Occasionally I will wander away from covering cycling related events. I have been known to do the odd wedding or baby portrait but this season I seem to have developed a whole new string to my bow. Through my association with Dark and White Events and their sportives I have had the opportunity to get involved with trail running . Now I wasn’t a bad cross country runner in my youth so this type of event floats my boat somewhat. It also helps that the events are all held in the glorious Peak District with its stunning scenery and idyllic villages. I am definitely up for this kind of gig on a weekend.

Great Organisation Typifies Any Dark and White Event

One of the most appealing factors in the running events is that you can clearly see the competitors faces. This is not a criticism of cyclists as shades and a helmet are a necessity for their events. Not so the runners, and this reveals the character and gives an insight into how the race is going for them ie showing pain, joy etc.

Smiles All Round

The competitors are, almost to a person, happy and generally delighted to be there and the banter I have with them is as good as I have had in any event over the years.

And so it was to my third one of the season on the 18th of June, a mere 26km (11km for the shorter route) along the Tissington trail and its surrounds near to Ashbourne.

The course was perhaps not as brutal as the other races I have covered this year (or at least the section I was patrolling) and the weather seemed just about right-temperatures in the mid teens and an unfulfilled threat of rain hanging in the air.

Almost three hundred competitors took to the start line in Ashbourne with approximately 200 tackling the long course and 100 on the shorter one. The start was staggered in groups to avoid a huge scramble at the outset with the first runners getting underway at 8:30am

One thing that struck me was the amount of runners who had dogs in tow. Now you don’t see that at a bike event do you?!

Dog Day Afternoon

I snapped the runners both in the village of Thorpe close to the Peveril of the Peak hotel and also along the Tissington Trail. The trail is superb for offroad adventure and was busy with walkers, runners, cyclists and horses. I guess this is typical and the lack of any motorised traffic makes it safer and a lot more relaxing.

The runners that came down what was called section two of the trail were on their second passage just before Thorpe having turned off the first time to take in the delights of the river path in Dovedale. That would have been my ideal spot for shots but would have meant forgoing photos of the folk on the shorter run which I wasn’t going to do.

Come midday the last few went past me, all still smiling and making the most of this great event and I headed off to get some editing done.

I have a few more of these on the cards this season and am looking forward to the next one and there are a few regulars who are becoming familiar to me and vice versa. It’s all good

To view/buy photos from the day the full set is online chrismeadsphotography

Out on the Trail

Round 2 of the ever excellent Midweek MTB Madness series of 2016 took place on Thursday evening at Chorlton Water Park, (yes, sorry about the title but every pun intended). A large field of mixed abilities spent an hour in this sunless, humid and dusty desert of South Manchester.

Charles Dennison of Manchester Wheelers organised an excellent event with a course which had everything for everybody-ups, downs, gravel, grass, woods, midges, and the unique atmosphere of a midweek crowd fresh from work and raring to go.

The great interest in the mens event was the anticipated duel between established star Giles Drake (Leisure Lakes) and the young upstart snapping at his heels, Will Lewis (High Peak Cycles RT). This did not disappoint and from the the off the pair established a joint lead that was never going to be challenged. Indeed as they went through the finish line for the first time the distance they had over third place was quite staggering. Drake knew he was in a battle and effort and exertion was written all over his face.

Drake shows the strain as he keeps Lewis at bay

As the race progressed Lewis seemed comfortable to sit an extremely close second wheel, high skills from Lewis and great respect to Drake for setting the pace and trying to shake the youngster off. The elastic finally snapped on the last lap when the greater experience of Drake and his endurance hardened legs allowed him to steal away and grab the victory by a couple of seconds. It was close and on another day a reversal of this result will happen.

As the winner crossed the line so the other weary racers trailed in, faces caked with dust and, by the sounds of one or two, lungs also!

In the womens event Becky Preece (Leisure Lakes), fresh from her victory at the North of England Champs,stormed unchallenged to the win. She is a class act and was on another level to the others here. She is now well on track to take the overall series honours, even at this early stage. Both Becky and Giles are competing in  Powys this weekend in round four of the National Cross Country series. They will both put up a good showing and should a mixed tandem event ever be introduced will surely be world champions! Actually I could have hit onto something there.

Becky Preece winning even with her eyes closed!

So a great evening of racing and as the field made their way home in the fading light of an early Summer evening there were plenty of stories being swapped and backs being patted. Makes a welcome change to Coronation Street. Wonder how Norris’s roof is?

                                              The Men’s Podium: Giles Drake, Will Lewis and Christian Smith

                                          The Women’s Podium Becky Preece, Alison Rushton and Sarah Harris

and as with all Midweek MTB Madness races thanks to the sponsors there are plenty of prize winners

Round three of this series, scheduled for Sutton Manor, has unfortunately been cancelled due to a lack of parking spaces. The series will be poorer for not having this particular event as last years was a cracker.

The next bout of Madness will therefore be on 7th July at Beacon Country Park. It seems like ages to wait but it’ll be here before you know it.

Alice Sharpe is a recent convert to road racing having moved across from triathlon where she has enjoyed a great deal of success, including a top ten in last years Nationals.

