British Cycling National Whyte Enduro Series

 

Round 3, Grizedale, 15 June 2008

Link: 2008 National MTB Series Reports

Link: Cross-Country Round 3 Report

Report & Images: Joolze Dymond

Despite the hungry midges encountered the previous night, a couple of hundred riders turned up on Sunday to take part in the third Whyte Enduro of 2008. For riders who had competed in the previous day's XC racing the course laid before them was all so familiar, with an extra loop of climbing added on for good luck and with it a few more kms to make each lap up to 12.5 km.

For those experiencing the course for the first time, the long climb was rewarded by spectacular views before they hurtled downwards through some awesome singletrack, sliding and whooping as they went through beautiful trees, backlit with sunlight filtering through. It was again a day littered with punctures, broken bikes but fortunately no broken bodies or spirits!

First off and with the biggest challenge ahead were the 100km riders, headed up by enduro specialists Jenn O'Connor and Will Bjergfelt. Minutes later and it was wave after wave as first the 75km riders went off, including newly crowned National marathon champion Ian Wilkinson, then the 50 kms, and finally the 'fun' 25 km riders were off, each with their own goals, mainly to get round unscathed!

Last off but of course first to finish were the 25km and it was another win for Beth Crumpton as she romped her way over the 2 laps, just under 2 hours of riding and her 'training' ride of the day finished with another trip to the podium. Julie Barrett just held off mum and daughter combo Imogen Buick and Sara Flatt to take second.

Hugo Humphreys still smarting from the cramp attack on the previous day over came his pain and the competition to take the men's 25km. Joseph Home picked up 2nd just under 3 mins later with Taylor Johnstone taking 3rd.

In the men's 50 km another young rider recorded his 2nd win of the weekend. Luke Gray obviously feeling on top of his game rode away from the competition leaving Jack Richards to take 2nd and 29er Chris Aucote picked up 3rd. Carla Haines rode well for over 3 long hours to take the women's 50 km while rival Nina Davies retired, another unfortunate victim to the dreaded punctures. Hazel Sutherland showed the rest of the vets women in the 50 km a clean set of heels as she too took her second win of the weekend, whilst Iain Nimmo made up for some of the disappointment from the previous day with a victory in the vet's men 50 km.

Next and after 6 sprightly laps it was the 75 km riders back to make their mark on the finish line. Again it was a rider keen to forget the horrors of the previous day, Ian Wilkinson, looking resplendent in his National marathon champs' jersey was once more calling the shots. He spent most of the race in the company of young elite Billy Joe Whenman and despite a few cheeky attacks by the youngster, Wilkinson was clearly impressed by his rival.

However he was no match for the awesome powerhouse that Wilkinson as the older rider kicked for home at the final feed zone. He took the win with Whenman keeping the damage down to just under 5 mins to take a well-deserved 2nd, while Scott Rose nearly 20 mins later took 3rd.

Ruth Mordaunt was yet another rider who put the ghost of a desperate ride from the previous day to bed as she easily took the win in the 75km women's race. Whilst vet Paul Simmons was delighted to be finally free of illness that blighted him at Drumlanrig, showing his new sponsors exactly what he can do when he's back on form when he cruised to the win in the Vet's 75 km, nearly 14 mins clear of second placed Peter Bromwich.

However it was a different picture in the 100km vets as series leader and rider who is on top form at the moment had a disastrous race, when on lap 2 his bike disintegrated leaving him no choice but to abandon his race. This left the race wide open, with Dave Hayward, Steve Heading and John Fettis all in the running. In the end after the 8 long laps it was a surprised and delighted Fettis who took the win, as Heading and Hayward both started to fade. Heading had just enough in the tank to ensure he kept his 3rd spot.

Enduro specialist Jenn O'Connor, feeling confident after her race the previous day, was keen to build on her form after a slow start to the season hampered by illness. She started as she meant to continue on the front riding smoothly with only Irish rider Mel Spath keeping her in her sights.

Despite a dodgy moment with a split tyre she had enough pressure left to get to the tech zone and continue her ride to victory leaving Spath to pick up 2nd and the only other lady completing the full 8 laps. Maddie Horton picked up 3rd.

In the men's 100km race Will Bjergfelt was keen to show some form: with the World marathon champs coming up he was eager to put behind some shocking bad luck at previous races and build up his confidence going forward. Hoping to thwart his aims was Irish rider Ryan Sherlock and on the opening couple of laps Bjergfelt was still in Sherlock's sights.

