choose to skip Saturday's race to preserve his legs for the marathon on Sunday. For people not in the know, a marathon distance is 100 kilometres, about 62 miles. Dean, Warren and I arrived on Sunday to a dry course despite some rain overnight. The course was similar to the previous days cross country loop with the addition of an extra few miles which, although cutting out the Mineshaft, did still go through the river crossing that was now even deeper and faster. I had elected not to race but instead to be the pit crew for the willing (or foolish) team members racing the marathon.
With the 100-kilometre race beginning at 10 o'clock it was an early start. Come 9.58am there was still no sign of Dean on the start line. During his warm up Dean had managed to crash into the Scott team pit area somersaulting over the handlebars and landing on his head and shoulder. His Giro E2 helmet clearly did its job and took the impact, afterward we realised 2 cracks in his helmet. I found him still dazed but back on his bike, unsure of whether he should be starting he made it to the start line just as the race started. About half way through the lap he found himself on the ground again after another rider crashed directly in front of him. By this point his shoulder was throbbing with pain after 2 heavy crashes. A group of 5 had formed at the front of the 100k veterans' race and were well away. On laps 2, 3, 4 and 5 Dean put in a strong couple of laps putting him up to 6th place.
At 12 o'clock and while Dean was on his 3rd lap the 50 kilometre race began. Warren headed out with 2 fast laps before sportingly slowing down to support Dean around his 6th and 7th lap. On laps 6 Dean began to suffer after his earlier effort and as a result his lap time jumped by 7 minutes. Running on just energy drink and SIS energy gels he was drained after his 6th lap and going onto his 7th Dean didn't feel like he could continue. On the tarmac climb he was only just moving but somehow he completed 7 laps and 54 miles. After his efforts he's even more determined to go back and have another go at Coed-y-Brenin at the last round and Marathon Championship. Had he been able to finish it was likely he would have finished 6th place but after finishing 1 lap short Dean finished 10th.
Warren finished his Sunday afternoon ride in 41st place but was just happy to have gained some extra miles.
Pos Laps Time Time+ Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5 Lap 6 Lap 7 Lap 8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50k ENDURO 41 4 02:39:06 51:31 WARREN BATES 34:26 35:30 44:39 44:31 100k ENDURO VETERANS 10 7 04:40:09 DEAN MORGAN 41:18 35:32 36:19 37:39 38:58 45:49 44:34 -----