Matt Craner: Gorrick autumn Series Race 2 Nov 2012 + 20th Anniversary

Aaah thought I would dust off the ol’ pen again as it has been a while since I posted a race report. In the interval we have had the XTM Enduro Mud bath (and cost me new bearing for BB and hubs) which I won (I think) well was first across the line and then It seemed there were about several weeks of revised results based on who did the fastest last lap. Not going back there next yr but I am counting that as a win ☺. Then there was the ever fun and fantastic Black Park – ‘Night of the Knobbly tread” – great course and really close racing was had by all and pulled in a second place – not retaining my title but duking it out with Lewis King was always going to be a big ask. Anyways this weekend saw a decent sized contingent form the ever pervasive Black n’ gold of WDMBC / Beyond MTB return to Gorrck Crowthorne event which also marked the 20th Anniversay of them putting races together. Always good race event providers they didn’t disappoint and even managed to bring some good pleasant autumnal weather! Deciding racing for 4 laps in the red zone was not enough Jesse opted for the eat no breakfast ride 20+ miles to my house and then woof down a sausage sandwich prior to the race! He had a storming first couple of laps then everything caught up with him. Big hand is that he still then rode back to his house from mine adding another 20+ miles!!! So the course was the usual mix of Crowthorne fun n' games of fast singletrack with some new cut sections to keep the regulars amused. Nothing overly technical but was a fun course which had been excellently prepped. You would hope that in the relative off season people would take it easy…. From the start line I clipped in quickly and rapidly found myself at the front of the pack for the first bit of fireroad. Paul Hopkins quickly swept by me and I tagged onto his wheel closely followed by the rest of the chasing pack. Jon pierce was on my tail with Dean Morgan not far behind. The plan formed in my mind that Jon and I could work together and drop Dean morgan. At the start of lap 2 we worked together on the section of fireroad but I managed to pull away in the singletrack and had to forge on ahead. I put in a hard second lap and a consistent third. Looking back Dean had caught and gone past Jon and was beginning to chase me down. One of the big challenges is that with the popularity of the event there was quite a lot of traffic on the trial which could easily lose or gain you vital seconds. This entailed lots of sprints and trying to judge distances to close down gaps and get in front of riders - a new fun added dimension to the race overall!! The last lap was a case of keeping the pace high and checking on the chasing Dean Morgan. I kept some in reserve for any potential sprint but in the end although he closed the gap I had built enough in the early stages to come across the line in second place – only 1 min 21 secs behind Hoppy which was pretty encouraging considering I had a manic few weeks of work and not enough riding. The Stumpy 29er performed faultlessly as always - the perfect race machine! Two weeks to the first Brass Monkey – im going for the 4 hour option and looking forward to them all! Results for the day (apologies if I missed any one) and well done to all the racers Supervet Matt Craner 2nd Jon Pierce 4th Jesse kelly 19th Fun Mike Burton 50th Sport Martin Turton 3rd Youth Reg Pey 2nd Open Matt wood 64th Posted by Matt Craner.