 

Bjergfelt just kept calm, riding a controlled race concentrating on trying not to puncture whilst steadily increasing his lead. Just under 5 hours later and the victory he most desperately has craved since he won at Sherwood Pines last year was finally his. Sherlock came home just over 10 mins later to take 2nd with Paul Keen taking 3rd.

It was another cracking day with lots of great racing on some awesome trails competed under beautiful blue skies. Many thanks to Paul and crew for laying on a brilliantly inspired location, providing an incredible backdrop for some excellent racing. See you in a couple of months as the Whyte Enduro Series takes a breather and heads for the hills of Shropshire in August!

 

Post-Event Rider Feedback

Beth Crumpton - 25km women's winner
It's been a good weekend. I was just using it for training today, just a bit of fun. It was a bit hillier today, the fire track went up a bit further, and it just kept on going and going. I came off on the singletrack but it was good fun.

Hugo Humphreys - 25km winner.
I was really tired after yesterday's race and still feeling the after-effects of the cramp I had yesterday. I just set off hoping to do well. I tried to keep it smooth, moving through other riders and trying not to get a puncture. I rode off from the start and looked back occasionally and saw people still there so I just kept putting the pressure on until I got back to the finish.

Carla Haines - 50km women's winner
I was really pleased with getting 2 wins in two days; I can't do better than that really. The course today was a lot more fire track but I still really enjoyed it. It was quite tough but I kept pacing myself.

Ian Nimmo - 50km vets
It was good today but yesterday was better - it's always better to chase. I really enjoyed my last lap and a half after my puncture; it's good chasing people down it gives you a wee bit of adrenaline. We were going hard today, I was up there with Jack Richards one of the Scottish boys he's just a bit stronger than me on the climbs especially on the last laps, I lost a bit there, but it's good to ride with people rather than on your own. It was a good fun course and riding over the longer distances makes it a bit friendlier.

Ian Wilkinson - 75km winner
It was nice to pull my new National jersey, it's amazing how many friends you have on course when they see you coming round with that jersey on. It was quite good fun, there was about 6 of us going round, then it kinda split down a bit a few punctures and stuff.
I was a bit annoyed after yesterday, I was quite confident of taking the win, I was quite gutted really. I put some massive tyres on last night for today to try not to puncture again and it worked, but you couldn't have raced XC with them on. It's not really a race out there but it is a race, it's a cracking workout and lots of fun. I rode quite a bit with Billy Joe Whenman: he loves it, he's a plucky youngster and for a first year elite he'll go far. He's not afraid of attacking, he's happy to put his neck on the line he hasn't won a race yet off road but he will do no doubt. He's a good lad. It started raining on lap 5 I dropped an attack in on the feed zone, best place to do that as if you get caught in the singletrack behind riders you'll get caught up again. From the feed zone you've got the whole of the lap to make it count.

Will Bjergfelt - 100km winner
Yeah that's been a long time coming this season but that's my second marathon win now in the last 12months. It's all feeling like it's starting to come together and that sort of makes up for having 5 punctures at Margam.
I did puncture today as well, on the 2nd lap I split my tyre, I managed to nurse it round to the tech zone and put a new wheel in. So many people were having problems with flats out there that it was just par for the course. After that I just took it really steady and kept an eye on what I was doing as in 3 weeks time I'm off to the World marathon champs, hopefully I'll do a good ride there.

That wasn't too bad out there, technical but nothing I couldn't handle. Today the most important thing was to stay ahead of Wilkes, as I knew they wouldn't be too far behind me. I kept my head and was fast and consistent so it was all good.

Ruth Mordaunt - 75km
I guess that made up for yesterday in a way, but yesterday was my main focus and I was gutted that I punctured but that happens in racing. I punctured again today, about 3km into the race this time rather than 2km. I was just out there on my own; I was just using it as training exercise rather than anything else building up for the Nationals XC really.

Paul Simmons - 75km vets
That was a brilliant ride, the course was just superb, absolutely brilliant that's my sort of course. I struggled in Drumlanrig, as I was ill, where today I proved I was ill then and my first win wasn't just a fluke. I'm fit again now and I really enjoyed myself today. I have to thanks Thetford MTB Racing for putting this together it's been brilliant. I also have to thank K124 and Koxx UK they've been absolutely brilliant helping me out with a bike and kit.

