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Chesterfield Inter area championships (Mud Mud and more Mud!!!)
Harley Pell
At the start line we were called up for gridding in our area teams and were asked to get into a string of riders.The riders were Imogen Chastell, myself, Molly Lloyd and Hannah Bates, the order was decided by who could start the quickest. As the whistle blew I got out of the field in 3rd position, the start was on a pathway but as I turned the corner all I could see was mud! Actually the whole course was mud no grass no best line except for the puddles they were a relief from the mud. As I came past the pits for the first time I was holding 6th position. The second lap I decided to change my bike because it was getting to the stage that I could no longer peddle. I continued on my spare bike for 1 lap and then changed bikes again. On my last lap my bike was so caked in mud my chain would not stay on so I had to shoulder my bike to the pits, before this I was leading the Eastern region girls by nearly 3/4 of a lap. When I arrived in the pits my mum had given my spare bike to Travis as his was also no longer rideable. So I came out of the pits and had to continue to shoulder my bike to the finish line which was about 3/4 of a lap to go. As I was about to come over the finish line Imogen Chastell overtook me, coming in as the first eastern region girl rider. I came in second and Molly Lloyd third. Hannah Bates bike got clogged up with mud so she did not finish.
Travis Pell
Today I raced at the inter-area championships at Chesterfield in Derbyshire. The course had been raced on the day before and so had already been torn up. Upon arrival I set out for a practice lap and quickly found the course was basically one massive mud puddle. Once back to the van we attempted to get the worst of the mud off the bike before the start. The start was full of bottlenecks and most of the first lap was completed by foot with my bike on my shoulder. After the first lap the race started to settle and the riders were able to get into a rhythm but by this time the course had been destroyed and led to my bike being clogged up and nearly impossible to ride. This carried on until the last lap when I could barely ride my bike for fear of snapping the rear derailleur off(which happened to a lot of riders including 3 on the eastern team). So I went into the pits to get the worst cleaned off and in a misunderstanding I was given my sisters spare bike to complete the race on. Once finishing I learnt that this ruined her race as her chain on her main bike kept coming off. Overall the boys eastern team did not do too well as two of the other riders in my team( the b team) did not finish which meant my team did not get a position (This made my sister even more cross because I had her bike and the team didn't even get placed!) however the A team did get a place as well as the girls team who only had one person not finish.
Overall though we both really enjoyed the race and would do it over again but I really need a spare bike of my own, dad!
Eastern region girls team:
Eastern region boys team:
Proof of the mud:
At the start line we were called up for gridding in our area teams and were asked to get into a string of riders.The riders were Imogen Chastell, myself, Molly Lloyd and Hannah Bates, the order was decided by who could start the quickest. As the whistle blew I got out of the field in 3rd position, the start was on a pathway but as I turned the corner all I could see was mud! Actually the whole course was mud no grass no best line except for the puddles they were a relief from the mud. As I came past the pits for the first time I was holding 6th position. The second lap I decided to change my bike because it was getting to the stage that I could no longer peddle. I continued on my spare bike for 1 lap and then changed bikes again. On my last lap my bike was so caked in mud my chain would not stay on so I had to shoulder my bike to the pits, before this I was leading the Eastern region girls by nearly 3/4 of a lap. When I arrived in the pits my mum had given my spare bike to Travis as his was also no longer rideable. So I came out of the pits and had to continue to shoulder my bike to the finish line which was about 3/4 of a lap to go. As I was about to come over the finish line Imogen Chastell overtook me, coming in as the first eastern region girl rider. I came in second and Molly Lloyd third. Hannah Bates bike got clogged up with mud so she did not finish.
Travis Pell
Today I raced at the inter-area championships at Chesterfield in Derbyshire. The course had been raced on the day before and so had already been torn up. Upon arrival I set out for a practice lap and quickly found the course was basically one massive mud puddle. Once back to the van we attempted to get the worst of the mud off the bike before the start. The start was full of bottlenecks and most of the first lap was completed by foot with my bike on my shoulder. After the first lap the race started to settle and the riders were able to get into a rhythm but by this time the course had been destroyed and led to my bike being clogged up and nearly impossible to ride. This carried on until the last lap when I could barely ride my bike for fear of snapping the rear derailleur off(which happened to a lot of riders including 3 on the eastern team). So I went into the pits to get the worst cleaned off and in a misunderstanding I was given my sisters spare bike to complete the race on. Once finishing I learnt that this ruined her race as her chain on her main bike kept coming off. Overall the boys eastern team did not do too well as two of the other riders in my team( the b team) did not finish which meant my team did not get a position (This made my sister even more cross because I had her bike and the team didn't even get placed!) however the A team did get a place as well as the girls team who only had one person not finish.
Overall though we both really enjoyed the race and would do it over again but I really need a spare bike of my own, dad!
Eastern region girls team:
Eastern region boys team:
Proof of the mud:
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