Everything you need to know as a Climb On Bikes rider
A weekend of poor weather made conditions interesting on the Welsh manmade trails but the team persevered for some of the best performances all season and the odd series title here and there. The weekend didn't go without it's fair share of events, with punctures, crashes and some unique rule interpretations all playing a part in the final results!
Jules Toone
Photo: Joolze Dymond
Racing kicked off at midday on Saturday with Jules Toone lining up with the elite women and Fran Mundy and Sara further back with the expert and sport women. The normal 'back of the pack, tea and cake chat' ensued. The laps for most categories had been dropped by a lap due to the conditions and length of the course but the rain held off as the gun signalled the start of each individual category.
With the best result of her season, just proving what she can achieve when fit and healthy with some good training behind her, Jules Toone finished 8th. A very different story for the other two however. Jagged rocks were claiming many a victim and Fran's race was over before it really began, slashing her tyre at the bottom of the first singletrack. The race then took more interesting turns for Sara, finishing 5th. (That full story on Sara's blog.)
Next up were the more experienced riders. A brilliant end of season performance from Ben Dale finishing 6th in Master Men after being top three all race only to pull aside to let the series contenders take their full points. Kate Wheeler finished 2nd in Vet. women with another consistently great ride - a familiar occurrence this season. With the Veteran Men being one of the most fiercely fought categories for years with only 90secs separating the top 5, Andy Weaving narrowly missed out on 4th place, finishing 5th.
Final XC series results are as follows: Kate Wheeler - 1st (Vet.), Sara Randle - 2nd (Sport), Fran Mundy - 4th (Expert), Paula Moseley - 5th (Elite), Andy Weaving - 7th (Vet.), Ben Dale - 8th (Master), Jules Toone - 13th (Elite), Paul Gibbons - 20th (Vet.), Luke Moseley - 24th (Elite).
Full British Cycling XC report by Joolze Dymond available here
Full results available here
Tracy Miles takes to the podium
Photo: Joolze Dymond
Sunday saw the heavens open for the start of the 100km National Marathon Championships. It rained, then rained heavily, then rained some more. At 10am the die hard figures of Warren and Tracy Miles were joined for the first time by Gibbo. They lined up on the start line - in the rain.
The terrible conditions and ever present jagged rocks again claimed more victims. Other 'factors that are to remain nameless' were to blame for Warren's retirement with a back injury, closely followed by Paul Gibbons. Despite both pulling out after 4 laps, they still finished 8th and 9th respectively out of 22, showing just how many casualties the epic course was claiming. The 4pm cut off meant Tracy Miles completed 6 laps to take the win and proving what a tough cookie she is - many competitors didn't make it that far!
Final Marathon series results are as follows: Tracy Miles - 1st (Vet. 100km)
Read Tracy's blog
Full British Cycling Marathon report by Joolze Dymond available here