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Barnes Hat-Trick Dominates Condor Cross
Condor Cross / Yorkshire Points Round 6
09.11.2008 - Bradley Woods Scout Camp, Brighouse
Report: Phil Ingham
Video: Senior Race
The latest round of the 2008-9 Yorkshire Points Series took riders to Bradley Woods, near to Brighouse in West Yorkshire. This venue is essentially a wooded hillside, with riders tackling a course which is both technically and physically challenging. Recent rain ensured that conditions were tending towards the muddy, and more rain through the day simply made things even stickier.
The Youths race into the first corner
From the start, the course climbed a little way, before a looping traverse of the hillside, before a long sweeping downhill - arguably one of the best in regular use in Cyclo-Cross - took riders to the lowest point and a long slogging climb in two stages - the first up along a narrow singletrack path, heavy with mud and leaf mulch. This gave way half-way to a shale track and more climbing back to the start.
First off were the Youths and with their light weight they made a very good fist of riding the mud. Nick Barnes was off like a shot, from the start. His chief rival and pre-race favourite, Joe Moses, suffered an early mechanical and bike change, leaving Nick free to ride away alone. He was tracked throughout by E McPaland and Herschel Stevens, but they were never able to close enough to apply any pressure.
Under-12 Start
Under-10 Start
Under-8 Start
A huge Under-12 turn-out of over 60 riders then swarmed out in three races, split by age category with the winners being J Harding in the under-8s, C Beagley in the under-10s and Chris Barnes in the Under-12s - a second win for the Barnes family on the day. All the riders in these classes showed admirable determination in coping with a course which seemed to be based on some of the most slippery mud sections of the day. There were many spills, many thrills and a lot of fun for all involved. Under-12 racing is truly booming!
The penultimate race of the day was the Veterans and Women's event. From the start it soon became clear that three riders were in a class of their own: Zepnat.com team-mates Steve Barnes and Matt Denby and Triangle RT's Dave Stevens. They were soon moving clear on the first lap as the majority of the remaining riders struggled to come to terms with deteriorating conditions underwheel.
Zepnat duo Steve Barnes (left) and Matt Denby dominated the vets' race
Steve Barnes looked the most comfortable on the tricky lower chute of the big descent, where a mix of mud, narrow lines and hint of off-camber seemed to disorientate a lot of riders. Hitting it hard, straight and fast, he was noticeably quicker here than both Denby and Stevens and slowly the prospect of a third Barnes family win began to look more and more likely.
Denby stuck with his team-mate, but seemed unable to apply any real pressure, always just trying to stay with his rival rather than take up the initiative. Stevens slowly dropped back from the leading duo and then Denby began to drift backwards as well.
Isla Rowntree was first woman home - Dave Stevens was third in the vets race
The final time up the long climb back to the start, although Denby was still in visual touch with Barnes, his anxious backward glances showed that he had settled for second place and was more worried about the chasing Stevens. Barnes duly went on to claim a classy win and seal a memorable family hat-trick, with Denby second, Stevens third and Darrel Bradbury fourth.
Isla Rowntree, making one of her irregular visits to the Yorkshire league was in a class of her won in the women's race, finishing 10th, some 11 places clear of runner-up Annie Simpson.
The final race of the day was the Seniors and Juniors. With the course now well and truly churned up, conditions were extremely testing. Many of the technical sections were rutted, whilst the climbs had become heavy and there was little choice but to slog either on or off the bike on most of the lower sections of the main climb.
Hope Factory rider Paul Oldham was a clear winner of the senior race
Lancashire visitor Paul Oldham - one of the country's top half-dozen riders - looked a strong favourite and duly moved smoothly into the lead within the first quarter of the lap. He was initially trailed by Noel Clough, but the Fietsen Tempo rider was soon to retire, the first of quite a few, with punctures and transmission failures the chief causes.
Oldham, whilst never appearing hurried or to be pushing the pace, simply moved clear of the chasing pack and rode the rest of the race alone, continually opening the lead. Behind him, Chris Young was also relishing the conditions and like Oldham he seemed to be able to float over the worst of the mud and tackle even the most demanding sections with time to spare. Oldham duly claimed an apparently effortless win, with Young a comfortable second.
Senior race contenders James Sharp (left) and Chris Young
James Sharp, the series leader, overcame a slow start and was soon moving powerfully through the field. Although unable to close on Young and Oldham, he soon rid himself of the rest of the field and was able to claim a sold third place and keep his series ambitions on-track. Tom Moses was the first Junior to finish, in fourth, coping better with the conditions than most and just holding off Robin Bradbury, who was similarly comfortable in the mud.
