Race Report, Living with Hope Cyclocross series R4
Saturday marked the start of the 2021 racing season for three Macclesfield Wheelers in the Living with Hope Cyclocross series Round Four at the scenic Broughton Hall Estate near Skipton in Yorkshire.
Eelco Doctor, Matt Lawton and Marcus Fielden all made the trip up North to be greeted by fine sunny weather and a course so dry and fast you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the start of the season in September!
First off were Marcus and Eelco in the V40’s followed by Matt in the Seniors. On account of not contesting the earlier rounds, Marcus and Eelco were gridded far back in 62 nd and 70 th respectively. Similarly, Matt was gridded 64 th . The start straight gave way to a 180 degree turn, a further wide long straight followed by a series of corners and switchbacks on an undulating section of the course. This gave way to a frenetic start and rewarded those with good bike handling and an eye for a gap. And so it was that all three Wheelers made massive gains by the end of Lap one taking up to 30 places each.
After the technical start the course headed into a wooded section where a spiralling gravelled path wound its way upwards through a series of berms onto open ground. The course was wide which would ordinarily give way to easy overtaking but as it was so fast the riders were strung out leaving the best opportunity to pass to those who dared brake the latest into the downhill slalom style corners on the back of the course. A lung busting climb back to the start provided further opportunity to make ground and all three Wheelers were obviously in the mood to take scalps.
In Matts case scalps make scabs as he came a cropper tussling with Lewis Craven and Nick Craig and he finished in a fantastic 8 th place 3min19sec behind winner Nathan Smith (Birkenhead North CC) who is a junior and beat the likes of Paul Oldham, Giles Drake, Lewis Craven and Nick Craig. A man to watch in the future!
Eelco finished well up in 18 th place 4min 47secs behind winner Tony Fawcett (SCOTT Racing) with Marcus close behind in 20 th place 4min 54secs down.
It should be noted that in the womens race the event was graced by cyclocross royalty Anna Kay (StarCasino Team) who beat a spirited ride from Amira Mellor (Albion Cycling Co) who finished only 18 seconds down.
The Living with Hope series continues with the fifth and final round on 24 th April. The venue is Broughton Hall again and entries are now being accepted for all ages and abilities at
https://nwcca.org.uk/2021/03/living-with-hope-rounds-4-and-5-open-for-entries
If you have any questions regards the event or cyclocross in general please get in touch with Matt Lawton at matt.l@macclesfieldwheelers.org.uk
Photos courtesy of Ellen Isherwood