For the first time in four years, the cyclists came out on top in the annual Harriers Vs Cyclists cyclo-cross event at Bingley in West Yorkshire on Saturday.
The popular 6.5-mile event pits runners against their two-wheeled rivals, and those on foot usually prevail – but not this year. Conditions were so wet that the bikes cut through the liquid mud, while the runners struggled for grip. However it was very close, with the cyclists winning by just two points, 106 to 108.
The fastest person over the course was top fell runner Simon Bailey from Macclesfield who clocked 33min 27sec. The 29-year-old was fastest by 1:36 from first cyclist Rob Jebb (Wheelbase), but with riders third and fourth the two-wheeled team prevailed, with the top 10 in each category counting towards the overall.
Other highlights of the event included a course record in the women's event, where Victoria Wilkinson of the Bingley Harriers sliced 1:21 off the 10-year-old record previously held by Sarah Rowell, Wilkinson lowering the record to 38:46.
The event attracted 129 competitors from across the country – but it nearly didn't go ahead after gale-force winds blew a large tree over. The trunk lay just 4ft 6in above one of the bridleways on the course, but after risk assessments the event went ahead with signs and marshalls making the runners and riders aware of the need to duck.
Moses masters Yorkshire course
After settling for second in the Harriers Vs Cyclists event on Saturday, Jebb also finished second in yesterday's latest round of the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Series at MyrtlePark in Bingley, with junior rider Tom Moses (Team Wallis CHH) taking victory.
Moses, the 17-year-old from Keighley, was 16 seconds faster than Jebb, while veteran Chris Young, the former British champion from Keighley, was third, another 1:04 off the pace and 1:12 ahead of rival vet Noel Clough, the Fietsen Tempo rider from Northallerton.
In the women's event, Otley's Adela Carter notched up her fifth victory in the series, while Zepnat RT rider Matt Denby continued his unbeaten run in the veterans' competition, crossing the line 20 seconds ahead of team-mate Jough Watson.
Tom Moses beat Wheelbase's Rob Jebb to take the win in Yorkshire
Nichols snatches narrow win in Essex
Andrew Nichols (Cambridge University CC) and Nathan Miller (Lotto-Interbike) dominated the eighth round of the East Anglian Daily Times League at the Davy Down Country Park, just on the Essex side of the M25 Dartford Crossing, on Sunday.
Together with last year’s League champion Shaun Aldous (Extreme Sports Therapy), they were soon clear of the field, and by the fourth lap of nine they were also clear of Aldous.
Nichols mostly held the lead, which he stretched enough in the last quarter-mile, including a flight of steps up a 45-degree descent, to have a two-second margin at the line.
Neither dared change bikes for fear of conceding a gap, though a squall during the preceding Under 12s race resulted in a deteriorating surface and mud-laden bikes, which had to be carried up two flights of steps and pedalled up a wooded drag.
The promoting Ford CC’s Clive Harrison had his season’s best result – first Elite Veteran and fifth overall, and now leads in the Elite Vets table.
Tristan Price (PCA-Ciclos Uno) was winner and hero of the rain-drenched Under 12s race, while Nikki Juniper (PCA-Ciclos Uno) won the women’s race, beating non-elite veterans winner David Fraser by just over a minute.
Harris continues comeback in Notts and Lincs
After several years out of the sport, Derby espoir Jamie Harris (Cult Racing) is making a big comeback to cyclo-cross and underlined his form with two wins in two days this weekend.
Harris began with victory in the Notts and Derby League event at Bulwell in Nottingham, where he was seven seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Ben Eedy of Empella Cyclo-Cross.com, in the eighth round of the series.
He then moved on to the Lincolnshire League event on Sunday in the grounds of Lincolnshire Police HQ at Nettleham, where he again secured victory, this time winning by 52 seconds from RAF CC rival Dan Lewis.
Victory for Oldham in North East
National Trophy Series leader Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) stamped his authority on the fourth round of the North East CCA League on Sunday, lapping the whole field on his way to victory at The Desmenses in BarnardCastle.
Oldham led from start to finish in the event, while the main battle of the race was for second spot. MTS Cyclesport’s Steven Ward eventually took second, but just nine seconds separated him from the next two riders, with NFM Racing Team rival Tony Fawcett and Oldham’s team-mate Keith Murray having been locked in battle throughout the 13-lap event.
And with series leader Stuart Wearmouth pulling out through illness, Ward may well have moved to the top of the rankings following the fourth round on Sunday.
Atkins tops podium in Cheltenham
Western League leader Scott Chalmers had to be content with fifth in the Western League event at PitvillePark in Cheltenham, with riders from Coventry Road Club dominating most of the top positions.
Darren Atkins secured victory in the senior event for Coventry RC, and while two minutes behind him was Felt Racing’s Duncan Jamieson, third and fourth spots went to fellow Coventry riders Phil Roach and Colin Miller respectively. Chalmers was the last rider to be lapped in fifth, but retains his overall lead in the series despite that result.
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