Cyclo-cross and SCA 25
The cyclo-cross season kicked off with a one-off event on the evening of Friday 11th August. The racing took place around Priory Park in Reigate and featured two Lewes Wanderers. Not being a league event the riders weren’t gridded based upon past results so Dan Street and Darren Haynes had to take whatever grid slots they could find amongst the sixteen men competing in the race for men over 50.
The course was predominantly grass, but also featured sections of wood chippings and steep banks, but it was a warm dry day so not slippery. Dan coped better with the demands before them as he finished just one spot off the podium, albeit a lap down. Darren stayed in touch for the first of the nine 1.7 kilometre circuits before slipping back to 9th place and a further lap behind the victor.
On Bank Holiday Monday the 28th August Peter Baker was one a dozen men to race in the Sussex Cyclists’ Association 25-mile time-trial north-west of Billingshurst. Two failed to finish, but Peter came home in a time of 1 hour 7 minutes and 47 seconds to place 8th of those to cross the finish.
The cyclo-cross season began in earnest on Sunday 3rd September. The event was Round 1 of the Challenge Tyres London & South East Cyclo-cross League, incorporating Round 1 of the Sussex League. It was ably promoted by VC Jubilee cycle club and held at Coombes Farm near Lancing in conditions not normally associated with the discipline. Temperatures in the mid-20s were amplified by the venue being a sheltered grass valley where the only breeze to be found was along the ridge at the top of the course. To enjoy that the racers faced a long 10% climb before plunging back down via a series of sweeping hairpins plus a pair of hurdles cruelly located on an uphill.
Paget Cohen by Lorna White
Dan Street snapped his chain while warming up and faced a race-against time and a test of his mechanical skills to fix it and make the start, but a quartet of Lewes Wanderers lined up on the grid at ten to two for a 40-minute test of skill, endurance and power, mainly will-power. Based on previous results Dan was best placed in 19th place, ahead of Darren Haynes in 35th. Stephen Burgess was called to the line 44th of the 61 to take the start with Paget Cohen alongside.
Dan and Darren made great starts and had risen to 10th and 25th respectively in the race for men in their fifties by the end of the first lap. Stephen and Paget completed the opening circuit nose-to-tail which left Stephen 9th of the 15 men over 60 and Paget 38th of 46 in the race for fifty-somethings. Dan improved to 9th on the second of the six laps, but could only hold that place for one more lap, although 10th place was his best ever result. Darren gained three places on laps 2 and 3 to break the top-20 for the first time in the Sussex league with a fine 19th place, 1 lap down.
Paget also overtook a trio of competitors on the second tour, then an impressive eight the next time around. He actually matched Darren’s pace over the last three laps, plus gained a couple more positions and raised a sprint finish to hold a strong 25th place from 42 finishers. After his good start Stephen wilted in the heat and slipped back to 12th of the 14 men over-60 on lap 2, but plugged away to retain that position to the flag.
