Cyclocross Report – Week ending 20th October

Firstly the track at West Stow is in great condition and has had plenty of folk training on it during the week, the more times it’s ridden as the weather gets damper and the ground softer, the smoother the racing line will become. So if you’re an off-road rider off any type, Cross, Gravel, MTB, why not get over there and ride a few laps, perhaps combine it with a route in West Stow/North Stow/Kings Forest.

To the racing action; Round 5 of the Eastern Cross league was hosted by VC Revolution for the second time, on a farm near Bures. It’s a magnificent venue, the course is built on both sides of a valley, a natural amphitheatre, which, was it in Belgium, would be the venue for one of the big televised races.

David Hales and his team, enhanced the track from the previous year, creating more 180 turns, whether they were downhill or uphill, they were very testing. There was a tight turn into a short climb up a steep bank, which led to a new slippy section in the woods, which most racers got off and ran after the first turn which meant about 20 meters trying to keep the bike mud free, this led to another wood, a greasy bank, and a large log on an off-camber muddy track, which most got off and hurdled. Then you had to decide when to remount, I think most ran until they reached the meadow at the top of the hill, from where it was a very fast down hill, through sweeping turns, that required you to have your wits about you, before re-crossing the river and begin the twists and turns up to the finish. The grass was unforgiving, really grippy, meaning that we had to work very hard to keep the bikes momentum, but the reward once you got to the top, was the magnificent support from the ‘Wheeler’ family, who are certainly the most vociferous spectators, thank you one and all. But then we had to do it all again, did I mention the wind? No I didn’t think so! It was strong and in your face along the finish straight, blew you back after the first turn, then into it again, back with it, back into it, before plummeting back to the river, what a course, epic.

The Wheelers Crossers were out in force, and great to see, regulars Simon Christie, Stephen Brook, Karl Hale and Iain Milligan were joined by Lee Sturman and Ashton Dyson, both regular TT racers. Stephen got a magnificent start, finding himself in the top 6 by the top of the uphill charge, then came Karl and Lee, Ashton and Iain. Stephen’s excellent start, meant he was free of ‘traffic’ and able to ride his own race without having to think about passing slower riders, Simon also had a great first lap just outside the top 10, Lee wasn’t having a great time of it, his legs telling him to come back another day ! Karl was having his best race of the season, Ashton led Iain for a few laps, before Iain’s motor kicked in, it was great to get round the course to cheer them on. Stephen maintained his position finishing in his highest position ever in 6th, Simon maintained his great season placings so far with 11th, Karl, what a ride, was 20th, Iain passed Ashton, but what a grouping they had behind Karl finishing 22nd and 25th respectively, what a team performance.

Next were the Old Farts V60’s in the combined V40/V60 race, the Old Farts were set off separately 90 seconds behind the youngsters. Paul Watson was quickly to the front followed by Peter Golding and Nick Rush who had another blistering start, next came Will Tate in his Wheelers 100 Anniversary shirt, Tony Read led Robert Duncombe on his MTB, and Paul Chapman, who was dreaming about starting the next race on his new bike ! Paul and 2 others quickly established a gap to the rest of the field and started to catch the back markers of the V40’s long before the end of the first lap. Tony Read had a superb ride, his best result ever, despite stopping twice to clean the mud off his bike, Will improves race on race and Nick needs all the essential work to stop which is keeping him off his bike and training effectively. Paul Chapman loves racing and looks forward to being Cube’d. Paul had a titanic battle for the lead, between the 3 of them, but eventually lost out to the the British V60 MTB Marathon Champion, so finished 2nd, Peter was clear in 4th, next came Tony in a super 14th, Will was next in 16th, Nick Crossed the line in 19th followed by Robert in 20th and our final finisher Paul Chapman but certainly no last in 22nd from the 25 V60 starters, 3 of whom are in their 70’s ! Old cyclists Rock.

Megan Free was our sole competitor in the combined Ladies race, she is still recovering from a tough bout of COVID, so was delighted to ride strongly for the whole race, finishing 8th overall and 3rd Senior, a great ride.

Finally in the combined Senior & Junior Men’s race came Sam Brook, Sam is the youngest competitor, not 16 until the end of the year, yet he is displaying racing maturity beyond his years, from his 2nd row start he made a great start just like his Dad earlier, and quickly established himself in the Top 12. He was very tenacious, not letting ‘wheels’ go, especially on the long twisting drag uphill back to the finish line on each lap. What a ride he put in, over the hour long race, the rest of us only rode for about 40/45 minutes and up-to 5 laps, Sam rode 8 laps. If we had all ridden in the same race whether a 5 lap or 8 lap, Sam would have beaten us all, Paul Watson 2nd and Stephen Brook 3rd. Fantastic

There are no local races next weekend as it is the 2nd Round of the National Trophy at South Shields, though I do believe family Brook have found a race to enter whilst visiting family. No doubt there will be a gathering at West Stow for a training session over the weekend.