Rampage R3 Results (+ Series points)
Paul Sheppard - Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:32:05 |
Here are the results for the 3rd round of the rampage. The series points will be posted when Ben's back from the Goodwood festival of speed, as i don't know how to do them.
EDIT: Ben's back and the series points are linked below
Race results
Series points
Photos are up in the gallery too now. |
Rampage Report Round 2
Steve Jones - Mon Jun 12, 2006 16:23:43 |
Ratz Rampage Round 2, 1st June
The Ratz Rampage is a summer evening mountainbike race series held by RATMBC at their Checkendon course just north of Reading. This is a 4 race series held on the first Thursday of the month from May to August plus a team race to be held partly in the dark on August 31st.
We have 4 categories to keep the start and results simple, Racing (for serious Senior racers- i.e. shaved legs), Club (not so serious i.e. Sport & Novice hairy legs racers), Fun for beginners and a separate category for Women. We rarely get any women and the few Fun riders usually start with the Club race so just 2 starts to sort out. We like to have a long start up to a mile and then hit a short loop of 5-10 minutes where we circulate for 50 minutes or less if we run out of light and then ring the bell for one more lap.
We try to alternate circuits and for round 2 it was time for Park Wood, this is our flat wood with absolutely no hills. It is fast and furious racing, just great fun without the pain of hills. The singletrack is relentless and by the 9th lap you really have your lines sorted and can ride sections at speeds you never thought possible. This is great practice for up and coming races such as September?s National Points Series at Checkendon.
The Racers set off first and I had a chance to race this round as Ben and Glen were timekeeping and we had plenty of marshals. I went hard off the start and opened a nice gap only to overshoot the first sharp corner as it was the only bit of the course I hadn't pre-ridden, I laid out the course on foot and it seemed ok but it was a lot sharper than I realised and you needed to ride over the bank not round it! My team mate Mark Cracknell took advantage and went to the front, luckily I didn't lose any more places and tucked in behind him. I passed Mark again before going into Park Wood and decided to put in a quick lap to try to get us a gap as we were being pursued by Dan Giffin of Ratz. We got a small gap on the first lap so I eased up a bit but Mark pointed out we were being caught and as I took a look back I slipped in the mud allowing Mark through to the front. The laps were notching up fast at under 6 minutes a lap and you needed to stay consistent with no mistakes to stay together, lapped riders were letting us through but inevitably we were getting split up and Mark was slowly edging away from me. It was enough for Mark to stay clear on lap 9 and take the win although I had closed to only 4 secs down, Dan held on to take 3rd a further 54 secs down which with 2 good results puts him in the 2nd in the series. Bren Divall was 4th and which was enough to move up to the top of the series ranking.
Some of the first and second lap times should be ignored as the clicker for the timing system wasn?t recording. A very technical fix of plugging and unplugging the lead was all that it eventually needed and they were back to normal by lap 3.
In the Club race it was Martin Harris of Banjo Cycles who led through on lap one. Andrew ?Murph? Claridge of Pedal On was right with him followed by Youth rider Tom Robbins of Didcot Phoenix who set the pace later in the race. Murph hit a tree lapping a rider and fell, as he is recovering from a back operation he decided to finish at a more sedate pace and young Tom got away to take his second win and now leads the series. Si Panter (Atomic Bike) convincingly won the Fun race as the only rider managing 8 laps.
Thanks to all the Ratz helpers who help put these races on and also to the Pedal On boys (you know who you are) who also helped out on the night as race starters & travelling marshals. |
Rampage R2 results
Ben Gladwyn - Fri Jun 2, 2006 14:49:39 |
The results of last nights Park Wood Rampage are now available online:
Race results
Series points
Thanks to all the organisers and I hope all who raced enjoyed it. I managed to sneak a lap in once Glen had got the hang of the timing system! A special mention is due to Steve Jones for putting together such a great course in Park Wood. Bring on round 3! |
Rampage R1 Results
Ben Gladwyn - Fri May 5, 2006 11:47:26 |
The results for last nights Rampage are now available online.
Race results
Series points
Photos |
