The sun shone. There was dust! It got really quite warm and there were more than a few new twists in the course at Catton Park.
All the old favourites were still there in the course from the Bluebell wood descent to the bar bangingly narrow, wooded singletrack. But the horrendous, soul destroying grassy climb from hell, just after the descent down the side of the road was gone. Instead the course cut across to the gate at the start of the Bluebell wood section. The ridge section returned to it’s much more popular direction of across the top and down towards the arena in the big ring instead of the more recent trend of climbing up the bloody thing only to trudge back to the woods across the flat top (Always ALWAYS into a headwind!). The bombhole was a drop in instead of a winch out and the following singletrack section was a like a roller coaster with chances to actually jump!
All in all the shorter 6.5mile course was simply great fun! Yes the dusty dryness helped a lot but the credit really needs to be laid at the feet of the course designers who must be congratulated for designing the best course layout that Catton Park has ever seen in our opinion.
The new format of replacing set pit areas with a 24hr style hand over zone seemed to enhance the overall ‘feel’ of the event by allowing riders to mingle around the arena area and generally soak up the sun and the company.
Yes, the field was well down on previous years with a little over 300 riders, but if Pat sticks to this year’s formula of no pits and excellent course we are pretty sure the numbers will be back up to previous year’s levels again next year.
And now the results!
Solo Male
| Laps | Total Time | Category | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 06:21:31 | Solo Male | COLIN PECK |
| 12 | 06:24:14 | Solo Male | TOM ALBUTT |
| 12 | 06:29:17 | Solo Male | LLOYDS CYCLES 3 |
| 11 | 06:05:33 | Solo Male | NAKED BIKES RT |
| 11 | 06:05:57 | Solo Male | ONE COG |
| 11 | 06:13:51 | Solo Male | RAPID RACER PRODUCTS 2 |
| 11 | 06:14:01 | Solo Male | MTS CYCLESPORT. JUST RAYMONDO. |
| 11 | 06:20:36 | Solo Male | DRAGON ENDURANCE |
| 11 | 06:21:12 | Solo Male | ARROW CYCLES |
| 11 | 06:29:02 | Solo Male | THE HEYWOOD |
Solo Female
| Laps | Total Time | Category | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 06:30:53 | Solo Female | LEISURELAKESBIKES.COM |
| 10 | 06:38:17 | Solo Female | GOLDTEC |
| 9 | 06:06:35 | Solo Female | JO HOLDEN |
| 9 | 06:25:57 | Solo Female | RAPID RACER PRODUCTS 1 |
| 8 | 05:48:38 | Solo Female | TEAM JMC 2 |
| 7 | 06:08:12 | Solo Female | CATH CLARKE |
| 4 | 04:22:00 | Solo Female | LAURA COASE |
Solo Female full results (csv)
Male Pair
| Laps | Total Time | Category | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 06:14:28 | Male Pair | DIG DEEP COACHING – REVEL OUTDOORS |
| 13 | 06:00:39 | Male Pair | TEAM HOPE FACTORY RACING |
| 13 | 06:04:30 | Male Pair | CHARGE |
| 13 | 06:11:39 | Male Pair | TEAM BICICIELO |
| 13 | 06:22:51 | Male Pair | ZEPNAT.COM |
| 13 | 06:30:46 | Male Pair | FOSSA RACING |
| 12 | 06:00:39 | Male Pair | CANNON & BALL |
| 12 | 06:01:11 | Male Pair | LUMICYCLE |
| 12 | 06:04:36 | Male Pair | WORCESTER CYCLE CENTRE |
| 12 | 06:05:27 | Male Pair | MOUNTFORD-HALL |
Female Pair
| Laps | Total Time | Category | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 06:04:23 | Female Pair | TEAM MULE BAR GIRLS |
| 10 | 06:06:57 | Female Pair | COTIC A QUICK RELEASE HOLIDAYS RACE TEAM 2 |
| 10 | 06:31:31 | Female Pair | VELO CLUB RUTLAND 1 |
| 10 | 06:43:39 | Female Pair | WXC RACING /BIKEPEDLARS RETFORD |
| 8 | 06:40:15 | Female Pair | SZYBKIE DZIEWCZYNY |
| 7 | 05:11:21 | Female Pair | COG ‘N’ TROGS |
| 6 | 05:43:13 | Female Pair | K&H RACING |
Female Pair full results (csv)
Mixed Pair
| Laps | Total Time | Category | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 06:04:50 | Mixed Pairs | OAKHAM SPORTS MASSAGE |
| 12 | 06:14:36 | Mixed Pairs | COTIC A QUICK RELEASE HOLIDAYS RACE TEAM 3 |
| 12 | 06:32:03 | Mixed Pairs | TEAM TARLING |
| 11 | 06:04:30 | Mixed Pairs | GRT / THETFORD MTB RACING |
| 11 | 06:08:34 | Mixed Pairs | BEARD / DENSLEY |
| 11 | 06:21:38 | Mixed Pairs | DIRTWHEELS CYCLES 3 |
| 11 | 06:28:25 | Mixed Pairs | GOLDTEC GIMMERS |
| 11 | 06:38:37 | Mixed Pairs | THETFORD MTB RACING / BIKE-ART 4 |
| 10 | 06:00:13 | Mixed Pairs | TEAM QUICKSILVER |
| 10 | 06:00:42 | Mixed Pairs | S & M |
Mixed Pairs full results (csv)
Comments (2)
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Great event, count me in for next year.
well done to all involved.
I’ve never seen so many happy faces at an event in a long time. Great atmosphere and some great racing too.
Big thanks to Pat and the team for keeping this event alive.