London & South East Cyclo-Cross League
The second rounds of the Challenge Tyres London & South East and Aeight Bike Co Sussex League Cyclo-Cross Leagues took place on Sunday 20th September and Lewes Wanderers were well represented.
The course that many had enjoyed racing at Pippingford Park near Wych Cross was unavailable, but organising club C&N Cycles did a sterling job devising a new course with the land available. From the start line the course swept through a downhill right hand bend to a hairpin, then back up towards the start, before a series of bends culminating at the top of the field before flying back down to the opposite, bottom, corner.
Sadly for the riders the course designers then sent them on a cruel detour down a steep dirt bank just so they could return via a flight of wooden steps. From here the racers would disappear through some woodland, but what goes down, must come back up and the escape from the trees required a steep, rooty punch back into another field.
From here the riders would wend their way upwards in zig-zag fashion to skirt the treeline at the top of the field, with one last off-camber bank to surmount, before they could swoop back through some hairpins and emerge back where they started.
Half-a-dozen Wanderers lined up on the grid at ten to two for the combined race for men over 50. From the second row of the grid Dan Street held station on the opening circuit to lie 8th. A position he would briefly improve on the third time around, but 8th would be his finishing spot as he met the chequered flag after 6 laps.
Darren Haynes started mid-pack and made steady and untroubled progress. From 35th at the end of lap 1, he made up 3 places the next time around, another 2 on both lap 3 and lap 4 and crossed the line a lap down on the winner in 26th from 49 finishers with 2 non-finishers.
Richard Burchett by Paget Cohen
In his first ever cyclo-cross race Richard Burchett started from the very back of the 73-man grid, but put in a phenomenal first lap to pass the timekeepers in 30th place! Such an effort was not sustainable for a full 45-minute race and he dropped 7 places, including one to Darren, the next time around. He consolidated from then on and recovered to 36th on lap 3, eventually placing in superb 35th.
Encouraged by his performance in Round 1 at Stanmer Nick Miles was back for more and he lay 38th at the end of a hectic first circuit. He was pushed back two spots the next time around despite posting his quickest lap, but avoided losing any more places to claim 40th place.
From only having one other competitor in the over-70 category in Round 1 Stephen Burgess found his competition tripling in number, but he was not to be denied a spot on the podium. From 3rd at the end of lap 1, he stopped to switch to his mountain bike on lap 2 without losing a place. Indeed he grabbed second spot on lap 4 of 5 and held it to the finish.
Paul Horta-Hopkins (Southborough & District Wheelers) lay 5th from 17 in the race for men in their 60s at the end of the opening lap. A position he remained in to the end of his 5 laps raced.
In the morning’s race for men in their forties Daniel Selmes finished two laps down on the victor in 43rd from 44 finishers having held that place through all five laps he completed.