Several of the club’s members were in action on Sunday at the final round of the Offcamber mountain bike series at Inside Park near Blandford. There was another bumper turn out of riders and the recent dry weather gave the competitors a much grippier surface to race on the last couple of races.
There was a tight five rider battle at the head of the field, with Kim Little just leading at the end of lap one from Sam Humphrey, Stu Bowers, Paul Hopkins and James Horton. This quintet mixed it up from the start but by the end of the race Paul Hopkins came through to win by two seconds from Bowers, with Kim 20 seconds further back in third, eight seconds ahead of Humphrey with Horton fifth.
Andy Parsons came home just outside the top 20, with Liam Teesdale going well again and close behind Andy. Nigel Brown was second in the over 50s category and 11th overall, while Jerry Cooper’s eighth place in the over 50s was enough to give him first place in the series overall. Jim Broom also picked up enough points to take fourth in the series.
Emily Benham – a former MBO world championship medallist – was head and shoulders of her rivals in the women’s race, winning by over five minutes. Lynn Broom was eighth which gave her fourth place in the series.
The Western TTA Hardriders championship continued with the Bath CC-run event at Maiden Bradley. The route was 24 miles long and took in the Mere hollow climb to the Deverills. The organisers managed to keep the event running in spite of traffic lights at Mere, with Rob Pears winning again with a time of 57.30. Vince Hounsome was the quickest of the GDW riders, finishing in 18th with a 1.07.50. James Chant was 23rd in 1.10.36 and Chris Mullett got round in 1.15.07 for 30th. Iain Messider had his first outing for the season and was 37th in 1.21.54 while Sarah Wheeler was one place back with a time of 1.24.20. The final finishing place went to Sarah Roberts who was 41st in 1.37.14.
Mark Geddes, Chris Gray, James Foster, Pete Humphreys, George Smith, Maddie Howden, Connor and James Geddes, and Charles Rees were all racing at Castle Combe circuit in various categories on Sunday. Charles got away from the pack in the E/1/2/3 race, combining well with his Ride 24/7 team mate from last year Grant Bayton. They were eventually caught by the bunch but still had enough steam left for the finale, with Bayton getting fifth and Charles earning his first points of 2015 with eighth.
