2009 National Disability Circuit and Time Trial Championships
Saturday 18th July – Circuit Championship
Tim Challinor, Russ White and Shaun McKeown take the medals in the circuit race.
An impressive field of 29 paracylists entered the 2009 National Disability Circuit Championships which saw handcycles racing alongside regular bikes and a tandem for one of two coveted National Champion Jerseys.
Fourteen two wheelers and fifteen handcyclists had registered for the race, including the current double Handcycling World Champion and Paralympic Women’s time trial Gold medallist from Beijing, Rachel Morris and Wales’ National Pursuit Champion Russ White who you will normally see attacking in able bodied races.
In the days leading up to the event, Kent experienced some inclement weather but on race day the weather had thankfully cleared up and the sun was shining, though there was a strong wind blowing across the purpose-built racing circuit, which is situated near the south Kent coast. Having created a series of ‘factors’ for the various disability divisions, the competitors gathered on the start line.
Handcyclists ready to start on the Fowlmead circuit.
Handcycle Race
The group of MHCA riders started first, followed by the remaining men (MHCB and MHCC) 1 min 58 s later and finally the women (WHCB), Karen Darke and Rachel Morris, a further 1 min and 43 s behind. The riders in the MHCA division and the women were required to complete 6 laps of the 3.26 km circuit, while the rest of the men completed 8 laps.
Following the first couple of laps, the field became very spread out and Rob Wickham soon established a clear lead over the other male competitors. Karen Darke and Rachel Morris completed the first lap in a similar time, but Rachel then applied some pressure and quickly established an impressive lead.
It was evident that Rob Wickham was riding extremely well and was building upon the success he’d had the weekend before in the Czech Republic where he had finished a credible 9th and 6th place in the MHCB individual time trial and road race, respectively.
Russ White on his way to victory in the National TT Championships.
As the race played out, it became clear that it would be a close run thing between Rob Wickham and Rachel Morris and both riders provided onlookers with an exhibition of measured and controlled riding.
Rob had managed to lap Rachel within his first 4 laps and the spectators began to suspect that he might have the better of Rachel on this occasion. However, due to the fact the race was organised according to a factoring system, the victor was the individual who crossed the line first having completed the required number of laps.
As the bell sounded, Rachel crossed the line to begin her final lap some 2 min and 28 s ahead of Rob. Completing her final lap in just under 7 min and 12 s, Rachel crossed the finish line 50 seconds ahead of Rob and Karen Darke finished the race in 3rd place a minute later. Ian Marsden, Chris Madden and Dave Sandles took 4th, 5th and 6th place, respectively.
Tim Challinor picked up a silver and bronze medal over the weekend.
Paracycling Race
The first of the ‘normal’ bikes to start were Dominic Hurley and Shaun McKeown of the CP4 category followed 1 minute 11 seconds after by the LC1 category including the 2009 national pursuit champion Russ White. Having competed with the 1st and 2nd category riders less than an hour before the championship race (and setting a high pace at the head of the peloton), Russ showed the rest of the paracyclists arriving for the championships just what they were up against.
Next up were the LC2 riders who would have to go hard to make up the 2 minute 20 seconds handicap they were given over the CP4 riders. Finally, the tandem pairing of father and son (Daniel and Patrick Weston) started with a 4 minute 9 s handicap to make up over the 8 lap, 26km race.
With all riders underway, Shaun McKeown maintained his advantage over the LC1s, despite having no one to hide behind on the exposed circuit. The LC1 riders Tim Challinor and Russ White, having dropped the other riders in their category, formed a good partnership and started putting in the quickest lap times and chipping away at Shaun’s lead.
Rachel Morris crossing the line to take the National TT Championship.
The LC2 category had three closely matched riders in Terry Byrne, Colin Lynch and Michael Rennison who worked well together in the first few laps to try to bridge the gap to the riders who had started in front of them.
Halfway through the race, Shaun was still clinging to his lead, but it was obvious that Russ and Tim were closing in on him by putting in some very fast lap times. After 5 laps the catch was made and having missed the wheel as it went past, Shaun had little chance of catching Russ and Tim who were riding well together.
The final lap saw Tim pushing Russ, but Russ showed his strength to come out of the last bend a few lengths ahead to take his second National Champion title of the season.
Mike Rennison won the battle of the LC2 category to come in 4th after Tim and Shaun. Colin Lynch was 5th, and also in the prize money with a good ride was local lad, and ex-paralympic rower Alistair McKeen.
The race also counted towards the National Disability Circuit Series. Series standings can be found here
Presentations
As this was a National Championship, representatives from UK Sport were present in order to undertake mandatory and stringent anti-doping checks. With these formalities completed, competitors and supporters gathered near the registration marquee where a presentation ceremony took place.
Prizes were presented by Mike Hill, Lead member for sport at Kent County Council. Money prizes of 200, 125, 75, 50, 30 and 20 Euros were presented to the first 6 riders of the handcycling and paracycling race, respectively.
