Record number get on their bikes for race (From Community Newsgroup)

Record number get on their bikes for race

12:18pm Thursday 11th December 2008

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A RECORD 110 riders – including some of the region’s top professionals - took the start in the latest round in the North West Cyclo Cross series held in a very cold but sunny Bolton, writes Dave Higham.

After a short delay due to a fuss with duplicate riders' numbers, the whistle blew and everyone started in a hectic group. The course was still frozen in places but the afternoon sun had melted the frost to create some thick mud bogs, so riders were challenged with very fast conditions followed by slow and technical sections.

The riders quickly spread out around the course but due to a wide open track, it was easy to pass slower riders. About halfway through the race, the sun went behind the trees and the air cooled noticeably.

While a handful of pros were battling it out for glory on the day, another battle was unfolding for overall points in the Northwest Series. The Wheelers’ Kevin Walford continued his good form of recent weeks and managed 12th place on the day, which was good enough to hold onto his overall lead in the series. Lewis Burke lost out to Martin Woffindin in the Juniors category and Woffindin now leads Burke in the Junior league and is in second place overall in the main League, just 13 points behind Walford. Toni Mion and Pete Stock finished 50th and 87th whilst the conditions and bad luck defeated Martin Harwood, who failed to finish.

Friday saw the latest round of the Manchester Regional Track League at the Velodrome. Once again it was a good night for the Wheelers team of Eelco Doctor and Roger Wrenn, despite the high quality field which included two Olympic Squad riders. Doctor took third place in the Devil Take the Hindmost (where the last rider in each lap is eliminated) just behind the two Squad riders, and in the 25 lap scratch race just got in front on the last bend and held off the other 28 riders. Wrenn came fourth in the scratch race and with Doctor was part of the winning team in the 10 lap pursuit race, where teams start on opposite sides of the track attempt to catch each other.

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