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Location: Solihull Moors FC, Damson Parkway, Solihull
Event: 16 October 2011
Report: Jacob James
Veteran Darren Atkins won the sixth round of the Waldrons Solicitors West Midlands League in Solihull on Sunday, sprinting to victory just inches ahead of rival Matt Barrett (Cycleshack) at the end of a heated race-long battle.
From the gun, a group formed including Atkins, Barrett, Tom Payton (Cult Racing) and Rob Burns (Wolverhampton Wheelers), which stayed together for the majority of the race.
Rob Burns and Tom Payton found Darren Atkins’ attacks to be too much, dropping from that lead group in the latter half of the race to leave Barrett and Atkins to fight it out.
From a spectator’s point of view, Atkins came across as the stronger of the two, constantly attacking and applying pressure to try and break free from Barrett. However, Barrett is no slouch and the two remained locked in battle. Atkins opened up the sprint and took the victory from Barrett.
The race for veterans, women and juniors kicked off with Alex Welburn (Cycleshack) breaking clear on lap one and staying clear for the whole race to win solo.
However, Steve Knight (Jewson MI Racing) started to plug away in the latter stages of the race to bring the gap down to Welburn, but still remained victor in the over-40s race.
Ian Wright (Cycleshack) took the spoils in the over-50s race ahead of Mick Davis and Pete Harris.
A special mention has to be said for Kevin Payton who not only spent the whole race battling with Harris and Davis, but also carried on and rode in the senior race later in the day! Being the daughter of Kevin, Hannah Payton took a comfortable win in the women’s race.
The youth race was once again consistent of Jack Ravenscroft, Danny Fox, Ethan Lee (Solihull CC) and Chris Welburn (Lichfield CCC). Ravenscroft won the sprint ahead of Danny Fox and Chris Welburn.
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
