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Go-Ride Racing Manchester Cyclo-Cross Series 1

Saturday 14 November 2009
Report & Images: Dan Small

British Cycling's Go-Ride Coaches deliver a variety of school, community and entry level competition programmes which are all interlinked with one goal, to increase the number of young people moving into clubs and into racing.

Tom Hodgkinson, Manchester Go-Ride Coach, has been feeding young people from his coaching programmes into the Go-Ride Racing Manchester Cyclo-Cross Series. The series is supported by Manchester City Council and is part of British Cycling's Go-Ride Racing programme; a national entry level competition programme for youth riders who are not already racing on the regional scene.

The series is made up of 4 Cyclo-Cross events, each of which include 3 races; a Time Trial, Individual Pursuit and Mass Start event. The series is held in Clayton Vale Park, close to the Manchester Velodrome, and amongst others, attracts U16 riders who have developed skills through the Go-Ride coaching programmes and are now ready to race for the first time. Go-Ride Racing events give young people their first taste of competitive cycling and provide riders with opportunities to develop their skills further with aspirations of stepping up to regional level competition.

Report: Go-Ride Racing Manchester Cyclo-Cross Series 1
Event 1 - Saturday 14th November 2009

Race 1 - Cyclo-Cross Time Trial

The Time Trial gave riders the opportunity to score points based on their times posted for 1 lap of the suitably challenging 500m course. Patrick Hudson opened the event with a strong time of 2min 57secs, a fantastic result for a rider just 7 years of age! As the U12s lined up the bar was continually raised and a number of riders posted respectable times under the 2:30 mark before the 2 minute barrier fell to Reece Player, Matthew Whitmore, Ewan Bayliss and Time Trial winner Elliott Webb, who recorded a time of 1min 40secs.

Full TT Results

Rider Time
Elliott Webb 01:40
Ewan Bayliss 01:49
Matthew Whitmore 01:57
Reece Player 01:58
Matt Sutton 02:03
Jack Barlow 02:05
Tom Harrop 02:09
Tom Hudson 02:12
Noel Halbert 02:14
Oliver Schofield 02:17
Raffi Quirke 02:27
Steven Kershaw 02:27
Jerry Stokes 02:29
Sean Savage 02:30
Thomas Kelly 02:35
Peter Jones 02:39
Robert Halbert 02:49
Patrick Hudson 02:57

Race 2 - Cyclo-Cross Pursuit

In the Cyclo-Cross pursuit riders were evenly paired up based on their Time Trial performances and could score a single point for every minute of the 10 minute event that they managed to stay away from their pursuer. A maximum of 10 points were on offer for staying away and an extra 10 point bonus available in a catch situation.

The riders lined up in 2 groups on opposite sides of the circuit and the race began at a frantic pace with all riders eager to be the first to catch their partner from the opposing group. It took Peter Jones 4 minutes to claim the first 10 point bonus by catching Steven Kershaw and an unfortunate mechanical brought Ewan Bayliss's attempt to an end 7 minutes into the pursuit. Oliver Schofield, Tom Harrop, Patrick Hudson and Robert Halbert all successfully stayed away taking 10 points each with Peter Jones, Jack Barlow and Matt Sutton claiming a further 10 points for making a catch.

Race 3 - Mass Start Cyclo-Cross

The final event of the day was the mass start race. This race also set off at a blistering pace with all riders vying for the head of the bunch leading into the first technical section. An early attack saw Peter Jones go clear and after a few laps a chase group had formed including Oliver Schofield and Elliot Webb who had also been prominent in the previous race. Leading from the front Peter was looking very strong and a favourite for the victory but whilst under pressure from Elliot Webb and Matt Sutton, was extremely unlucky with a mechanical failure which forced him to retire during the last lap of the race. The final sprint for the line saw Elliott Webb edge out Matt Sutton in what was a tightly contested final event.

More Info

This is just a snapshot of the work of the Go-Ride Coaches, with 28 full time coaches now in post this work is being repeated nationally, but the development of the sport doesn't stop there; there is an ever growing army of volunteers in Go-Ride Clubs across the country giving up their time come rain or shine to develop cycle sport at youth level, laying the foundations for British Cycling's continued success in years to come.

The next event in the series will take place on 5th December, for further details contact Manchester Go-Ride Coach Tom Hodgkinson on 07908 407 317 or tomhodgkinson@britishcycling.org.uk

Go-Ride Races are gradually being introduced nationally:

Find Go-Ride Racing events: Calendar

Find Go-Ride Racing results: Results

Go-Ride Racing Entry Form (700kb word file)