Regional Championships always pull the serious racers in with their lure of big points and the illustrious title for the following twelve months. With the Scottish, Welsh and National Champs having already been held, this last weekend saw racers descend on Caersws for the English Champs, organised by Chris Roberts.
Read on for the full story:
Dry, wet, dry, wet, dry, wet... Yes, it was a weekend of changing tyres, getting soaked to the skin and covered in mud. Oh, and it dried up again for racing.
Arriving to the track now is a very different experience to that of just twelve months ago when the hillside was covered in thick coniferous woodland. Now gone, this has changed the nature of the tracks from being super tight and technical with lots of scope for smacking your hands into trees to wide open, fast and covered in stumps with a bigger margin for error but bigger consequences when it really goes wrong.
For the English Champs the course chosen was one first used in 2005 for the National Points Series (now BDS) which over the years has evolved significantly into a fast and flowing trail. It was always a fast track in places before but with the trees now long gone it’s faster still although times come out slightly slower thanks to a few new lines which lengthen the course and take it a little further round the hill before traversing back on itself.
Starting out tacky the course was initially full of grip and was good to fun, with few riders coming to grief. But that all changed as lunch neared when the heavens opened and the track soon became a slick, greasy off camber nightmare for many, especially in the run to the fire road crossing where the camber increased and the grease did all that it could to take the wheels out from under you. Not so bad on the first section, a lot worse on the second where a large drop to the fire road below awaited if you managed to break through the safety fence as some riders did. This was the point at which it was decided to pull out the red flags and do some trail maintenance which amounted to a bench cut so that riders could keep on the high line and avoid the ten foot drop sans bike to the road. And it worked, although the section was still greasy and a challenge to hold a smooth and fast line through.
The rest of the track followed in the same vein having turned on the fire road and started traversing back in the direction of the finish. The camber of the hill now faced the opposite way but there were still patches riding like polished ice although these did diminish once the rain stopped and the sun came out, the track getting back to a high grip, slightly tacky surface. High line followed high line, straight line the drop onto the road and carry speed through the jumps, into the fast berms and shortly after launch the double step downs into the field before a last blast on the gas to the finish line. Times were well under the two minute mark for a good result but what it lacks in length it more than makes up for with intensity, with close racing throughout the categories.
By the time the first race runs came about the track was quickly drying whilst by the second there was dust and loose gravel in the corners, a stark contrast from the conditions at midday on Saturday. Second run times were therefore generally faster e5519405cept for those who had scrappy first runs. As the race combined both round 4 of the Caersws Cup and the English Champs there were two sets of results. Juveniles quickly started proceedings as always on race day and saw Wheelbase’s Dan Farley take third with a 2:04. Joel Anderson was second with a 2:03 but taking the win was Taylor Vernon for Bike It Cycles with a 1:58, the only sub two minute time in the Juvenile category all weekend. Joel Anderson took the overall English Championship title.
Moving onto Youth and the Peaty Syndicate rider Billy Matthews put in a time of 1:50 to claim third place whilst Swiss&Swallow rider Phil Atwill took second with a 1:48. But taking the win in spectacular fashion was All Terrain Cycles’ Fraser McGlone with a margin of over seven seconds for a 1:41, in doing so showing the crowds that he was the fastest non-Elite. However, being from the lands north of the border meant he couldn’t take the title so that went to Phil.
Juniors next and Andrew Kelly was third placed on the day with a 1:46 for All Terrain Cycles. Second place went to Matt Stuttard for Ride-On with a si5519405 tenths margin over Andrew on the same second whilst the win and championship title went to Jamie Maller.
Red Mist Racing rider Niall Ingram took third place with a 2:02 in the Veteran category whilst John Cobb took second with a 1:58. But it was Darren Howarth who took the win on the day, the ex-Expert rider from the north putting in a time of 1:54 to claim the top spot and overall title.
Exactly two seconds away from the Master category win was Neil White in third for Fanatik Bike Co. with Dave list having pulled out a 1:47 to take second, just over half a second back from first place for Stourport Specialist Cycles. However, it was a Pete Yates Cycles rider, Foz Willis, who took the win and title with a 1:46.
FiveTen/Hobo Industries rider James Swinden pushed hard all the way to the line and nearly gave the Senior podium a spread of less than half a second. Less than si5519405 tenths off the lead he had to settle for third whilst second place went to Simon Stuttard for Ride-On with a 1:45. Just breaking into the 1:44’s was Carl Bartleman for the overall title and round 4 win.
Meanwhile in the women's category, Junior rider Rosie Smith made the trip down from Scotland to take third place with a 2:34 despite a big crash on Saturday. Charlotte Hughes was second fastest on the day with a 2:28 for No Bull Cycles but taking the win for Team Borderline/Mountain High was Lianne Bartleman on a time of 2:18 and with it the overall title of English Champion.
The time to beat in Expert was clearly a 1:42, with the top three positions all separated by less than two tenths which amounts to pretty much nothing on the course but so much when it comes points, prizes and titles. Pearce Cycles Rider Tom Attlee has spent most of the season out with a knee injury but showed he was back on form with the category lead after run one. Unfortunately it was a lead he couldn’t quite hold onto and ended up third with a ‘.82 on the second. Adam Holleyman took second and the overall English Championship for Wight Mountain with a ‘.74 whilst the race win went to Leon Rosser with a ‘.63 after his third place at the Moelfre BDS just a few weeks prior.
Elites were the final category on display and they always pull out all the stops to take the big prize, fastest time of the day. Ashley Maller has been putting in solid results all season in his first year of Elite. And third place with a 1:39 for Santa Cruz continued that form. Ralph Jones pulled out a 1:38 for second spot but taking the win was Ancillotti’s Rich Thomas who stormed across the line with a margin of over a second and a time of 1:37 which secured him the title of 2010 English Downhill Champion.
So tricky and changeable conditions, a track which took prisoners with a certain irritating regularity when the rain first came down, and the pressure of the big titles up for grabs. It all added up to a race which kept riders on their toes from start to finish. Round five takes place place on the 16th/17th October, check out the Caersws Cup racing website below for more details.
Caersws Cup website Full results here. 