First spotted by Sunsport Velo WRT team manager Tony Orrell at the Tameside Crits Alice was signed up to the Sunsport roster and has shown great promise in her first season on the road, culminating in her being crowned the British University Road Race Champion last month. She is currently racing for Sunsport in the Matrix Fitness Tour Series where a string of consistent finishes and a showing in the intermediate sprints has made her the teams main points winner by a long way.

Prior to the Stoke on Trent round of the Matrix Fitness Series we caught up with Alice for a quick q and a to find out who she is

• Name…………………. Alice sharpe 
• Age……………………. 22 
• Hometown…………. Cambridge 
• Live…………………… Manchester 
• How long have you been cycling………… I’ve been doing triathlon since I was 11 , but decided to focus on cycling and racing this season. 
• Career highlight so far………………. Erm, well my cycling ‘career’ hasn’t really start yet … But I think getting to ride the Lincoln GP, it’s such a prestigious race with the chance to race against  some big names. 
• Biggest influence on your cycling………… My friend Rob, we are out training together most days (he loves to drop me on the hill) and he gives top advice! 
• What are your ambitions in the sport…………… To continue training and racing (and enjoying it) to become the best athlete I’m capable of becoming. 
• Who do you most admire outside of cycling………….. Sheryl Sandberg (C O O Facebook)
• Away from cycling what would be your career……… Events planner. I studied sports management at university and aspire to run works class sports event. 
• You’re stranded on a desert island with three famous people (dead or alive) of your choice. Who are they…………. Mary Berry, Serena Williams and Bear Grylls 

• Adele or Pierce the Veil
  

  Alice Sharpe topping Michaelgate, Lincoln GP

• Pizza or Salad
• Dogs or Cats
• Eastenders or Corrie

• Suffering, I like long flat drags. 

Look out for Alice on the road (and currently on the tv) and the way she is heading I would say that triathlons loss is cyclings gain.

Follow Alice on twitter @Alice557

Womens cycling has made a stellar leap in profile over the last couple of years. The calendar has increased dramatically and thanks to increased television coverage advertisers and sponsors are latching onto the fact that it is a great shop window for their wares.

The Tour Series is one of the leaders in this field and piggy backing onto the established success of the mens events the Womens Matrix Fitness series is now a firm favourite with the watching public. Indeed several of the leading riders are establishing themselves as household names to the viewer, the likes of Alice Barnes, Nikki Juniper and, with no introduction necessary, Dame Sarah Storey.

It is no mean achievement that first year team Sunsport Velo have not only put themselves up for the challenge but are rapidly making a name for themselves and competing on an even footing with some of the more established and heavyweight set ups.

In the previous round at Redditch Alice Sharpe took 13th place and a hatful of points and in the process elevated Sunsport into a creditable 6th position overall and tonights line up of Alice Sharpe, Jane Hellewell, Josie Knight, Anoushka Edwards and Maddy Scott looked professional and ready for action during the warm up.

Alice, Anoushka,Jane,Maddy,Josie

A testing course and a strong field in Stoke on Trent was going to make it difficult to maintain that position but talking to the team beforehand it was clear that they had the bit between their teeth and would be up for the test.

The race was held in warm and pleasant early Summer conditions, not too hot and not damp under wheel either. Racing was fast from the outset and even on the opening couple of laps many girls were distanced under the hammer of Sarah Storeys Podium ambition squad, the Drops team led by Alice Barnes and Nikki Juniper of Team Ford Ecoboost. Two distinct factions formed within the field and the second group contained Alice Sharpe, Maddy Scott and Anoushka Edwards. Jane Hellewell and Josie Knight seemed to be feeling the pace along with probably half of the other riders.

As the race wore on with predictable dominance from the leading teams and an eventual victory by Claire Rose of Podium ambition Alice seemed to grow stronger. She eventually finished in a lofty 12th position and helped herself to a handful of those all important points. Maddy, looking completely unruffled throughout the race bagged a few points also and the overall posiiton was maintained.

For some it was a baptism of fire. Crit racing is tough and we caught up with Jane Hellewell afterwards to get her thoughts.

“The race can be summed up in three words- overwhelming, exciting and FAST!
It was my biggest race so far. I am very new to racing and only started racing this season, so I was really thrown in at the deep end. Nevertheless I had a fantastic night and it was such a great experience. Running up to the race I felt relatively calm and i was doing a good job of managing my nerves.
However, the nerves did not stay away for long. As soon as we were lining up on the start the heavy beats of the music and the timer above that seemed to count down ridiculously slowly, rapidly raised my nerves. I was just itching to get going!”

“Once I found a group to sit comfortably in, I rode round absorbing as much of the atmosphere as I could. The crowds were amazing and really provided motivation to keep on pushing

My next race will be the NW road race championships tomorrow and yesterday’s race has really put me in a fantastic mind set to go in and give it a good smash!”

There now follows a further three rounds for the team in Stevenage, Croydon and Portsmouth. They are going from strength to strength and it is only a matter of time before a big result comes their way

COMING UP SOON   Sunsport at Stoke Photo Gallery