Champions make good start in mountain race
Thrapston's Lloyd Bettles claimed fifth place in the veterans race in the British Mountain Bike Series
National champions Alice Barnes and Vic Barnett made winning starts to the British Mountain Bike Series as local riders figured prominently at Sherwood Pines.
Last year’s series silver medalist, Towcester-based Barnes (Motorpoint) dominated the two-lap youth girls race on a dry, fast and technical 8-km course and extended a lead of six seconds after the opening lap to 45 seconds by the finish over nearest rival Lucy Grant (Peebles CC) with Zoe Armstrong (Bill Nickson Cycles RT) over two minutes down in third place.
Barnett (Welland Valley CC) opened his defence of the over-60 super veterans title in peerless fashion with a winning margin of nearly four minutes over Colin Murley (Sandy Wallace Cycles).
Moving into different categories from last year and subsequently gridded towards the rear of their fields, Numplumz.com team-mates Lloyd Bettles and Richard Jones battled their way through the traffic to secure excellent fifth and seventh places in, respectively, the veterans and expert races.
Bettles moved into the top 10 going into the second of four laps, but further progress was slow until the last lap when – spurred on by the sight of a group of riders in front of him – he mounted a charge which saw him gain five places in the closing kilometre to cross the line in fifth, his best result in a national series event.
“I was at what I thought was my limit and didn’t know how long I could last,” said the Thrapston rider.
“But I caught them on the final climb and, without thinking, dropped into a bigger gear and flew past them.
“I was elated that my last lap was my quickest, but the real bonus of the day was that because I finished fifth, it means I start the next race right at the front with no-one to hold me up.”
Jones was gridded one row from the back of the expert field, but managed to work his way through to the leading pack by the first fire-road climb before missing the missing the split that decided the final outcome.
“It left me alone for a lap before I was joined by another rider, and although we made a huge effort to pull back the gap it was to no avail,” said Jones, from Northampton, who finished just under two minutes down on winner Lee Westwood (Lichfield City CC).
“It wasn’t the result I was hoping for, but I was still pleased and I’m looking forward to the next round in April where I would like to make a bigger impression.”
Hollie Bettles (WXC Mountain Bike Team UK) was brought down by a crash at the first corner after a good start to the junior women’s race and then suffered gear problems on the second lap which forced her to settle for fifth place behind winner Bethany Crumpton (Halesowen A&CC).
“My final lap was a lot smoother and saw me pull a little time back, but it wasn’t enough,” said Bettles.
“It would be a lie to say I wasn’t disappointed, but I’ll be back for the next one.”
Kettering’s James Hyde (Numplumz.com), who held third place in the early stages of the four-lap junior men’s race, was on course for eighth position until the final two kilometres when he was overhauled by a chasing group of five riders, dropping him to 13th.
“I had no energy left to respond after my single effort for most of my race and all I could manage was to hold on,” said Hyde.
“Going from eighth to 13th is not a great feeling and overall I’m disappointed, but there are plenty of positives to take away put the changes into practice for next time.”
Maxine Filby (Baines Racing) was denied a top 10 finish by Cait Elliot (WXC World Racing) on the last lap of the elite women’s race, won by Norwegian champion Lene Byberg, while Northampton’s Ben Roff (Orange Monkey) also faced international opposition on his debut in the elite men’s category – moving up from the junior class – and, starting down the field, rode strongly to work his way up to 47th place in a large field headed by Swedish champion Emil Lindgren.
Welland Valley CC’s Scott Rose finished 25th in the veteran men’s race, Ben Morris was a very creditable ninth in the juvenile boys, twins Ria and Jade Mobbs were seventh and ninth respectively in the junior girls, Katie Hubbard placed 13th in the youth girls, and Jake Hubbard was 42nd in the youth boys.
Paul Brown (Numplumz) was best of a local quartet in the men’s sport class, finishing 51st with team-mate Tom Wright 56th, Tom Theobald (Treads CC) 57th and Tim Green (Pitsford Cycles) 67th.
Megan Bettles competed in the under-10 Go-Race event, organised by British Cycling, which consisted of a one-lap time trial and a three-lap race over a a short but testing circuit.
She didn’t make the best of starts when her chain came off on her timed lap, having to wait for assistance, and it contributed to where she started the main race.
But she showed great character to come from the back of the pack and overtake all the other girls to finish claim first place and a gold medal.
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Weather for Kettering
Sunday 27 May 2012
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Wind direction: East
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