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Nice Price Special
Tackeroo, Cannock Chase 2009
Event Photos &
Results Click Here
It is
official… Cannock Chase attracts some of the toughest & most
determined mountain bikers anywhere in the world.
In somewhat
challenging conditions, the first ever Nice Price Special was
held this weekend around the Tackeroo area of the Chase.
The course was designed & built by the industrious hands of
Chase Trails & in the dry the 6km loop was fast & flowing,
with a couple of tasty drops & contrasting climbs. However,
the weather gods got out of the wrong side of the bed, hurling
down rain storms of biblical proportions, interspersed with
the odd sunny spell, before more yet showers. This
on/off/on/more off/a bit of on/loads more off weather pattern
slowed the course down, initially making it slippery, then
claggy, then it got slimy, all making for a tougher challenge.
Saturday
16th saw two 4 lap seeding races, the top half of each race
would go into Sunday’s A Final, the second half making up the
B Final. A number of riders decided to keep warm & dry at
home but a hardy bunch of 84 riders were defiant in the face
of such conditions & undeterred by the torrents got their
heads down to contest the seeding races. The speediest guys
of the day were the ever-grinning Christian Aucote (Yeti) &
Patrick Heron (Plan B Racing) in Seeding Race 1 & coming over
the line together in Seeding Race 2 were Jamie Smith & Ian
Taylor (Craven Energy).
The day was
wrapped up with an entertaining display from the most
enthusiastic bunch of under 12’s racers I’ve ever seen. They
were out there practicing for an hour before the start,
getting their lines through bombholes nailed!
The sun rose
on Sunday… yes it did rise, giving a glimmer of hope of a nice
day, but then the showers came in again. So, just as the
course was drying out nicely for finals day it got a fresh
soaking. Hey-ho. But like I said,
they’re a double-tough bunch of riders around these
parts, some extras even came along
just for the day. The corners became treacherous, the drops
über-tricky, the super fast singletrack became quicker to run
in places & off camber sections threw many to the ground.
However,
everyone’s humour stayed intact, relishing in the challenge &
in the end the riders won over the course & defeated the
conditions. Ian Taylor followed his strong seeding race by
taking an impressive win in the A final ahead of a train of
three Yeti riders in the Senior Men’s race. A great day for
the Yeti team was completed with Ruth Owen-Evans taking 1st
place in the Senior Women ahead of Kate Page & Kali Taylor
(Craven Energy). The day’s closest race was the Vets
A Final; it was tight all the way,
eventually Peter Bromwich (WMCCL) took the win just 25 seconds
ahead of Dean Drury, who in turn was merely 34 in front of
Philip Bromwich (Evesham Wheelers) in 3rd.
The
Junior race was dominated by the
Mammoth Lifestyle riders, seeing Ross Brinson tackle his two
laps in a time of 55minutes 18 seconds with his team mate Nick
Greaves finishing seconds ahead of Jacob Simpkins, Harrison
Webb & Tom Clougher.
The B final
Senior Men’s winner was Numplumz.com’s Stewart Knubley, with
Jonathon Perks & Ian Grant in 2nd & 3rd. The B Final Vets
winner was Simon Fox who completed his 4 laps before Rob
Thomas in 2nd & Dave Lydiard in 3rd. Our open race for
entrants on the day was won by Matt Williams, who beat Grand
Vet National Champion Ian Wright (Raleigh-Avanti) into 2nd &
Singlespeed superstar Martin Silvester (oneFgear.co.uk)
into 3rd.
The whole
weekend was wrapped up in fitting style, with a bundle of
smiling riders huddled together, sheltering from the elements
under an ez-up winning loads of prizes by raffle, ability to
catch, fondness of drinking tea from a china cup, plus a few
spot prizes for worthy achievements including finest facial
hair (Dave Exton), oldest looking bike (Marcus Clay), rider
with the muddiest child (Matthew Greensill) & the special
‘Sorry, our commentator can’t pronounce Darren Cadwallader’s
surname correctly’ prize (awarded to Darren Cadwallader).
Huge thanks
goes out to out event supporters, we think you’re ace!...
Chase Trails
-
www.chasetrails.co.uk
Yeti Cycles
–
www.evolutionimports.co.uk
Singletrack
Magazine –
www.singletrackworld.com
Swinnerton
Cycles –
www.bikechase.co.uk
OneFgear –
www.onegear.co.uk
Forestry
Commission –
www.forestry.gov.uk
Rob Crayton
Photography –
www.robcrayton.co.uk
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