Snow Gets its Claws into Early Dawes
Event Date: 6th April 2008
Venue: Walton Woods, Walton-on-Trent
Report & Images: Joolze Dymond
Results Early Dawes (75kb pdf)
Snowverview of the event, early on race day
From the people who brought you Mountain Mayhem, Sleepless in the Saddle & Enduro6, Early Dawes was a brand new grassroots cross-country race, a fast and friendly way to kick off the new season.
The event was be held in the grounds of the popular venue of Catton Park, utilising a number of new tracks in the little used Walton Woods area to create a course with enough interest & variation to cater for first timers & experienced racers alike.
Joolze Dymond was there to report on the event for us and like everyone else she turned up to find the venue carpeted with snow. It didn't hamper the racing - though mud was dish of the day - and soon burned off, allowing Joolze to capture a few of her signature bluebell shots.
Race Report
Bluebells and snow, not what you usually expect to see at a Cross-Country race in spring, but then again a humble grass roots Cross-Country race brought to you by the team behind such race classics as E6, Mountain Mayhem and SITS, well, you just knew that anything could happen, but most of all you knew you were in line for some fun.
However at 7am the decision was nearly made not to run the race at all, after a blanket of snow completely covered the venue and surrounding roads. After a deep intake of breath and a few hot cuppas, preparations went ahead and the inaugural Early Dawes event was a goer.
By 9am as riders started to gather, the snows started to recede, leaving behind an interesting mix of ever-changing lines around the 3.5-mile lap. The course itself took in some sections that riders familiar with SITS recognised, but most of it was a surprise and delighted the riders that took part despite the gloopy mud.
It may have been a small-scale event, but as with any Pro-Velo event, no attention to detail was left unturned, so to speak! The start/finish straight had an impressive arch, to give the event the air of one more established and in the reception area, event sponsors Dawes had a display along with 2Pure who brought along goodies from Niterider, Crank Brothers as well as Clif Bars. A welcome sight to many had to be the Embers merino stand, if there was a moment when merino wool would come into its own surely today was the day. Swinnertons were also on hand with a plentiful supply of mud tyres and various bargains and finally, Quaver catering were there with a handy little enclosed area supplying copious amounts of welcomed hot beverages and food.
The course also had the Pro-Velo stamp of fun and enjoyment - after all the main aim of the event was to get riders involved with the wonderful world of hucking it as fast as you can against the clock and your peers. The 3.5-mile course started at the start - funnily enough - followed by a draggy climb that took you onto open tracks, before sending you twisting and turning into the first woody section. Then it was out through a chute down towards the major woody section, which wound its way in and out of fast flowing singletrack, encountering off-camber descents as well as interesting 'kickers' which literally just threw you (in some cases it was literally!). Then it was a fast sprint across more open tracks back to the arena to start it all over again.
What was intended to be mere 15min laps soon turned into 45 min battles for some and as the day wore on and the mud stiffened, laps were cut from some of the races to ensure the racing would at least finish in daylight. The biggest requirement for the competitors was not actually mud tyres, but a huge sense of humour and fortunately that was the one element apart from the mud that was in abundance.
First to get stuck into the course were the younger riders; Juveniles, Youth and Juniors. Obviously the early start and the cold wintry conditions had put a lot of the youngsters off and this race only fielded 10 riders. Still the competition was good and the racing was pushed to the limit as the riders cut their way through the snowy conditions.
The juveniles were first in after one arduous lap. Matlock CC's John Lomas was the man who had the legs for this one taking the win just ahead of Nick Greave, whilst Jacob Blakemore rode a strong race to finish 3rd.
The field spreads out across a......field
Next back were the youth's with a 2 lap race to fight over. Matthew Sumpton didn't have the best of preparation turning up with 30secs to spare before the start of his race, but soon his winter training, including starts, began to show; he explained this to me after:
"I've been working on my starts, so after the initial shock of turning up so late wore off I could put that practise into good use and got away quite well. But the conditions out there were very testing and the race was about whoever could finish it really. By the second lap just getting round was the priority and to win it was a bonus. I didn't really know who was in my category; all I knew was that there was someone behind me who was pretty fast so I just concentrated on keeping ahead of him. He went past me at 3/4 of the way through the race and fortunately he was in the junior race not mine, so that was quite good. It was fun, difficult to race in but fun. It's good to get out before the big one in Thetford next week, you don't know if you're going to be fit enough and it's great to do a fun race, with no pressure just to kick things off. I've been trying to shake off a fair bit of illness so doing this has helped boost my confidence before the kick off of the NPS".
