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Event Three Walkington - 50 Km - club Hull & East Riding
Handicapping
was perhaps a little generous for the 'novices', three of whom proved not to
be novices at all. With an allowance of 5 minutes before the 'experienced' fourth
cat riders set off, Mark 
Best,
Andy Barnes and Nathan Wilson conspired to keep the others away and it would
have been close even if there had been another lap. Suspect the chasing groups
were not aware that there were still some adversaries ahead. Not that the other
groups were slacking, in fact only the fourth group, the second cats, were able
to connect up with the group in front of them.
A total of 38 riders signed
on for the start, eight in the first group ( Gary Sheriff, John 
Ulyatt,
Carl Looker, Nathan Wilson, Gary Lamping, Mark Best, Andy Barnes and Mark McKeown)
and only two were shed during the first lap, which they completed in 18:45.
The second group, fifteen
(Terry Parker, Norman Griffin, Andrew Abbott, Rob Stones, Chris Burton, John
Galbraith, Philip Bramham, Andy Peers, Daniel Wright, Zak Thackeray, Ryan MacLachlan,
Tristan Batch, Paul Rooney, Steve Weatherall, and Barry Dixon) were whittled
down to nine at the 
end
of the first lap, done in 17:30. Prominent in this group was Ryan Maclachlan
making his debut as a junior and making good account for himself.
Only four of the third cat
riders stood at the starting line (Alastair Watson, Steve Macklin, John Galway
and Simon Nicholls). They had a hard task ahead of them managing to boost their
numbers slightly by picking up stragglers from group two, and managed the 
first
lap in 17.30. They had to wait for reinforcements from group 4, the seconds
cats, who connected in the second lap.
Six riders in the penultimate
group (Jon Dibble, Dave Shackleton, Neil Cleminshaw, Paul Noton, Paul Purdy
and Richard Moore) set off two minutes after the third cats This had a full
working crew working flat out to keep the scratch group at bay. You can see
from the photo (left) how stretched 
they
were - something Duffers' commmentary has explained ad nauseam to Eurosport
viewers, except this isn't a helicopter shot. This is a group that seems to
have a good understanding of each other, it seems obvious that the back markers
need less than the minute allowance they gave away to make a match of it. The
climb in the next event will make it more difficult for the groups to stay together.
They completed the first lap in 16:25.
Another
team of six made up the scratch group (Dan Keena, Jason Benham, Steve Ward,
Charlie Evans, James Frith and Julian Gromett), and they had an almost impossible
task making up the ground pulling back only 13 seconds in the first of the four
laps. Speed merchant Julian Gromett together with James Frith and Charlie Evans
forced up the pace but everyone had to contribute - there's no place to hide
in such small groups.
The
lap times tell their own story:
|
Group
1
|
Group
2
|
Group
3
|
Group
4
|
Group
5
|
|
|
lap
1
|
18:45
|
17:30
|
17:30
|
16:25
|
16:12
|
|
lap
2
|
18:30
|
17:40
|
17:25
|
16:30
|
16:23
|
|
lap
3
|
18:25
|
17:48
|
-
|
16:45
|
16:40
|
|
lap
4
|
18:32
|
17:35
|
-
|
16:40
|
16:49
|
Next event is on Newbald - a hilltop finish but the riders are not allowed to take off their helmets on the last climb.
And the result:
East Yorkshire Road Race League - Thursday 29th May 2003
|
Pos. |
Rider |
Club/Team |
Time |
|
1st |
Mark Best |
Hull Thursday RC |
50 Km in 1:14:08 |
|
2nd |
Andrew Barnes |
Hull Thursday RC |
st |
|
3rd |
Nathan Wilson |
Hull Thursday RC |
st |
|
4th |
Barry Dixon |
T Rex |
@ 1:12 |
|
5th |
Andy Peers |
Hull Thursday RC |
st |
|
6th |
Rob Stones |
Hull Thursday RC |
st |
|
7th |
Chris Burton |
Hull Thursday RC |
st |
|
8th |
Zak Thackeray |
Whitby Wheelers |
st |
|
9th |
Paul Rooney |
Race Scene |
st |
|
10th |
Ryan McLachlan |
Cottingham Coureurs |
st |
|
11th |
Steve Weatherall |
Bridlington CC |
st |
|
12th |
Mark McKeown |
Bridlington CC |
@ 1:31 |
|
13th |
Richard Moore |
Cottingham Coureurs |
@ 1:42 |
|
14th |
Jon Dibble |
Ride On/K2 |
st |
|
15th |
Dave Shackleton |
Hull Thursday RC |
@ 1:48 |
|
16th |
John Galway |
Keswick MTB |
st |
|
17th |
Steve Macklin |
Hull Thursday RC |
st |
|
18th |
Neil Cleminshaw |
Hull Thursday RC |
st |
|
19th |
Paul Noton |
Cottingham Coureurs |
st |
|
20th |
Steve Ward |
Team Mirage |
@ 2:16 |
|
21st |
Julian Gromett |
Cottingham Coureurs |
st |
|
22nd |
James Frith |
Pete Read Racing |
st |
|
23rd |
Jason Benham |
Scunthorpe Poly |
st |
|
24th |
Dan Keena |
Cottingham Coureurs |
st |
|
25th |
Charlie Evans |
Knaresborough RT |
st |
|
26th |
Gary Lamping |
Hull Thursday RC |
st |
|
27th |
Tristan Batch |
T Rex |
@ 7:22 |
|
28th |
Terry Parker |
Hull & East Riding RC |
st |
|
29th |
Alastair Watson |
Knaresborough RT |
st |
|
30th |
Andrew Abbott |
Bridlington CC |
@ 7:56 |
