Charles Rees racing for Raleigh RT was first away in the E/1/2 Ham Hill race with 4 circuits of the 15 mile course. The pace was fast and furious with the avg speed approaching 27mph, Charles stayed in contention until the final lap when the notorious ascent of Coppit’s hill had a telling effect on Charles’ climbing and he dropped back to the 2nd group. At the finish our resident GDW camerman carried out an in-depth interview and analysis of Charles’ race, details on the Video page here
In the 3/4 Cat Pittards race, Chris Mullet, James Gray, Nigel Brown, Mike Smith and Pete Humphreys were in action over 3 circuits of the 15 Mile course. Coppits hill again took its toll with Chris Mullet and Pete Humphreys dropping back from the main bunch, James Gray showed his climbing ability on coppits hill as he glided past the 80 strong field with ease. There were several breaks, with Ashley Martin (Chippenham) making over 30 secs on the chasing pack, Mike Smith lasted 2 laps as he hit a huge pot hole on the descent into Mudford causing a puncture. Nigel Brown had a steady run but on the final lap dropped back from the lead group, this left James Gray who attacked with 2km to go but unfortunately didn’t have the legs to stay away till the finish and was swallowed up on the final run in to the line.
Mike Smith’s video of the the closing stages of both the Ham Hill and Pittards race can be seen on the video page here. Pictures of the event are on Charles Whittons site here and Graham Robins site here
More video from Mike’s bike camera of the Pittards race will be updated later – watch this space