Sumpton went on to take the win after fending off a fast finishing Josh West. A recent convert to Cross-Country racing Josh, turned up to race on his trusty 4X bike and thoroughly enjoyed the experience despite running 4X gearing which meant he had a slight disadvantage on the climbs, but he more than made up for it on the descents. He was delighted with his first Cross-Country outing and looks like Mum & Dad might be forking out for a new bike:
"That was absolutely knackering, swapping from 4X which is a straight sprint to this, which is all endurance is hard, but it was fun. Although the conditions weren't best it was great, I've started with the hardest and now its gotta be easier! That's gotta be my best weekend ever, seriously, if my Mum & Dad let me I'll be doing more of this. The best bit of the course for me had to be the big hill round the back, with the kicker at the end, brought all my DH/4X skills into good use. Brill."
Alex Moloney picked up 3rd.
In the 3 lap junior race, it was Joe Peake who, despite a bad start, went on to take the honours. Afterwards, he explained how his race went:
"I had a really bad start, I couldn't get clipped in and the rest of the field just rode away from me, but I managed to get back in contention on the first climb. That was really good and a lot shorter race than I was expecting. I thought the junior race would be longer but it was just 3 laps, which was okay, it's just the mud made it harder, it was everywhere. I lost my glasses on my first lap so I was finding it really hard to see the lines. The course was good, but a bit tight in places, I went into a few tress on my way round, it was just slipping everywhere, I wasn't expecting the snow, coming down from Nottingham, we had nothing there and has we got closer it started getting whiter and whiter and Mum started slipping in the car so that didn't bode well. Despite all that it was a good race, my first one of the season and I'm looking forward to the NPS, hopefully Thetford won't be quite as muddy!"
Ross Brinson battled through the mud to take 2nd with Robin Smith fighting through to take 3rd.
That's more like it - this looks more spring like
By the time the junior race had finished the snow had all but disappeared and now the full horror of the gloopy mud started to emerge as riders tentatively made their way around on practise laps. A few decided to call in quits but the majority were soon relishing the prospect of slippy, slidy mud through some cool singletrack, it was not going to be a race for the faint hearted!
Next up were the big guns, or should that be gun, as only 2 elite riders lined up with the Experts and Masters and one of those was one of only 5 women brave enough to get on the start line on the day. It was definitely a mixture of new and old faces as the second race began to line up. On the front row was the welcome sight of experienced racer Sue Clarke (Thomas as you would have known her). After a year out to regain her thoughts and get married to Barrie Clarke, Sue was looking fit and eager to get stuck back into the racing circuit, choosing this low-key event to start the Cross-Country season off. She, along with everyone else, was a bit taken aback by the snow:
"It's definitely a first for me - I've raced 'cross in the snow but I've never done a Cross-Country race in the snow. We're meant to be camping next week, so I hope it's a bit better! It was good starting off with the men, there were quite a few that I knew that were within me and we had a few battles going off. I seemed to be climbing quite well there was quite a lot of strength there, but I think they just had the edge on me on some of the technical bits really.
The course was great and in the dry it would have been blindingly fast, but with the mud it was quite a slog and it was quite deceptive, I did a lap this morning and was thinking there's nothing that hard really, but as the snow thawed out it got really quite claggy and the mud started sticking to your bike and it was continual hard effort all the way through, so yeah despite that it was really good. This has been my first Cross-Country race for a while but I'm back now, I've really missed it, obviously because of circumstances I wasn't able to race last year but I'm really looking to getting back into the thick of things and have some good races with the other girls".
Despite he lack of female competition, Sue packed in 4 strong laps making the most of the conditions to get some good technical practise in:
"There were some excellent section through the woods and some bits because of the mud it was faster to run but I was purposely riding these sections for practise and it was surprising what you could get through even though it was a bit slower it was still a challenge."