As far as the racing goes I hammered the start and I had to overtake the new national champ, it didn't last long they soon went past me again! But doing that gave me my break and I think I managed to get 15 mins over the rest of the field in the end. So it was a really, really good race and I'm looking forward to the next one now!

Jenn O'Connor - 100km winner
I felt really strong today I've had a slow start to the season and I've had a few weeks off I wasn't sure what sort of form I was going to have today. I tested myself yesterday and felt really good. It's only 3 weeks to the World marathon champs and I'm quite conscious of the fact that I haven't had the racing in my legs that I should have so my goal today was to get a 100km of hard racing in. Mel was always there or there abouts and always in contention I was pushed hard the whole way round and it's what I needed. Today's course was the better of the two I think it flowed better than yesterday and the laps seemed to go round alright. I felt well all the way round and it bodes well.

John Fettis -100km vets
I was surprised to get the win; I certainly never thought I'd win one of these. The competition has been pretty tough; Michael Powell especially has been heads above the rest of us. But it went really well for me today I didn't really think up for it this morning.
As usual Michael set off on a fast pace followed by David here towards the top of the first climb it all came together. I managed to get a bit of a gap with Steve Heading on the singletrack section, carried on riding the first half of the race with Steve so it was quite nice and good fun. Then I hung on for the last 4 laps! Congratulations to the organisers that was a great course it was well worth the trip.

Results

100km - Women
1 Jenn O'Connor 8 Laps In 05:54:13
2 Melanie Spath 8 Laps In 06:05:37
3 Maddie Horton 7 Laps In 05:49:47
4 Emma Bradley 7 Laps In 06:03:56
5 Hilana Marais 6 Laps In 05:46:58
6 Jane Chadwick 1 Laps In 00:59:24

100km - Men
1 William Bjergfelt 8 Laps In 04:58:51
2 Ryan Sherlock 8 Laps In 05:09:40
3 Paul Kneen 8 Laps In 05:25:48
4 Jimmy Taylor 8 Laps In 05:41:37
5 Jay Horton 8 Laps In 05:42:35
6 Adrian Scott 8 Laps In 05:45:18
7 Darren Alexander 8 Laps In 05:51:00
8 Lloyd Bettles 8 Laps In 05:51:01
9 Martin Kitchin 8 Laps In 05:58:34
10 Steven Halsall 8 Laps In 06:01:43
11 Oliver Young 8 Laps In 06:15:55
12 Neil Richardson 8 Laps In 06:24:07
13 Andrew Howett 8 Laps In 06:24:52
14 Lee Whitelaw 8 Laps In 06:26:39
15 Ian Palmer 8 Laps In 06:34:39
16 Karl Povey 7 Laps In 05:57:51
17 Alex Kinvig 6 Laps In 04:14:37
18 James Hodge 6 Laps In 05:26:36
19 Glen Whittington 5 Laps In 04:01:35
20 Philip Coad 4 Laps In 02:49:55
21 Brendan Kay 4 Laps In 03:28:15
22 Daniel Stephens 4 Laps In 03:33:43
23 Daniel Wood 4 Laps In 03:39:46
24 Steve Corbyn 2 Laps In 01:32:13
25 Robert Finch 2 Laps In 01:59:28
26 Matthew Kemp 1 Laps In 00:46:38

100km Veteran - Women
1 Viv Hazelton 6 Laps In 06:09:14

100km Veteran - Men
1 John Fettis 8 Laps In 05:30:59
2 Steve Heading 8 Laps In 05:40:12
3 David Hayward 8 Laps In 06:04:22
4 Tim Stowe 8 Laps In 06:29:21
5 Graham Bryce 7 Laps In 05:41:42
6 Phil Miles 7 Laps In 06:09:25
7 Andy Peace 4 Laps In 02:49:15
8 Robert Quirk 4 Laps In 03:22:00
9 Michael Powell 2 Laps In 01:21:20

75km - Women
1 Ruth Mordaunt 6 Laps In 05:01:44
2 Fiona Walker 5 Laps In 07:00:31
3 Emily Brooks 4 Laps In 03:53:13

