Dragon Series kicks off at Coed y Brenin
After the long dreary winter months spent training in energy sapping mud or on long, cold, grey road rides. Months interspersed with only a few XC races to brighten the gloom, such as the Soggy Bottoms and the Thetford Winter series, it is always a different atmosphere that greets the psychologically important 'first' race of the new season, when all that winter training is tested and your progress weighed and measured.
That first race can set the tone for your whole season; do you need to re-think your training regime? Did you go too well so early in the new season? It will, of course mean different things to different people but one thing is for sure, as the evenings begin to get longer and the need to recharge the lights between training sessions diminishes, the new season is with us and it's going to be a good one!
And so it was as the first round of the 2008 Dragon Series arrived and 144 kindred spirits made the journey to Coed-y-Brenin in glorious North Wales on Sunday to see what delights Ifan Richards had conjured up for the series' opener.
They were not to be disappointed, Ifan took the course used for the last round of the NPS last year and, as promised, had added a few 'tweaks' to produce a tough, technical course that was in every way as enjoyable to ride and maybe even a little more challenging than the course used for the NPS. Not content with that, Ifan then turned his attention to the influencing of the biking gods and through some minor miracle (some say he struck a deal with the big man himself) the sun was shining and the temperature rose from a bone shivering -6 degrees to hover at around freezing in time for the racing to commence.
Before the race many riders were eyeing up the homemade cakes and snacks promised in my preview and some were even being reserved to ensure good wholesome recovery food was waiting for them when they finished.
With everything all clearly marked out and ready to go on Saturday, Ifan had to deal with two major setbacks, the first came when the Commissaire for the day informed him that the way the finish was set up was not allowable and it would have to be changed. Ifan then had a frantic time putting a new finishing zone in place, this added to the distance and meant a 7 mile lap for the race, and as a result the Elite race was shortened to 4 laps. The second piece of devastating news was that Ifan was unable to race as he was in charge of the race day and hadn't managed to delegate control of the proceedings!
Riders were able to practise the circuit before the Under 12's began their race at 11am, conditions were reported as fantastic, a bit frosty (still frozen) in places and rutted in others from the ravages of Winter, making it even more technical, but enough grinning faces came back from their warm up laps to show that the course was riding well.
At 11am the whistle sounded for the start of the Under 12's race and 16 young racers tore around the shortened but still challenging circuit for 5 frantic laps. Dylan Robson tore away at the start and by lap two was already beginning to pass some of the back markers. He held on to win the race from Peter Stewart. All under 12's received a certificate for their efforts, recognition of a great effort appreciated by the spectators who clapped and cheered the young riders throughout.
Then after a short delay with signing on taking longer than expected (the series organisers have received some good feedback for the next events) at 'High Noon' all other categories lined up on the line for a staggered start. First away were the Elite and Expert riders and while the temperature may have been freezing the racing pace was hot! Paul Beadles and Sue Clarke were never challenged as they stormed to well deserved wins in the Elite category. In the other categories Ross Brinson and Ben Roff led from the start in the Junior and Youth categories whilst some interesting battles unfolded among the Masters and Experts with, in the end Chris Lane and Lilly Matthews taking clear victories in Expert while David Griffiths and Nina Davies stayed in front to take their first wins of the series in Masters.
Paul Williams and Anne Pitman show that a 'Good old 'un' is more than a match for many of the younger legs out there and Ian Wright led the way home in the 'Old enough to know better' category (Grand Vets).
The 'Mad Fool' award went to Adrian Booth who slogged round the punishing 7 mile course repeatedly on his singlespeed!
From North to South and at all points in-between, you get some of the UK's best Mountain Biking country in Wales, and now, with the definite step up in class of the organisation of this Welsh Dragon series you can take part in some of the best XC racing available on our fair isles. So get yourself along to round two on Sunday 23rd March at Abergwesyn and round three on Saturday May 31st at Margam Park, part of the MBR weekend and see what sort of Dragon you are.
Many thanks to Ifan Richards for the excellent organisation of his first race and look out for rider interviews and a preview of the next race coming soon.
Results in brief:
Elite Men
Paul Beales
Andrew Howett
Elite Women
Sue Clarke
Melanie Alexander
Expert Men
Chris Lane
Ross Sumil
Chris Purt
Expert Women
Lilly Matthews
Alwen Williams
Masters Male
David Griffiths
Joel Shotton
Mark McPhillips
Masters Women
Nina Davies
Verity Applegate
Karen Summers
Veteran Male
Paul Williams
Grant Steele
Russ Porter
Veteran Female
Anne Pitman
Tracy Miles
Kim Williams
Sport Male
Barry Marples
Shaun Wells
Dave Price
Sport Female
Sally Gabriel
Emma Cond
Junior Male
Ross Brinson
William Haynes
Youth Male
Ben Roff
Ryan Nash
Peter Mack
Youth Female
Amy Roberts
Juvenile Male
Harry Worman
Geraint Pugh
Henry James
Grand Veteran
Ian Wright
John Lloyd
Lynn Lines
Fun Men
Darren Carter
Jay Jones
Paul Doyle
Fun Women
Hannah Smith
Wendy Machant
Laura Bayliss
Singlespeed
Adrian Booth
Report courtesy of Ian Roff. Posted 25/02/08