Offcamber held the fourth round of their winter series of mountain bike races on Sunday which featured a bumper entry of 58 riders. It was a chilly but dry morning at Inside Park, though a lot of the course had got considerably muddier and slippier since the previous race in early December.
Paul Hopkins was the winner, getting the better of Kim Little who had led the race for some of lap one. Paul completed the three lap race in 1 hour 16 minutes, beating Kim by some two minutes by the finish. Josh Day crashed out of third place during lap one, with brother Alex taking third in the end. Vince Hounsome was going well, guest riding one of Offcamber’s demo 29er bikes, and was looking set for fourth until a last lap puncture stopped him. Andy Parsons also had to deal with deflating tyres but managed to finish in 18th. James Chant struggled to find grip on summer tyres and came home 22nd with Jay Hookins close behind in 23rd.
Rapid Yeovil CC rider Kris Caines was first junior again, ahead of Liam Teesdale who was riding his new 29 inch-wheeled bike while first lady rider home was Julie Crane. Full results can be seen on the Offcamber website and there are photos on Eamonn Deane’s blog here
The next round of the Gillingham Wheelers mountain bike series takes place this coming Sunday (20th), at the usual venue of Alfred’s Tower. The race starts at 930, please sign-in in plenty of time.
The Sunday (27th) after that will be the annual 50 mile social ride which links up three of our time trial courses and includes a mid-ride fuel stop at Simon Barfoot’s again. More details to follow soon.
There are lots of events now listed on the calendar page, if you are interested in taking part in any of them then the main websites for extra info are –
British Cycling for road race, mtb and cyclocross info
Cycling Time Trials for tt info, (the handbooks should be delivered soon)
The League International run lots of road races in Dorset and Hampshire
Southern XC and XC Racer for mountain bike races
Instead of getting ripped off by the likes Wiggle and the Tour of Wessex, why not give the Audax events a try? There are plenty oif rides in the region, proper rides run by proper cyclists! Entry usually includes mid-ride and post-ride meals
