After the cancellation of the previous SWCX League round due to Storm Bert hitting the Westcountry, it was a return to South-West Cyclo-Cross League action over the weekend.

The race provider for Round 7 of the series was Exeter University CC, newcomers to the ranks of SWCX race organisers. Their course was on ground off Days Pottles Lane near Exminster, which provided demanding terrain for the racers – a steep and sapping long climb, a breath-taking downhill slalom, loose mud and gravel, sharp and nipping smaller ascents, long grass and some deeply waterlogged ‘lower field’ areas.

Top of the world – the high point of Sunday’s course

In the morning’s races, EWCC youngsters Filipe and Tiago Pacheco competed in their respective age-group races, Filipe finishing just off the podium in 4^th place in the under-10’s, whilst his bigger brother Tiago took 6^th place in the under-12s. We look forward to their continued presence in the Wheelers ranks as they grow even bigger and stronger.

The conditions throughout were of the muddier variety following recent heavy rains, and in the keenly contested over 50’s event such a scenario favoured our Tim Carpenter over club-mate Gideon Aroussi. Gideon had won the 50+ race at Escot with Tim 3^rd.

Placings between the two were reversed this time round, with Tim taking early control and going on to win, whilst Gideon took third.

Speaking after the race, Tim said “The Exeter Uni produced a very technical and challenging course at a venue new to the league. Despite requiring some late course changes to better reflect the nature of cyclo-cross, the course rode unexpectedly well despite the recent wet weather. A wide range of surfaces and features to be managed provided a punishing set of variables for both rider and machine. Further challenges were added by rain showers during the race. It was very much a day and course for the more experienced CX riders to take advantage of, with judicious tyre choice being but one aspect.

I got off to a steady start, succeeding in being able to position myself near the front on the brutal opening climb. A ‘bobble’ by one of the leading riders on the climb had us dismounting and running early, but this proved to be the only run in the race for me. My strategy was to ride myself into the race whilst also adapting to the developing conditions.  I quietly wound my way to the very front of the race, but had to constantly cope with the hard charges of my EWCC teammate Gids (Gideon Aroussi) who was also having strong ride. Gaps eventually started to form, and it was then a question of using my experience to retain the lead, and dial the course in. Everything went smoothly, with the bike staying  in one piece, and I was very happy to cross the line in first place.”

Tim dealing with the tricky corner at the bottom of the plunge

Today I collected the SWCX 50+ League Trophy from Tim, for its end of season return to SWCX – the last five winners plaques on the trophy are: Tim Carpenter, Tim Carpenter, Tim Carpenter, Tim Carpenter and Tim Carpenter. Sunday’s race was, in Tim’s words ‘A good day at the office’. Most of us struggled to get into the building, or couldn’t login on our PCs, or got a foot stuck in a waste paper bin.

Wheelers Rich Taylor and Morris Elphick also rode in the V50+ section, finishing 8^th and 15^th respectively, whilst in the V60+ category EWCC club secretary Pete Bishop made a welcome return to racing in his first CX event of the season, finishing 5^th of the 12 starters despite some somewhat rusty bike handling after 3 months out. Sadly, Dave Wilkinson’s good run of results in the same category was denied further onward progression by a mechanical, resulting in a race-ending DNF for him.

The final race of the day featured our ‘senior’ (20>40 years of age) and V40+ riders, a full hour of gruelling battle against other riders, the course and the conditions.

An early retiree was Fin Webb, when his rear gear mech tore off even more quickly than Tadej Pogacar up a TDF col.

No such problems occurred for Tristan Kelsall-Spurr, who finished just one place off the podium in the Senior category, taking 4^th place.

Owen Lawson continues to enjoy his move into the senior ranks; he got off to a flying start, then tired somewhat but still managed 9^th place therein, one place ahead of club mate Aaron Lawrence. Owen’s dad Craig watched on, and is himself considering a return to race action for the last event in the series, next weekend at Newnham Park, Plymouth now that the broken ribs from his 50 mph downhill crash of a few months ago have effectively healed.

