Paulus Reynolds reports...........
We should have known that the weather was going to be pants as Theresa, Julian & Alex from the organisers Offcamber in Blandford Forum had promised us a BBQ for the 6th and final round of the Winter XC series at The Inside Park near Blandford!
Despite the heavy rain, then hail, then sleet and finally snow – lots of snow, a total of 56 riders from across Dorset and the surrounding Counties braved the elements, kitted up and got very muddy in what has to be one of the wettest MTB events I have ever known.
Series stalwart Kim Little was unfortunately unable to get to the event as heavy snow and blizzard-like conditions meant he had to do the sensible thing and turn back at Melbury.
Other hot favourites Alex Day (Offcamber) and Paul “Hoppie” Hopkins (Merida) made it to the race but were both recovering from the dreaded “Man Flu” and were not well enough to race given the appalling conditions.
Alex had a very good excuse not to race though as he was riding the course in the pouring rain at 7am, re-marking the entire route with bunting which some very sad individual had taken down and stolen overnight. Some people eh??
After signing on from 9 am and the obligatory walk round the pits to suss out the competition it was soon time for the customary 10 am rolling start.
The course at the Inside Park under normal conditions is never too technical, comprising mostly of tight and fairly hard-packed singletrack with a decent helping of roots and the occasional muddy puddle.
Not today though. Oh No. Today was MUDFEST!
Leaving the comforts of the hardpack woodland trail at the top of the hill and into the first windy wooded section it soon became apparent that today would be different and tyre choice would be critical if you wanted to remain rubber side down.
The 4.9 mile course is slightly altered each round to suit the conditions and thankfully this time Julian and the crew by-passed the mud bath on the lower level, opting instead for a tight & twitchy blast through the trees on higher ground.
For many, especially the spectators, the highlight of the course is “The Bombhole” which is found at the bottom of a steep & rooty section leading back into the campsite.
The more adventurous can use this as an opportunity for some “air time” but today this was preceded by a muddy dip which slowed many riders down.
A short climb along a broad woodland trail and you hit the finish line.
Both Mark Chadbourne & James Davey clocked identical first lap times of 25:27 which is almost 3 and a half minutes slower than Davey’s first lap time at round 5 back in February when conditions were – dare I say it – “Warm & Sunny”.
The battle was well and truly on for 1st place as Davey was in hot pursuit but ultimately it was to be Chadbourne’s day as he gained a lead of 1 minute 4 seconds on lap 2 and a further 2 minutes 4 seconds on the third and final lap.
Second position in the Seniors went to Simon Willets with 01:25:34 followed by Nigel Brown on 01:26:20.
Carla Haines put in some very respectable times in the Ladies class of 01:05:49 followed by Caroline Goward on 01:06:07 and Patsy Caines on 01:17:04.
Veterans Ray Samways (3 laps completed) and Kevin Craig (2 laps completed) finished with overall times of 01:48:35 & 01:43:34 respectively.
James Davey smashed the junior class with an overall time of 01:22:41 followed by series regular Kris Caines on 01:36:39 and Liam “I’m knackered and quitting after 2 laps” Teesdale on 01:16:23.
The bravery award should have gone to the only Cyclocross rider Conal Low-Grier who managed to finish on 01:55:24 with no suspension, drop handlebars, rim brakes and skinny tyres!
