Click here to return to the racing page
Off Road
See the latest Off Road reports below:
welsh mtb rd1 29.3.09
myself (dean)dan whelan and chris fowler made our way down to north wales, the llandeglas was the venue for the first round off the series. dan was first to race and the weather was fine, frosty in the morning but soon brightened up for some hot at times racing. dan eventually came in in 8th and gained 12 ranking point. i was next to race, a steep uphill meant that a good start was important so away i went leading the first climb, once we had leveled off i lost some places too far stronger riders but i held my ground and battled on the long climbs big ringing most off the time to make others struggle, the fact that i knew the course well allowed me to descend quicker than others and eventually finished in 7th gaining 14 rankin points.last up was chris who has returned to racin after a 7yr break, in the masters race he battled well in the now hot conditions doing an extra lap than myself, he aquited himself well to come in in18th position, not bad for your first ride back, keep it up. we miss rounds 2 & 3 this year as they are in south wales too far togo but rd4 is a return to this event in september so some support would be nice, possibly get the club run to attend as great facilities there,.
____________________________________________________________________________
| brownbanks rd1 19.4.09
brownbanks is a knew event-series for this year using the old quarry in bacup lancs,only i(dean smith) attended this race dan on road duty somewhere, the course was basically a huge long uphill a fast flat crossing with an awsum long fast rocky descent followed by the long climb again, no rest atall. the sun was out 82 degrees i believe, the long uphill start sorted us out immediatlly with the stronger riders going straight from the gun, we all road at the same time so everyone from 18-60 went, younguns were gone and i set about climbing the hill for the first time and then would settle in and start collecting as i rode, after about 4 laps bodies began to crumble and i began makin places, 6 laps completed and the finish was top off the hill, the final descent was a furious battle which i won to leave the other battler for dead on the last hill to come in 15th which looking at the younger racers in the race i was well happy with, well good training for next weeks british mtb rd1.
____________________________________________________________________________
| british mtb rd1 26.4.09
myself(dean)and dan made our way to sherwood pines in nottingham for the first round of the national mtb series, the weather never lets us down and the sun shone all day, dan raced in the morning when it was a bit cooler, the course was a fast course but had a lot of single track where no overtaking could take place, if you didnt get into the woods first or placed high then you just had to sit and endure what at times was some extremely farsicle bike handling with grown men falling off riding in sraight lines, how i dont no but it would hold you up anyhow.dan got away well in the top ten so missed all the falling off in his cat, after some good battling he eventually came in 22nd gaining 19 rankin points, so well done to him, myself had a race to forget really, ranked in the top 15 last year i was gridded well on the second row so that was a good thing to start with, once we set off i was hit from behind by a rider in a some what ridiculas kit, i unclipped and he hit the deck, i got going again by this time i was near the back,going up the long double width path towards the first off the single track paths, on the left tinkering on the edge of the path but undertakin riders to try and gain as much time and places as possible, aware off a rider next to me trying to do the same, next thing i remember was no steering and front wheel up in the air the riders knee had lifted my bars and sent me down the gully, i jumped up to abuse him as you do only to notice it was the same guy who had brought me off just after the start, bemused by his riding i remounted and continued on my way now dead last apart from the japaneeze kamikazee pilot behind me, he couldnt hit me again for the third time could he?now stuck in the slow traffic the race was all but gone, acctually after i had done one lap i was half a lap down already, i set about gaining some places anyway by the end off the race i had gained 28 places and came in 60th, did he crash in to me again yes after i had finished he squeezed past me catching my calf with his pedal, what a twonker you no what i mean.
____________________________________________________________________________
| brownbanks rd2 4.5.09
again just myself riding today(dean smith)on a revised course because off the change in weather from the first race the long climb was removed and replaced with a shorter one,the wind rain and mud was making the course dangerous with some top riders falling foul of this falling hard and at times in dangerous positions and on some rocky descents at times falling of the edge of the cliff face on to rocks below, riders like roy hunt(ergon-colnago)and jough watson(zepnat) all coming a cropper i battled round for 3 laps but as conditions worsened and watching people as above falling etc i decided to call it aday and returned to my car for the warmth and comfort off dry clean cloths, didnt get this cold and wet in the winter cyclocross season, but seasons dont exist any more so you get what you get, anyway on to the next ride which i think is a double weekender a cross country on the sat and a 100k marathon on the sunday, yipee, till then thx for reading if you interested in attending any national round or mtb races get in contact with me, thx dean
____________________________________________________________________________
| National Cross Champs 09
After a promising ride at Macclesfield, i was looking towards a top 30 finish in the National champs at Peel Park, Bradford. The start of the race was gridded, supposedly on ranking points, which meant i would be fairly near to the front. This wasn't the case and i was called up to the 7th row, with each row containing 8 riders, i had my work cut out before i had even started.
Like every other cross race the start was fast and hectic, i managed to move up a few places during the first few laps when the race was just a long string of riders. As the gaps started to appear, i warmed up and gradually starting making up some ground. After about 30 minutes of racing i dropped a group of riders and sat about 20 seconds behind a group of riders who i had beaten at Macclesfield a few weeks earlier.
I closed the gap to about 10 seconds but couldn't get any closer, i was in about 33rd position when a couple of riders in front got dropped and i caught them. I dropped these riders on the road section of the course and was eventually caught by the leaders.
As the national champs is an UCI race i was forced to retire with 2 laps of the race remaining. I was a bit disappointed to have not made the top 30, i eventually finished 31st, but i was congratulated by many of the North West regulars on my ride.
So maybe with a couple more ranking points next year and a better position on the grid, i could be looking towards a top 25 maybe a top 20, who knows!!!
Cheers
Rob
____________________________________________________________________________
|
|
|
