British Series Round 2 - Wasing Park, England

After two tough World Cups the team set out on their third race in as many weeks – this time for the second round of the British Series at Wasing Park, just outside Reading.

Ben had taken the trip south just a few short weeks ago for the test event here and won comfortably allowing him to give the rest of the team valuable feed back on what the course would offer.

As we arrived on Saturday morning to cloudy skies and a large cold field the memories of Belgium seemed very distant but it wasn’t long before we were on course and flowing through the endless singletrack surrounded by bluebells giving us a good feeling about the weekend ahead!

After a few laps of the course and a team meeting the riders headed off to their hotel, minus Ben who stayed to help our Manager and Mechanic take part in the team relay with a kind hand from the WXC Team. The race was run in good spirits and after Ben gave us a great start we stayed in third until the final bend when Team Manager Will ran out of steam and was pipped to the post. It was a great event though and gave further publicity for the team who have had various positive comments over the past few weeks.

Sunday morning came and our early starter, Alex was first to rip up the dust around the Wasing Park estate. An early lead in the youth race saw him go clear of the field by a few bike lengths but this wasn’t to last and an out of sorts Alex was the victim of his own eagerness as he finished in 10th position. A solid performance, if not quite up to his own high expectations.

The midday racing saw Paul and Chris take on a strong Elite field and Ben take on Steve James, among others in the Junior race. Chris and Paul both started well and were within a few riders of each other mid pack in the early part of the race. For Chris this would remain as he put in another solid performance, a few places down on his normal form but maybe a little fatigue has set in from the busy race schedule of late. After his positive start, Paul had a mechanical, his rear cassette getting bent and leaving him with very few gears – this in turn forced him into a crash before a wheel change and then a hard chase giving him 25th position, however a positive return to form.

Talking of returning to form, Ben produced his best ride since Cyprus, finishing 4th in a strong Junior field. A good start and consistent pacing put him in a great position and then a final attack on the last lap left the group of riders he was in trailing behind him. It was the ride of the day from our Welsh National Champion.

In the final races of the day our manager and mechanic were persuaded to take to the trails and through no choice of their own entered into the Open category race. They gave a good account of themselves with Mark taking 5th place and Will in a steady position until a late puncture left him to walk home, still completing the race as he walked across the finish line! Now that’s commitment for you!

So mixed results and mixed feelings from Wasing Park but plenty of encouraging signs and a perfectly run weekend from our team. The riders now take a well deserved rest before the Midlands Championships and next British Series race in a few weeks time.

All Photo's on the left courtesy of Joolze Dymond Photography