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Chills & Spills at Chavenage
Report by Bob Mullins Photos by Martin Harding & Jack Stringer
The 1st round of the 2010 Hewitt National XC Championship got off to a cracking start at Chavenage Farm near Tetbury on Sunday 21st February. Overnight snow had dusted the fields with a light frosting. The sun shone but the air was cold. The Midwest team of Ollie Moyce, Jamie Paget & Tyson Maytom-Jones had organised a training session the day before & their first job on Sunday morning was to chip the frozen mud off their wheels. Despite heavy snow in the North, Craig Reynolds & Lewis Belfield had slogged their way down to ride at Midwest for the first time.
By the 11.00am, 208 riders were signed on & grouped in 7 ranks on the start line. As the flag dropped, Dave Nuttall whipped up his ktm to take the holeshot ahead of Aaran Poolman on his 09 Husaberg. In the slick conditions, the grass cambers of the opening mile were treacherous & by the 3rd corner Aaron had taken the lead. Jack Twentyman led of the Expert Vets away with Marcus Barnes close behind. Other Shooters were: Clubman 2T Robert Macfarlane, Clubman 4T Freddie Davis, Vets Kevin Butcher, Sports 4T Michael Jones.
The Chavenage course runs for 6 miles around a picturesque Gloucestershire valley & this year it will be the venue for the British Enduro Sprint Championship & a round of the ACU Hare & Hounds Championship. With such a busy schedule COC Simon Molter opted for a faster flowing course that would help to conserve the ground. From the start the riders skirted 4 fields before entering the first of 2 woods. There was less of the snaking through the trees than last year but there was a big hill. It presented a challenge but it's gravel base held up well. Darren Wheeler (left Martino) made short work of the climb but it gave a few riders a warming work out. They then skirted more fields before dropping down into the valley to cross the stream by the bridge. Turning into a wide pasture the course invited the competitive to wind open the throttle but there was still a bit ice about & several riders simply kept on turning & turning.
The course then climbed the steep side of the valley & entered the 2nd wood. At this point the marking clearly directed the riders along last year's easy route but an Expert Vet suffered a bit of memory loss & forgot why he was there. He took a shortcut up the old hard route. By the 2nd lap a couple of logs blocked the route as a reminder. Halfway around the 1st lap, Lewis Belfield's gearbox selector failed while he was running in 3rd. Fortunately the KB Racing team carry a full set of spares so Lewis could carry on.
As the bikes & riders flashed through the dappled light beneath the trees, the spectators gathered at the finish. Lap scoring was by transponder & there were 2 channels. The first through was Ollie Moyce (right JS) ahead of Aaran Poolman, Jason Fraser & Jamie Paget. The leading group were 30 seconds ahead of Dave Nuttall who slipped coming out of the gate & Premier team mate Rich Warner collided with him. Ian Francis pitted early with a loose plug. Kevin Bartlett snapped his chain on the start line. Tyson Maytom-Jones wrote off his Airoh helmet on a low branch. For Tyson most branches fit neatly into the low category. Dan Beavan & Ben Shuttleorth both retired with a snapped head bolts. James Blanch's clutch lever was jamming against his light switch assembly. James' solution was to have a fag. Neville Goodman was still nursing a hand injury he picked up in South Africa which would to be too much for him on the day. On lap 2 Derek Bawn dropped off the radar. He lost an hour getting back into race & he did very well clock up 9 laps. Matt Ridgway's dad John had 3 family members to support. His nephew Sam Tucker had been playing rugby the day before & he started the day with more bumps & bruises than most riders finished with. The close racing in the wet meant that mud became a problem for both the bikes & the riders. It clogged the rads & splattered their goggles.
By the halfway point the sun had begun to work it's magic & the course began to dry. The Chavenage course is very compact & a good crowd had turned out to support the riders. Ollie Moyce held onto the lead, closely followed by Jason Fraser but with less than 30 minutes to go Jason's new Suzuki ran out of petrol. He had only had the bike for 3 days & he wasn't too sure of the capacity. Ollie Moyce went on to take the overall win. He had enough of a lead to stop for a splash & dash on his last lap. Midwest team mate Jamie Paget (right Martino) clocked in for his final lap with 10 seconds to go to take the runner up. Jamie did well to get so much out of his Husaberg 570 in such slick conditions. Darren Wheeler was 3rd & Rich Warner was 4th. Manchester Xtreme's Craig Reynolds had a worthwhile journey in 5th & Dave Nuttall pick himself up to finish 6th. Despite losing his gear selector Lewis Belfield finished 7th with 12 laps. Aaran Poolman finished in 8th His fastest time was only 1 second slower than the winner's. Tyson Mayton-Jones nudged his way into 9th with one eye on the clock & one eye on the rapidly approaching Jeremy Box. Jack Twentyman won the Expert Vets ahead of Marcus Barnes. Aaran Wells was the best Clubman 2t & Pete King was the runner up. Freddie Davis led the Clubman 2t from the start to the finish. Mark Hamblin was the runner up. Kevin Barnes won the Vets ahead of Darren Jones. Sam Hoskins & Mike Ridgway both clocked up 9 laps in the Sports 2t & Macej Devdzy was the best Sports 4t as well as the worst selection possible in Scrabble.
After the event Ollie Moyce said that he hadn't had the best of starts & he had struggled with arm pump on the first few laps but it was probably the same for everyone. Once the course began to dry out he really enjoyed the ride & he was looking forward to a cheeseburger at the finish. Sadly the crowds had eaten all the buns.
Gary Baker who competes in the Veteran Expert class broke has broken his foot during the first hour on Sunday's event. Even though he broke his foot he still carried on and managed to finish 3rd in his class. Proving even though he is old he can still keep racing like the kids do. GWS Gary.
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