Follow britishcycling.org.uk on  

Report: Lichfield DC 'Born to Bike' Wattbike League Round 6

Report: Phil Kelly

Wattbikers returned to Friary Grange Leisure Centre for Round 6 of the Wattbike league on Tuesday 11th January

The 300m Time trial kicked off as the first of the evening's events. Group 1's, Amie Parlour beat her sister, Heather, by just 7/10ths of a second and Amy Selibas coming home in third place. In Group 2 Harry Yates won by a clear 2 seconds to show a continuation of his current good form, no doubt carried over from his cyclo cross endeavours. Charlie Cox came home in 2nd place with Toby Bushell in 3rd place. In the Ladies group Karen Kelly must have been doing some secret training as she posted the fastest 300m time of the evening. Corrine Sisley finished 3 seconds later ahead of Janice Hyde in 3rd place. Will Hyde took the win in Group 4's 500m race distance ahead of Jacob Kelly by 7/10ths of a second, Isabelle Clarke won for the girls hotly pursued by Sophie and Emily Capewell.

The evening's second event was the scratch race run over a 1500m distance. Amie Parlour won once more in Group 1 again pursued by sister Heather. Daniel Cooper came through to claim 3rd place ahead of will Staite. The finishing positions from the earlier group 2 race repeated themselves exactly for the scratch race, so Yates scored top points again. Karen Kelly dominated in the Ladies race and won once again with Corrine Sisley in 2nd.

Jacob Kelly sealed his first win of the evening with a 3.21.81 for the extended 2.5km distance race, Luke Selibas finished in 2nd place. Isabelle Clarke won again for the girls but a reversal of placings from the previous event saw Emily Capewell beat sister Sophie to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively

Group 1's team sprint event saw the pairing Amy Selibas and Daniel Cooper emerge victors with a 45.76 time over Will Staite and Heather Parlour's 46.20. Group 2 and the Ladies were combined and a 40.94 second ride gave victory to Matthew Sisley and Karen Kelly, followed by Sue Clarke and Harry Yates. The group 4 race pairing of Sophie Capewell and Jacob Kelly was a clear winner but Will Hyde and Emily Capewell were only 6/10ths of a second behind.

In an unusual move by the organisers the riders were given the choice of which event to ride next and the Keirin event emerged as the overall favourite request. Racing over the 800m distance in Group 1 a spare bike is ridden and used to pace the riders, progressively increasing the pace until a predetermined point, say 600m on the 800m race.

Riders must stay behind the pace bike or be eliminated. At the predetermined point the race is on, and it becomes a final sprint for the finish, Daniel Cooper won in Group 1, whilst racing over the 1000m distance Harry Yates won once again with Charlie Cox in second place. In the Ladies race Karen Kelly continued her dominance to win with Corrine Sisley once again in 2nd. Jacob Kelly took the win ahead of Luke Selibas in 2nd place with Sophie Capewell winning for the girls ahead of Isabelle Clarke.

The traditional final event of the evening is the handicap time trial. Group 1 was won by Abigail Kershaw with Dan Cooper finishing ahead of Will Staite. Cooper took the overall win for the group ahead of Amie parlour Harry Yates took the group 2 win ahead of a consistent Charlie Cox. They finished in the same positions for the overall placings Sue Clarke gained the valuable 5 points in the Ladies race which enabled her to finish 3rd overall in that group which was won by Kelly with Corrine Sisley in second place. Jacob Kelly won in group 4 with Emily Capewell first for the girls. Kelly won the overall and Sophie Capewell claimed the girls overall win.

The overall placings for the league means that Jacob Kelly remains top of the league table now followed by Karen Kelly. Isabelle Clarke climbs to third place whilst Daniel Cooper drops to 4th place which he shares with Harry Yates. The league takes place every Tuesday evening and new riders are always welcome to come along.

For more information please contact Phil Kelly at the leisure centre on 01543 308842 or Nigel Capewell on 07768 560 932. Details and entry forms are also available on www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/wattbikes