This is the first time I have been to this venue, it has been used for Midlands races but never a national event.  This year the races are being placed at venues where people will attend them, this means easy to get to in the middle of the country. The circuits are also "racing" circuits and not necessary mountainous. This is good for spectators as they get to see close racing. The loops and zig-zags aided the spectators in watching the close racing, it even made the racers believe there was an interested crowd!

The elite race was over six laps of the twisty, draggy circuit. We all knew that there would be a bunch together (like the first round at Thetford). But who would be in it ?  The first lap the pace was set but Phil Dixon and Tim Morley of Y2K. The group also was made up of Oli Beckingsale (Scott), Liam Killeen (Gary Fisher), Zak Toogood (in the same kit as Liam) and I in my Helly Hansen kit. There was a small gap to the next group with included Nick Craig. Tim caught his pedal on a small stump and hit the ground hard and lost contact with the front group. On the second lap Phil lost grip as we went around a corner and came off. This reduced the group to four. Oli, Liam, Zak and I. We pushed on trying to make a gap. On the third lap Liam just stopped and dismounted. I did not notice any problems, but I found out later that he had a slow puncture and used his foam to fix it. This left the three of us together - Zak's Dad was shouting loudly and Zak was doing a good ride. Towards the end of the fourth lap I went hard up one of the drags and snapped Zak's elastic. This left Oli and I. We set out on the last lap with a gap over third place. Half way around the final lap, I was told that Liam was only at 20 seconds. I had seen a rider in Gary Fisher kit on one of the zig-zags and was not sure if it was Liam or Zak. With Liam chasing - I pushed on some more. I opened a gap on Oli and crossed the line with 23 seconds in hand over Liam who had caught Oli in the final run in. I think Oli had picked up some grass in his rear mech. The finish may not have been as exciting as Thetford but it was probably a better race from start to finish.

In the women's race Caroline Alexander (Specialized) won, but after three quarters of the first lap she had to un-jam her rear wheel and dropped to 7th place. After another lap she was back in the lead and beat Y2Ks Sue Thomas by just over 3 minutes.

The next two weeks are World Cup rounds in Madrid and Houffalize in Belgium. These are important selection events for the Commonwealth Games.

Men's Result

Women's Result

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