75km - Men
1 Ian Wilkinson 6 Laps In 03:38:53
2 Billy Joe Whenman 6 Laps In 03:43:46
3 Scott Rose 6 Laps In 04:02:24
4 Chris Andrews 6 Laps In 04:08:24
5 Matt Hart 6 Laps In 04:10:00
6 Oli Cox 6 Laps In 04:13:57
7 Robert Rowe 6 Laps In 04:30:16
8 Gerald Tudor 6 Laps In 04:32:39
9 Philip Lenney 6 Laps In 04:33:05
10 Chris Hunt 6 Laps In 04:33:10
11 Roy Davies 6 Laps In 04:33:11
12 Michael Jones 6 Laps In 04:47:59
13 Calum Macleod 6 Laps In 04:55:48
14 Michael Mallet 6 Laps In 05:43:01
15 Si Lancaster 6 Laps In 06:29:21
16 Steve Shaw 5 Laps In 03:51:53
17 Glenn Irvine 5 Laps In 04:24:42
18 Stephen James 5 Laps In 04:27:48
19 Dave Collins 4 Laps In 02:32:01
20 Dan Booth 4 Laps In 02:49:41
21 Stuart Ormes 4 Laps In 02:54:20
22 David Powell 4 Laps In 03:14:31
23 Gareth Smith 4 Laps In 03:31:42
24 Martin Lenney 4 Laps In 04:28:54

75km Veteran - Men
1 Paul Simmons 6 Laps In 04:34:32
2 Peter Bromwich 6 Laps In 04:48:28
3 Jim Tipp 6 Laps In 05:01:09
4 David Holmes 6 Laps In 05:13:19
5 Anthony Cowling 6 Laps In 05:14:53
6 Alan Cartwright 6 Laps In 06:19:19

50km - Women
1 Carla Haines 4 Laps In 03:27:58
2 Nina Davies 2 Laps In 02:02:37

50km - Men
1 Luke Gray 4 Laps In 02:27:58
2 Jack Richards 4 Laps In 02:30:47
3 Christian Aucote 4 Laps In 02:35:20
4 Andrew Baum 4 Laps In 02:36:30
5 Ben Roff 4 Laps In 02:37:53
6 Steven James 4 Laps In 02:39:37
7 Ewan Clark 4 Laps In 02:39:55
8 Michael Newton 4 Laps In 02:45:36
9 Giles Drake 4 Laps In 02:46:08
10 Scott Chappell 4 Laps In 02:47:31
11 Anthony Morris 4 Laps In 02:47:55
12 Shaun Aldous 4 Laps In 02:49:49
13 Matt Steven 4 Laps In 02:51:26
14 Sylvain Garde 4 Laps In 02:51:28
15 James Farnaby 4 Laps In 02:52:51
16 Matthew Jones 4 Laps In 02:56:22
17 Paul Newby 4 Laps In 03:00:03
18 Suresh Dulal 4 Laps In 03:02:39
19 Gareth Hayes 4 Laps In 03:03:44
20 George Budd 4 Laps In 03:04:21
21 Nick Owen 4 Laps In 03:04:22
22 Lee Mallen 4 Laps In 03:05:09
23 Colun Pendlesham 4 Laps In 03:09:40
24 Danny Coote 4 Laps In 03:11:18
25 Stuart Summers 4 Laps In 03:12:30
26 Jake Elliott 4 Laps In 03:12:45
27 James Gleave 4 Laps In 03:20:34
28 Brad Lovell 4 Laps In 03:24:48
29 Simon Pateman 4 Laps In 03:24:50
30 Richard Staton 4 Laps In 03:28:16
31 Lloyd Stevens 4 Laps In 03:32:39
32 Andrew Shenton 4 Laps In 03:39:21
33 James Tate 4 Laps In 03:42:57
34 Ashley Whiteside 4 Laps In 03:44:48
35 Robert Bradley 4 Laps In 03:58:20
36 Robert Erwin 4 Laps In 04:08:49
37 Tom Wright 4 Laps In 04:11:10
38 Darren Clarke 4 Laps In 04:18:27
39 Gavin Perry 4 Laps In 04:20:39
40 Steven Greenhalgh 4 Laps In 04:58:27
41 Michael Butler 3 Laps In 01:58:38
42 Chris Glass 3 Laps In 02:58:51
43 James Dalton 2 Laps In 01:27:37
44 Jack Pullar 2 Laps In 01:27:40
45 Mark Baines 2 Laps In 01:33:40
46 Charlie Wigfall 2 Laps In 01:35:52
47 Nat Jarvis 2 Laps In 01:36:48
48 Anthony Barratt 2 Laps In 02:15:03
49 Malcolm Borg 2 Laps In 02:16:03
50 Tom Hodgson 2 Laps In 02:26:27
51 Richard Fiander 1 Laps In 00:49:12
52 Luke Newby 1 Laps In 01:33:36

