Weekend Round Up
1st - 2nd July 2023
After 2 years of disrupted racing, long distance specialist Dave Green was back at it this weekend in the Finsbury Park CC 50mile time trial held on the F2/50 course. Despite not being a massive fan of the circuit based course with it's multiple roundabouts, particulary the Caxton Gibbet roundabout which can get quite congested with traffic, Dave put in a very strong performance to take 3rd place overall with a time of 1:48:41. This good form puts Dave in good stead for the upcoming National 100 this coming Sunday, hosted by CCB on the local course from Munford.
Fulfil The Potential Race Team rider Williams clocked 1:45-34 to take the winh ahead of Nic Pillinger of St Neots CC who finished in 1:46-07. In the women’s event, Van Der Plank (New Forest CC) set 2:17-06 to win by more than a minute, with Sleaford Wheelers’ Kathryn Smith second in 2:18-25, the podium completed by Jill Bartlett (Hounslow & District Wheelers) in 2:26-00.
Elsewhere, Adam Cross competed in the Plomesgate CC Grass Track event held in the village of Bredfield, not far from Ipswich. Beginning with the Devil elimination race, Adam started strongly in the field of 19, but found himself boxed in and was eliminated on the 10th lap - a frustrating end to the event as it was positioning and not the legs which were the downfall there. Next up was the gruelling National 8km event; the longest event held on grass and with a National Jersey up for grabs the stakes were high. David Mitchinson of Cinnamon Cafe-SaddleDrunk RT retained the title after a very close battle with Nathan Hardy of PB Performance. After some tough 500m heats, with only the first 2 riders progressing through to the semi finals, Adam’s focus then turned to the Unknown Distance event - a quirky race where the riders set off and ride for an undetermined number of laps until the bell is rung to signal just 1 lap remains. 6 riders started, but this quickly dwindled to a lead pack of 3 and Adam found himself on the front for the vast majority of the event. Laps quickly clicked by as the bell was watched closely each revolution of the 250m loop, noticing the arm was raised for the final lap Adam kicked hard to get the jump but was outsprinted around the final bend for the win by Martin Lawless of CC Ashwell, but held onto 2nd. Handicap events rounded out the day before the final prize presentation.
This year’s Norwich Grass Track event is being held on Sunday 20th August, and is being supported by Paul’s Cycles along with a host of other local businesses. Entry is open on the British Cycling website.
