Reading Cycling Club press report, week ending 11 December 2011

Wessex League Cyclo-cross, Harwell

Round 9 of the Wessex League cyclo-cross series was organised by Swindon RC and hosted in the grounds of the
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at Harwell. Reading CC were represented by Steve Bale, Gary Barlow and Richard Gostick.

Bale reports on a tiring event: "I opted to race in the senior event which would be over an hour rather than the 40 minute long vets race. The preceding veterans had made the course nice and slippery for the seniors and persistent drizzle made a challenging course even more so. It centred around a huge mound with lots of ascents and descents around its sides. The chalky nature of the downs meant that once this was wet it was very slippery indeed. With the poor conditions and a competing national event elsewhere only 20 riders started the senior race. The small field made it seem like a good start - all I had to do was finish to get a top 20 place! So began a tough hour of riding. My tyre choice wasn't the greatest and I wasn't getting the traction I needed to ride the steeper slopes so opted to run more than the other riders. By half way the running was taking its toll and I was starting to flag. I then had a couple of minor crashes that disrupted me. With no one in sight chasing me and my position safe I opted to keep it steady to the finish rather than race full on and risk a mishap. I felt the event showed improvement in my riding and was enjoyable too."

Gary Barlow rode the Veterans, Juniors & Women race: "The course was technical with steep climbing sections which I
thought would suit me but things got off to a bad start. On a practice lap I punctured the rear tyre, had run back to the pits, fit a
spare wheel and dash to make it to the start. My thanks to John Wann for his help in the pits. I made a decent start to the race and picked up a couple of places on the first climb but then disaster, another puncture, this time the front. After a lung busting run to the pit area and a quick wheel change I was back in the race but had dropped right to the back of the field. For the remainder of the race I felt like I was riding strongly, picking up places on every lap and was pleased to recover to 21st at
the finish. I'm hoping for better luck at the next round in Wareham Forest next Sunday."

Photo caption: Running up that hill: Steve Bale tackles an obstacle at the Swindon RC Cyclo-cross
Photo credit: Jun Iashima

Swindon RC CX, V/W/J (45 finishers):
1 Antony Green, GA Cycles
20 R Gostick, Reading CC
21 Gary Barlow, Reading CC
Swindon RC CX, Senior result (17 finishers):
1 Michael Cotty, Wheelbase/Cannondale
14 Steve Bale, Reading CC

Sunday Clubrun
All rides leave Reading Market Place at 9am on Sundays. Note that there will be no official rides on Sunday 25th!

Roderick MacFadyen
Reading Cycling Club