Ulverston CX
The latest round of this season’s North West cyclo-cross series took place on Sunday at the picturesque seaside setting in Ulverston, organised by Barrow Central Wheelers. And the course certainly contributed to the setting, with sharp climbs, tricky off-camber sections and wet, grassed sections which made for a tough lap for all riders. And it was in the veteran classes where Rossendale’s team made the best impressions.
Adrian Watts continues to improve and, using his technical skills, he just missed out on a top 10 placing in the V60 Open class, coming home 11th. Derek Schofield matched him at the start but then dropped back after a series of falls to 13th at the finish. Ex Rossendale club member Simon Bartram came home 17th and 73 year old Denis Thomson deserves a mention in just his second CX event, and now riding for the West Pennine club, finished in 21st, one place in front of Graham Wright.
The V50 Open class remains the largest and most competitive field, and Ian Taylor of Shibden CC remains the top rider, taking a clear win. The following four riders were locked together in a thrilling race with Helmshore’s Dave Haygarth taking a 2 seconds lead over Ramsbottom’s JMC rider Phil Simcock after the first full lap. However, Haygarth took a nasty tumble at high speed from which he didn’t fully recover leaving Simcock to finish 4th, with Haygarth 30 seconds behind in 5th.
In the Ladies event Iona Simcock took an excellent place 12th place, Elsie Haygarth riding for Wheelbase Castelli 15th, Kate Taylor of 360Cycling 23rd and Iona’s mother Jacqui 27th.
The next, penultimate, round of the series takes place on 29th December at Macclesfield, when the final league positions will look to be taking shape.
Photo:
Graham Wright looking surprised as he’s lapped by the fast improving Adrian Watts