Mark Chadbourne 25:27:00 26:05:00 28:01:00 01:19:33 1
James Davey 25:27:00 27:09:00 30:05:00 01:22:41 2 Junior
Simon Willets 26:39:00 29:32:00 29:23:00 01:25:34 3
Nigel Brown 27:29:00 28:21:00 30:30:00 01:26:20 4
Andy Parsons 26:59:00 29:40:00 30:16:00 01:26:55 5
Mark Green 27:15:00 29:42:00 31:20:00 01:28:17 6
ChrisNoble 26:54:00 30:02:00 32:11:00 01:29:07 7
Roland Tilley 27:21:00 30:28:00 32:04:00 01:29:53 8
Adam Hunnyball 28:09:00 30:31:00 31:24:00 01:30:04 9
Simon Cross 28:49:00 31:08:00 33:01:00 01:32:58 10
Nial Laming 30:19:00 31:14:00 32:03:00 01:33:36 11
Simon Andrew 29:47:00 33:43:00 32:36:00 01:35:26 12
Kris Caines 28:57:00 32:17:00 35:25:00 01:36:39 13 junior
Darren Caines 30:12:00 32:23:00 37:14:00 01:39:49 14
Micheal Smith 35:32:00 38:15:00 40:40:00 01:44:27 15
Steve Crutcher 32:17:00 34:19:00 38:05:00 01:44:41 16
Tim Hoskinson 31:50:00 35:22:00 40:06:00 01:47:18 17
Darren House 32:55:00 37:36:00 38:10:00 01:48:01 18
Julian Rudek 31:21:00 36:36:00 40:55:00 01:48:12 19
Chris Kelly 34:28:00 38:21:00 38:07:00 01:50:56 20
Conal Low-Grier 35:26:00 38:35:00 41:23:00 01:55:24 21 Cyclocross
Andrew Wagstaff 35:07:00 39:03:00 42:50:00 01:57:00 22
Mike Broome 35:40:00 39:10:00 44:12:00 01:59:02 23
David Sharpe 39:12:00 39:01:00 42:10:00 02:00:23 24
Wayne Sayers 38:00:00 43:06:00 45:03:00 02:06:09 25
2 Laps Completed
Alex Willis 29:37:00 31:09:00 01:00:46 26
Liam Teesdale 33:12:00 43:11:00 01:16:23 27 Junior
Adam Hunnybun 37:26:00 40:30:00 01:17:56 28
Matthew Pye 37:13:00 41:35:00 01:18:48 29
Phil Wareham 38:00:00 41:05:00 01:19:05 30
Jon Palmer 37:25:00 42:05:00 01:19:30 31
Tony Hampson 37:49:00 42:35:00 01:20:24 32
Matthew Tucker 40:36:00 43:15:00 01:23:51 33
Rob Green 40:35:00 48:00:00 01:28:35 34
Phil Ewers 40:24:00 47:26:00 01:27:50 35
Gary Wilkinson 40:34:00 47:22:00 01:27:56 36
Rhos chapman 45:06:00 48:34:00 01:33:40 37
Martin Rice 41:01:00 52:39:00 01:33:40 38
Mario Astesiano 38:49:00 55:20:00 01:34:09 39
MarkMorgan 48:20:00 52:23:00 01:40:43 40
Martin Garnish 32:51:00 dnf dnf DNF 41
Peter Rice 48:33:00 dnf dnf DNF 42
Ben Burridge 48:47:00 dnf dnf DNF 43
Dean Curwen dnf dnf dnf DNF 44
Brian Henderson dnf dnf dnf DNF 45
Carla Haines 30:57:00 34:52:00 01:05:49 1 Ladies
Caroline Goward 31:58:00 34:09:00 01:06:07 2 Ladies
Patsy Caines 36:39:00 40:25:00 01:17:04 4 Ladies
Julie Crane 36:40:00 40:27:00 01:17:07 3 Ladies
Holly Gamble 38:00:00 42:28:00 01:20:28 5 Ladies
Samantha Jones 41:36:00 47:21:00 01:28:57 6 Ladies
Carol Tilley 46:30:00 48:00:00 01:34:30 7 Ladies
Julia Rice 48:30:00 01:00:42 01:48:12 8 Ladies
Ray Samways 33:27:00 36:07:00 39:01:00 01:48:35 1 Veteran
Kevin Craig 46:56:00 55:38:00 01:43:34 2 Veteran
Big thanks go to the Offcamber guys for putting on this series and to Jerry from The Inside Park for the use of his fantastic Campsite.
The final positions after all 6 rounds were:
Seniors
1st – Paul Hopkins
2nd – Kim Little
3rd – Andy Parsons
Ladies
1st – Julie Crane
2nd – Patsy Caines
Juniors
1st – Kris Caines
2nd – Liam Teesdale
Veterans
1st – Jerry Cooper
2nd – Ray Samways
Finally the last word goes to the thief who stole the course bunting – the total value of the bunting which you went to such great effort to steal comes to about £1.27. So in future if you want any bunting then please feel free to pop in to Offcamber in Blandford where they will gladly sell you some at a very reasonable price and save you the trouble of getting muddy in the dark
All Photos by Paulus Reynolds
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