V40+ vet Jon Hare, the club’s race organiser for Escot, rode strongly, never letting Tristan K-S’s advantage grow to more than half a minute. Jon doggedly closed the gap in the last two laps, but couldn’t quite bridge it, finishing 8 seconds back from Tristan.

Diogo Pacheco and James Maddison rounded off Exeter Wheelers representation in the day’s racing, with Diogo 12^th in the 40+ and James 8^th in the seniors.

The bottom of the course featured a quagmire with sink hole – hence the emergency chair . . . genius.

Our race-winner Tim Carpenter said this of the day: “ . . . another very competitive SWCX round at a new venue with some future potential. Some course improvements could easily be made to shift the focus better to open, flowing cyclo-cross racing, rather than more extreme features. That said, I think the mood was generally positive among the competitors, and I would like to thank Travis (Bramley) for turning out a great event against the odds!”

Members of EWCC remained behind at end of the day to help with taking down the course, and we welcome the presence of Exeter University CC to the ranks of the SWCX organisers.

Full race results from Kernow Chip Timing

Lots of photos on the SWCX Facebook site

 

 

 

It was South-West Cyclo-Cross League Round 6 at Escot Park over the weekend.  The event was an Exeter Wheelers promotion, and easily our biggest organisational feat of the year; 5 separate races, with 63 podium places across the various categories to be decided. The youngest rider was 5 years old, and the eldest two gents of 70+. It was gratifying to note the ongoing increase in female riders entering SWCX races this year.

Conditions were in general dry, although an early morning dew after a chilly night did put moisture into the ground, leading to conditions becoming a little more slippery as the day’s racing wore on. Whilst some riders go well when it’s dry, others profit from muddier courses.

Our best performances by far came in the hotly contested 50+ category, with Gideon Aroussi winning the race, and Tim Carpenter taking third place.

Gideon spoke afterwards: “I came into the race in decent form and was pleased the course was going to be drier than in some previous years. Although terrible weather and mud present a romantic battle against the elements and are at the heart of cross, I’m not that keen on such conditions, and they’re not great for my competitiveness.

I had a terrible start, and watching people come past me in the first hundred metres is becoming a routine I need to break, but I had faith in my powers of endurance, I stayed calm, soon made up a few places, and kept myself within touching distance of the early leaders.

My tactics were simple: go hard uphill, where I’m strong, and try not to lose time in the technical sections, where I’m less effective.

As usual in the V50s category, it was tough, demanding racing, with a bunch of very good riders battling hard at the front. A proper race. Eventually, Pete Dawe of Southfork Racing and I found ourselves slightly ahead, swapping the lead a couple of times until I managed to get myself some daylight out in front. I went into the final lap with just a few seconds lead, so I continued to go full gas on the uphill sections to maintain the buffer, while making sure I stayed fully focused through the trickier sections. I managed to keep everything together and it was a wonderful feeling to cross the line first. 

After several podiums, Sunday was my first cyclo-cross win and was made all the sweeter by it  being the Wheelers home race, capping a fabulous day all round”.

Heading for Victory – Gideon Aroussi stepping lightly (click on images to expand)

Tim Carpenter, always a race contender, was set for second place coming in to the final  lap, but on one of the many sharp turns on the course, which got trickier as the day progressed, his wheel slid out, he was passed by the rider chasing, and sadly the ensuing 5 second gap could not be bridged in the distance remaining. Tim did at least have the satisfaction of finishing in Bronze Medal position. Two other Exeter Wheelers in the 50+ category, Nick Helsing and Morris Elphick rolled across the line after 45 minutes of tough racing in 19^th and 22^nd positions respectively.

Tristan Kelsall-Spurr, another club member, in his first season and third race of CX rode strongly in the Senior race, and we are all confident that once he has a few more races under his belt then he will be near the pointy-end of things; a slip here, a misjudged corner there, they push you down the rankings and Tristan is still learning his craft. To his credit he still finished above halfway in the strong field. He said afterwards “To sum up this first season: a steep learning curve ! Today I felt I was improving the cornering lap by lap, reminding myself to look through the corner and not anxiously at it. However, I still forgot this trick a few times, causing me to slip out rather more than once. I had a great battle with fellow Wheeler Adam Sainsbury, whose race (40+) started half a minute after our ‘off’ – out of the corner of my eye I spotted him coming up behind, and I was keen to not have him pass me, but whilst I could gap him on the uphills, he would close on me on the downhills and corners. After a few laps of to-ing and fro-ing and a few slip outs for me,  the “spiral of doom” proved to be my doom: Adam passed me at that point and there was no catching him”.