It'll be good to see her get in the thick of the action next week when the NPS kicks off!
Bluebells and mountain bikers are equally hardy!
It was Expert, Christian Aucote who was the star of the second race, showing some good early form, on his 29er - those big wheels, obviously having a good effect on his race. Despite a traumatic week, he explained to me afterwards how it had gone:
"Yeah I enjoyed that, it's been a bit of a bad week for me as my Grandma passed away, so this one is for her. I took it steady from the start and tried to make no mistakes and came out with the win so it was a good day. I didn't go too hard at the start, took it easy and rode myself into the race. It was evil in places, wait till I get my hands on Pat (Adams)! The mud just made it a slog, really: it was sticky and just sucked you down and clung to your bike. I was riding a 29er. I think it might have been an advantage as you have to ride them steady to get any speed out of them, push too hard on the corners and you'll crash, so it helped me take it easy and make no mistakes. As soon as I got to the front I saw a few masters behind me, but I still kept it steady. I thought if they catch me no big deal, they're in a different cat, but in the end I thought I may as well go for the win in all the categories and the sun came out too so it was a good day."
He came home in just under 2 hours to be the first back in all the categories and with it taking the Expert win. A good 10 minutes behind was Shaun Wells in 2nd who had a battle with Gareth Whittall who had to settle for 3rd just a few seconds adrift.
Elite rider and top coach Ant Rowland, making his racing return after a 6 months absence due to coaching commitments, finally got his shiny new bike muddy, and really enjoyed the day: He jokingly commented:
"It was a big field in my race and I was pretty intimidated but in the end the race went my way really?.But no in all honesty, it was really hard course, there was not any let up where you could get a rest, so eating and drinking out there was a bit interesting, but all in all it was really good fun. Considering the weather we had this morning, it was lucky we got to race really. It was a good work out for myself and my first race in 6 months so yeah that was really good"
Meanwhile in the Masters race it was a real ding-dong battle between to old endurance racing adversaries, JC (Jean Claude Van der Veken) and Dave McKendry, with the lead constantly changing places between the two as they both played out their strengths and weaknesses on the challenging course.
JC explained how the race unfolded and what he thought of the new course:
"That was a very epic battle out there between me and Dave (McKendry) it was very good, very muddy and good fun. That was the first race of the year for me and I really enjoyed it. The course was much better than I was expecting. I thought it was just going to be an extension of the SITS course but it wasn't. I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. There was a lot of singletrack and the mud just made it very interesting in a fun way, yeah it was good. The lines pretty much changed each lap you just had to guess where it went and hope for the best, apparently I'm told there were masses of bluebells out there but I was too focused on the ever-changing lines to appreciate them! The race was just between Dave and me really, he took the lead, I took the lead, and then he took the lead?..type thing. He was strong on the climbs I just had the better tyres, oh and I'm a better technical rider but don't tell him that. It wasn't quite a sprint finish but it could have been, I managed to pull away on the last lap over the tech section and then just nailed it on the last section where I know Dave would have been quicker and I just managed to stay ahead. I dared not look round, I just knew if I did he'd be there on my tail and luckily when I did look round as I crossed the line he wasn't there!"
After 3 long laps fighting amongst themselves finally on the last lap JC managed at last to shake the dogged McKendry going for the win not daring to look back until he crossed the line to take the win. Just 43 seconds later McKendry came home in second delighted to be riding so strongly as he explained:
"That was ace, my third race of the year and that was so good. Like JC said, the track was fantastic. I thought it wouldn't be that technical, but in the mud it gave it that extra bit of spice. I spent a fair bit of time going sideways and on my first lap crashed into a few trees. I've been racing against JC for 10 years and this is the closest I ever got to him. To be able to swap positions all race was a brilliant feeling. I thought I might be able to drop him on the climb out of the arena and through the woods, but he just kept attacking and I just couldn't answer him and when he did the last attack I just had to let him go. It was fantastic though. I woke up this morning and was thinking oh no, snow and mud I thought it was going to be tough, but as it was it was perfect for me."
