(incorporating NDCXL Round 12)
Derby Mercury rider Dave Smith retained his Veteran 50+ championship on a frosty course at Thornbridge Outdoor Centre last Sunday.
The ground was still frozen after a sharp overnight frost for the early races making some of the corners† treacherous† although the straights were faster on the harder surface.
The Youth race was first off and Rosie Blount finished 21st overall &† third in her age category and Harry Crew was a few of places behind in 25th despite racing against opposition that is generally a lot older as his birthday lands just after the cut off point for the U12 class.
The Veterans were split into two groups with the 40+ going off a minute before the 50+ group.In the 40ís race Geoff Giddings from Ilkeston dominated his race winning by a comfortable margin after leading from the off. Dave Smith was initially chasing Joe Rowe from Wyre Forest† but took the lead when Joe slid on one of the frosty corners. After this Dave was never† headed although Joe battled back to close on Dave before the effort took its toll and Dave gradually pulled away to finish almost a minute ahead.
The tricky drops in the wooded section caught out quite a few riders ; one competitor went flying over his bars right in front of Dave Luscombe and stunned himself when he hit a tree. Luckily he was OK and recovered to continue.
The junior Luscombes† both excelled in their Under 12 race, with James coming first in the U8 class and his younger† brother Matthew† (who is only 5) finishing ahead of several older riders.
DMRC Finishers
Youths
21†† †Rosie Blount
25†† †Harry Crew
Rosie
Veterans
40+
23 †† Chris Blount
31†† †Dave Luscombe
Chris
50+
1st†† †Dave Smith
12 †† †Pete Turner
Dave
Women
6†† †Hilary Johnson