Adam always manages a strong showing, and he came in 8^th of the 23 V40+ riders, a fine performance. Diogo Pacheco and Chris Shakya completed our participation in this category, being 15^th and 19^th.

Whilst Diogo’s current fitness isn’t at quite at his usual level, he did manage to record the fastest time of any rider over the weekend for the downhill section from the top of the course into the spiral – his recent trip back home and the good time he had partaken of there has resulted in him currently being a, shall we say, more ‘well-rounded’ rider, lending him an advantageous ‘gravitational prowess’ on descents at present ….

Two other EWCC riders in the Senior’s race alongside Tristan were Aaron Lawrence, still battling back to fitness after bad luck with broken bones over the last year, and Owen Lawson, who is really enjoying the buzz that is cyclo-cross – having started in the ‘Novice’ races, Owen has now graduated to the Seniors.

Filipe Pacheco looking to see what line to take (click on images to expand)

Earlier in the day, two very young EWCC riders on Sunday were Diogo Pacheco’s sons Filipe and Tiago Pacheco, who rode in the under-10’s and under-12’s respectively, with Filipe finishing just above halfway and Tiago just below on the results sheet. Even younger again was Rudy Szender,  in the under-8’s. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and gave it his all,  getting round in 14^th place – not bad for a 5 year old in his first ever bike race. When asked subsequently about how he felt about his race Rudy couldn’t be asked to reply – he was too tired, bless little socks.

He’s behind you – Dave Wilkinson closes in (click on images to expand)

At the other end of the age range Dave Wilkinson is going well this season after a frustrating time of 2023 due to covid-related health issues. Dave rides in the 60+ category, and has been steadily moving up the placings this SWCX season, with Sunday’s 4^th place being his season’s best thus far and another upward step. Afterwards Dave joked that at the current rate of improvement he was a cert for Gold Medal in race 9 of the series! He went on to say: “It’s just nice to be able to race after only being able to finish two races last year. I love the Escot course, conditions were great and I seemed to have a good tyre set-up going at present”.

Putting on an SWCX League event is a considerable task, requiring a huge of work and goodwill from club members, all on a voluntary basis. Our CX Race Organiser Jon Hare would like to thank all of the following for their sterling efforts on both Saturday’s set-up and Sunday’s event:

Gideon Aroussi, Pete Bishop, Tim Carpenter, Michaela Dring, Morris and Ruth Elphick, Joe Godwin, James Greenaway, Emma Hare, John Kavanagh, Tristan Kelsall-Spurr, Aaron         Lawrence, Craig and Owen Lawson, James Madison, Ian  Moore, Ann Owens, Diogo and Tiago and Filipe Pacheco, Nicky Quant, Adam Sainsbury, Joe Sheppard and daughter, Ross Szender, Rich Taylor, Ann and Andy Tombs, Andy and Finlay Webb, Pippa Wheeler, Dave Wilkinson.

Jon Hare said of these fine EWCC folk “Escot would not happen without a big effort from lots of volunteers giving up their weekends. All the team are super humans in my eyes. A diverse, selfless bunch doing it for the sport and their club. I’m extremely lucky and proud to be a part of that team.”

Thumbs up all round – Race Organiser Jon Hare 

Exeter Wheelers would like to thank both Exeter Brewery and Juice Lubes for very generously supplying a good quantity of prizes. The Brewery also gave us a barrel of lovely organic Avocet Ale for the (free) consumption by our volunteers and anybody else we liked enough to give a glass to. Cheers !

The annual Exeter Wheelers CC New Year’s ‘Ten’ will be held on Sunday 5th of January 2025 on the Honiton ‘club’ course. Further details to follows in due course.