It should be an interesting race at Enduro 6 in a couple of weeks when these two race together as a pair, they should be unstoppable. Mark McPhillips took the final podium spot.
By now the snow had long gone and the sun was shining merrily in the sky, helping dry the gloopy mud, and despite a few flurries of snow, turning it into a sticky, strength-sapping challenge for the next set of racers lined up to do battle. And because the going was getting tougher the decision was made to drop the number of laps, leaving the vets, open, sports and the intrepid singlespeeders all now doing 3 laps and the ladies 2.
First man back after the 3 lap slog was singlespeeder, resplendent on his 29er, Paul Williams, with a clear minute advantage over the first man back in the sports race, Peter Goode. 2nd and 3rd in the sports race went to Midlands Cross-Country organiser James Hampshire, and Simon White respectively.
Williams was unsure if the 29er gave him an advantage or not, telling me later:
"That was really muddy and sticky but really good fun, it was a really good race. Who knows if the 29er gave me an advantage, it still got muddy it still slipped on the corners; it worked okay for the first lap and well that's all I can say. It just slipped a lot especially on the muddy off camber corners. On the second lap when we had that snow flurry, a guy on gears was with me and I decided to attack and see if I could get away and it went from there. It was fantastic race even with all the mud and the snow it was great."
The Goode family came 'good' to in the singlespeed with Pete's brother Dan coming home in second, with just 59secs to spare over 3rd placed singlespeeder Rhys Lodwick. Singlespeeding Sarah Ellis was only one of the few women who took part and was both delighted to get round but embarrassed to be on the podium:
"My chain came off 7 times and I think after that I'm never riding a singlespeed again. It's gears for me now all the way. It was a great course, really fab. It would have been better without the mud and the mechanicals but it was great fun so you can't ask for anything more can you. I'm really embarrassed having to get on the podium as I didn't have any competition out there, I just want to compare how I got on compared with the boys, I know I beat my mate Dickie, so that was a bonus!"
In the Open men Philip Hinch was the man out in front recording some pretty consistent times despite the conditions, with Simon Maudsley claiming 2nd and Ben Trotter 3rd. Nicola Lomas took the honours in the women's open ahead of Cathy Atkinson.
Finally a surprised Jonathon Marshall took top honours in the Vets class, the melee of riders he came home with an average speed he reckoned of just over 6.5mph to take the win:
"Yeah that was very unexpected to be honest, that was my first race of the season and I felt awful going round, it was so muddy and there was no let up really, there were no big up hills and no big downhill's, it was a constant effort all the way round with lots of mud. There was a guy just behind me with a computer on and he averaged 6MPH so that means I must have crept round in about 6.5mph. The most depressing thing was there was a guy on a singlespeed who looked like he was in his fifties who just flew past me, I just presumed he was a vet, but maybe he was having a bad hair day or something!"
Joeseph Hayward took 2nd and 3rd placed was Darren Moore. There was a close sprint finish for 4th between Paul Moss & Greg Fitzpatrick, which went Moss's way.
It was cold work for marshals!
It was great to see so many people turn up for this fledging event despite the weather and I think they were rewarded with an excellent event in testing conditions. The snow and mud just adding that certain little bit of spice, which is just as well with the cold, winds that were blowing!
The season has opened up exceptionally early this year with a flurry of not only snow but also Cross-Country events up and down the country, as more and more riders are keen to have a go. It was great to see some good quality riders get stuck in, especially in the younger ranks it's shaping up to be another quality of year of emerging talent and tough battles. With all the encouragement and support that Pro-Velo has received, they're excited to be able to bring a little bit of Cross-Country action to the melee.
Pat Adams was especially delighted to have seen the youngsters turn up and race and said it was one of his proudest moments he's had in his career:
" To see those youngsters get stuck in and give the race a real go was so encouraging. I've been on the sidelines of so many big races over the years, watched the biggest and the best battle it out but none of that can compare with watching those few lads give it their all at this humble event. I hope we can continue to develop this side of our eventing and encourage not only our regular enduro riders to give Cross-Country racing ago but also, the younger competitors, without whom it would not be at all worthwhile. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come to our little event, see you next year!"