Results
Senior & Junior
1 Paul Oldham Hope Factory Racing
2 Chris Young JD Cycles
3 James Sharp York Cycleworks
4 Tom Moses ssc-cyclesport
5 Robin Bradbury Aire Valley RT
6 Tim Baldwin Bradford Olympic - Paul Milnes Cycles
7 Paul Young JD Cycles
8 Phil Hinchliffe Bradford RCC
9 Rob Watson Bradford Olympic - Paul Milnes Cycles
10 Matt Buckingham
11 Jonathan Watson ukcycleshops.com / Fat Spanner
12 Craig Gath Selby CC
12 John Hobson Team Chevin
13 Oliver Webster Team JD Cycles
14 Marcus Spencer Batley CC
15 Johnny Limebear Batley CC
16 Karl Gray Unattached
17 J Dalton Salasa Race Team
18 Owen Mitton Huddersfield RC
19 Nick Kotlarewski Aire Valley RT
20 Darren Unwin Norton Wheelers
22 Lee Owen-Stanford Team Chevin Cycles
23 Mark Townend Unattached
24 Steve Smales Boneshakersbikes.com
25 Richard Barrett Unattached
26 Andy Bramham RAF CC
27 Coen Ripma Pedalsport
28 Digby Rusling Calder Clarion
29 Richard Starkie North Leeds MTB
30 Jonathan Perry Obricoaching RT
31 Richard Wood Unattached
32 Richard Stansfield VC Bradford
Veteran & Women
1 S Barnes Zepnat.com V40
2 M Denby Zepnat.com V40
3 D Stevens Triangle RT V40
4 D Bradbury Norton Wh V40
5 R Binks Triangle RT V40
6 M Rowson JD Cycles V40
7 R Holt Condor RC V40
8 A Marshall VS Cycles V40
9 W Nicholson K Clarke Training V40
10 Isla Rowntree Stourbridge CC L
11 C Warren U/A V40
12 G Bird JD Cycles V40
13 I O'Brien Wakefield Tri V40
14 I McParland JD Cycles V40
15 P Wilkins Fietsen Tempo V50
16 J Ginley Condor RC V60
17 S Shepperd Jorvic MTB V40
18 J Haywood Lancashire RC V40
19 M Schofield Pedalsport V40
20 K Saville Norton Wh V40
21 A Simpson Team Chance L
22 D Ballentine Aire Valley RT V40
23 J Shenton Paul Milnes RT V40
24 S Davidson Aire Valley RT V40
25 S Piccard JD Cycles V40
26 G Piccavey Huddersfield Star Wh V40
27 S Artingstall Zodiac CC V40
28 L Bland Norton Wh LV40
29 G Bailey Huddersfield Star Wh V40
30 J Howard Wakefield Tri V40
31 R Thackery Featherstone RC V40
32 K Hickie Bronte Wh V40
33 C Moses Bronte Wh V40
34 P Smithson K & C V40
35 P Crabtree K & C V40
36 R Burnham Condor RC V50
37 G Dalgarne LBT Club V40
38 D Green Bronte Wh V40
39 J Manning Pedalsport L
40 O Henrickson U/A V40
41 G Kitching Clifton CC V40
42 G Fountain Norton Wh V40
43 S Sears U/A V40
44 T Evans E Bradford CC V40
45 C Greatorex U/A V40
46 A Speight U/A V50
47 C Donohue Otley CC V40
48 P Hamilton Paul Milnes RT V40
49 J Redmond Paul Milnes RT V50
50 R Durham Team Swift V50
51 P Bradford Paul Milnes RT V40
52 J Dowell Heanor RT V70
53 K Jones U/A V40
54 J Barratt U/A L
55 H Bloor Norton Wh LV50
56 G Marsh Seacroft Wh V50
57 S Cavell Condor RC V50
58 R Fenn Calder Cl V40
59 C Nunn Paul Milnes RT V40
60 C Crabtree Pedalsport L
61 N Pilling U/A V40
Youth
1 N Barnes Seacroft Wh
2 E McParland JD Cycles
3 H Stevens Triangle RT
4 B Harding Paul Milnes RT
5 J Moses Bronte Wh
6 T Saville Norton Wh
7 J Womersley E Bradford CC
8 E Oliver-Evans E Bradford CC
9 H Shenton Paul Milnes RT
10 T Warren LBT Club
11 L Simpson Leeds St Christopher
12 J Dransfield Wakefield Tri
13 J Howard Wakefield Tri
14 T Jolly E Bradford CC
15 J Byron Wakefield Tri
16 S Beagley SSC Cyclesport
17 S Marsh Seacroft Wh
18 B Pygott Pedalsport
19 R Womersley E Bradford CC
Under-8
1 J Harding
2 T Whitworth
3 I Tatton
4 M Taylor
5 O Crabtree
6 A Petherick
7 J Ince
8 H Collyman
9 G Crabtree
10 P Ballentine
11 B Pickard
12 W Thackery
13 E Uttley
14 R Boyes
15 M Tetley
16 A Ward
17 S Reynolds
18 L Broadley
19 H Whiteley
K Ballentine
F Whiteley
H Whiteley
Under-10
1 C Beagley
2 B Dronsfield
3 A Benton
4 B Birkhead
5 R Featherstone
6 J Pilling
7 A Lykes
8 S Thackery
9 G Gill
10 M Hollyman
11 J Whiteley
12 T Harrison
13 P Nevill
14 L Howard
15 C Cowen
16 J Dyson
17 S Walmsley
18 A Sheldrick
19 E Nevill
20 D Stevens
21 I Weaver
Under-12
1 C Barnes
2 J Parker
3 H Saville
4 D Crosby
5 A Mellor
6 Skye Beagley
7 N Gill
8 B Barnett
9 H Williams
10 N Dickinson
11 S Turner
12 S Schofield
13 N Johnstone
14 R Hargreaves
15 B Haywood
16 J Lagton
17 H Weaver
18 R Gupta
19 B Holland