50km Veteran - Women
1 Hazel Sutherland 4 Laps In 03:27:38
2 Debbie Burton 4 Laps In 03:46:47
3 Anne Pitman 4 Laps In 04:10:07
4 Penny Kingsland 4 Laps In 05:09:46

50km Veteran - Men
1 Iain Nimmo 4 Laps In 02:32:27
2 Stephen Mcgrath 4 Laps In 02:54:26
3 Philip Buick 4 Laps In 03:04:23
4 Peter Harris 4 Laps In 03:06:52
5 Joseph Heywood 4 Laps In 03:07:12
6 Ben Capaldi 4 Laps In 03:12:30
7 Lynn Lines 4 Laps In 03:13:45
8 Martin Peace 4 Laps In 03:16:54
9 John Gemmell 4 Laps In 03:21:21
10 Sandy Wallace 4 Laps In 03:22:11
11 Mervyn Dudley 4 Laps In 03:31:53
12 Leigh Harris 4 Laps In 03:37:44
13 Douglas Haugh 4 Laps In 03:42:39
14 Paul Dalton 4 Laps In 03:44:46
15 Tony Edmondson 4 Laps In 04:13:09
16 Mark O'connell 3 Laps In 02:37:58
17 Paul Mockett 3 Laps In 02:52:49
18 Mark Adamson 3 Laps In 03:08:11
19 Mike Murray 2 Laps In 01:25:54
20 Robert Allen 2 Laps In 01:28:15
21 Chris Davies 2 Laps In 01:56:33
22 Neil Taylor 2 Laps In 01:57:24
23 Malcolm O'hara 2 Laps In 02:48:57
24 Roger Baines 2 Laps In 02:49:32
25 Duncan Stuart 1 Laps In 00:41:59
26 Paul Beckett 1 Laps In 00:48:55
27 Chris Cook 1 Laps In 01:05:07

25km Fun - Women
1 Bethany Crumpton 2 Laps In 01:45:54
2 Julie Barrett 2 Laps In 01:52:11
3 Imogen Buick 2 Laps In 01:53:17
4 Sara Flatt 2 Laps In 01:53:20
5 Hannah Ferguson 2 Laps In 01:55:37
6 Jane Edmondson 2 Laps In 02:06:26
7 Nicola Plewes 2 Laps In 02:07:22
8 Debra Mallet 2 Laps In 02:19:44
9 Katie Palmer 2 Laps In 02:24:29
10 Rebecca Cunnell 1 Laps In 01:22:33

25km Fun - Men
1 Hugo Humphreys 2 Laps In 01:17:50
2 Joseph Home 2 Laps In 01:20:47
3 Taylor Johnstone 2 Laps In 01:22:50
4 Alex Baker 2 Laps In 01:24:15
5 Brodie Gardias 2 Laps In 01:25:45
6 Billy Matthews 2 Laps In 01:27:11
7 James Harman 2 Laps In 01:27:12
8 Bruce Dalton 2 Laps In 01:28:24
9 Martin Turton 2 Laps In 01:31:07
10 Alec Briggs 2 Laps In 01:31:07
11 Alistair Rowland 2 Laps In 01:34:26
12 Damon Manning 2 Laps In 01:35:00
13 James Burton 2 Laps In 01:41:21
14 Rupert Turton 2 Laps In 01:41:25
15 Joe Moore 2 Laps In 01:45:50
16 Jack Llewellyn 2 Laps In 01:53:09
17 Paul Atack 2 Laps In 01:59:52
18 Ian Mockett 2 Laps In 02:01:54
19 Oliver Smith 2 Laps In 02:09:29
20 Steve F Smith 2 Laps In 02:11:48
21 Mike Salter 2 Laps In 02:15:56
22 Neil Shepherd 2 Laps In 02:30:24
23 Ian Harman 2 Laps In 02:37:12