Flying the flag for Naked Bikes/Haibike/Impsport were Rich and Nick Popham in the Vets, and Josh Walling in the Juniors
Nick and Rich had a protracted battle for most of the race, eventually taking 16th and 17th Vet respectively (10th and 11th V40), whilst Josh was the hero of the day with a superb 2nd position in the Juniors!
There's a superb film of the race here
Josh: Sunday race was terror on a field. Sat in a box for the entirety of the race, if you can call it a race. Pan flat power course with a short technical section didn't suit me at all but was fast and enjoyable. Race was incredibly bumpy but was enjoyable. I rode strong at the start sitting first into the bottleneck. Jack Ravenscroft powered past and wasn't seen again all race. I sat off the front of the main group for around 2 laps then sat up and recovered when I saw there were two away. Both riders passed me but I stayed strong and recovered. Last lap bell went and I attacked to get back on, carried speed past them and cracked the rider sitting 4th place. I knew that I'd made podium at this point but knew I would fight for second. The rider sat 3rd (Arthur Green) is a national level rider and I knew he was strong. I kept digging at him to test his strength. Last few corners were a group of hair pins, we both fought for position as it was the only real passing point left in the lap. Arthur took me on the second corner, I took the position back on the third an attacked to the finish.
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| Josh - 2nd Junior, AND he rode the tricky bits! (Photo thanks to Ian Nutt) |
Rich: The course was a mixture of strength-sapping flats, with one off-camber muddy section that had a lot of people trying to make the ride / run decision. I think Nick lost his chain on that section in the first lap and I snuck past him. Just managed to hold him at bay until the last lap, when I lost my chain in the same place, and he took advantage. Great race, and good fun racing againt a team-mate!
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| Rich tries to escape from Nick P! - (Photo thanks to Ian Nutt) |
Nick P: My last race of cross this season the Champs and I brought my whole family this time for full support, with my 3yr old shouting 'go daddy!'Being gridded 8th was a bonus and after a 'next 30 seconds' start we were off! I settled into 7th overall and started to get into pace . I had not done a pre lap this time out of choice so first lap managing the bomb hole my chain came off and it took a bit of time to get back on. Taking it high then riding straight across to the other side did the job for future laps. The pace was high - Rich joined me and we pushed each other round, I got past him on the last straight then he did the same so I went for the corner and kept pace up through the woods to the sprint finish and it was all over 10th and 11th in out cats - top job team!
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| Nick chases down Jason Marriot from the Bolsover! |
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