Medals were also presented to the cyclists in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, and both Rachel Morris and Russ White were presented with, and donned the British Cycling, National Champion’s jersey. Barry North, the Chairman of HandcyclingUK then presented the remaining handcyclists with a commemorative medal. Finally, Phil Godfrey offered his sincere thanks to Paul Panton and Mike Bishop of Kent Sports Development, to members of the South East Road Racing League for their expertise and assistance with the transponder timing system used, and to the various members of HandcyclingUK who had helped with the organisation and successful running of the event.
Handcycles
1 Rachel Morris
2 Rob Wickham
3 Karen Darke
4 Ian Marsden
5 Chris Madden
6 David Sandles
7 Alistair Corps-Bell
8 Martin Rooke
9 Stephen Lowden
10 Peter Gregory
11 Dean Harris
12 Faisal Sultan
13 Stephen Clements
Paracycles
1 Russ White
2 Tim Challinor
3 Shaun McKeown
4 Michael Renison
5 Colin Lynch
6 Alistair McKeen
7 Dominc Hurley
8 Terry Byrne
9 Daniel Weston/Patrick Weston
10 Alan Ephgrave
DNS Martin Christmas
DNS Thomas Bannister
DNS Danny Green
Sunday 19th July – Time Trial Championship
Many of the riders who competed in the Circuit Championship race also entered the National Time Trial Championships the following day in Harrietsham near Maidstone. An early start to beat the morning traffic saw riders begin arriving at race HQ just after 6am to be greeted by a glorious sunny, and seemingly still day.
The course was an undulating 25km out and back loop which would put the cyclists to test against the clock. Another 1000 euros prize fund was available for both handcyclists and paracyclists, but it was the red, white and blue jersey that the riders were pushing themselves to win.
The tandem of Daniel and Patrick Weston were first off at 7:30am, with Iain Dawson and Bobby De’ath next trying to improve upon their 4th and 5th in the corresponding event last season. The first handcycle off was Ali Corps-Bell. With the event taking place on the highway, all handcyclists were followed by volunteer chaperones to ensure they were clearly visible to other road users. We extend our sincere thanks to members of San Fairy Ann CC for their help in providing volunteers for this.
In the end the winners of the previous days racing, Russ White and Rachel Morris were fastest overall after the final times were calculated using the pre determined factors taken from the average of the top 3 riders in each category in the Beijing Paralympics.
Fastest on the day were Iain Dawson and Bobby De’ath stopping the clock on 34:03 on their tandem, good enough for a silver medal after the factoring. Bronze in the two wheelers was Tim Challinor with an adjusted time of 34:14, followed by Shaun McKeown. Colin Lynch rode with the bit between his teeth to take 5th place beating Michael Rennison who had beat him the previous day at Fowlmead. Special mention also goes to Alan Davy, still competitive in his 70s.
A fantastic time of 45:40 (quickest actual time) saw Rob Wickham take 2nd place in the Handcycling category. Chris Madden, starting one minute ahead of Rob crossed the finish line less than a bike length ahead of Rob to take bronze.
With a weekend of domestic events attracting over 30 riders, let’s hope 2009 is the start of bigger and better things for disability cycling. Thanks to all Kent County Council, Handcycling UK, SERRL, Gravesend CC, San Fairy Ann CC and all riders involved for a great weekend.
Photos of the event can be seen here: http://www.gravesendcc.org.uk/photo-gallery.htm
Handcycles
1 Rachel Morris WHCB 1.72 58:22 33:57
2 Rob Wickham HCB 1.33 45:40 34:13
3 Chris Madden HCB 1.33 46:40 34:58
4 David Sandles HCB 1.33 53:07 39:48
5 Ian Marsden HCC 1.24 49:28 39:50
6 Alistair Corps-Bell HCB 1.33 57:41 43:13
7 Martin Rooke HCB 1.33 58:16 43:39
DNS Marc Poolman HCB 1.33 n/a n/a
DNS Karen Darke WHCB 1.72 n/a n/a
Paracycles
1 Russ White LC1 1.08 36:19 33:41
2 Iain Dawson / Bobby De’ath Bvi 1.00 34:03 34:03
3 Tim Challinor LC1 1.08 36:55 34:14
4 Shaun McKeown CP4 1.11 38:27 34:39
5 Colin Lynch LC2 1.05 40:07 38:17
6 Michael Rennison LC2 1.05 41:00 39:07
7 Terry Byrne LC2 1.05 42:02 40:06
8 Dominic Hurley CP4 1.11 44:54 40:28
9 Alan Ephgrave LC3 1.18 50:37 42:49
10 Daniel Weston / Patrick Weston Bvi 1.00 42:57 42:57
11 Alan Davy LC2 1.05 46:06 43:59
DNS Martin Christmas LC2 1.05 n/a n/a
DNS Thomas Bannister LC1 1.08 n/a n/a
DNS Danny Green LC1 1.08 n/a n/a