Plan pays off for Gelsthorpe
JAMES Gelsthorpe’s ride was the highlight of Bourne Wheeler’s races at the National Cyclo-Cross Championships at Chantry Park, Ipswich, last weekend.
Racing in the senior event at the end of two days of racing, and up against the very best riders in the country, James put in a fantastic performance to finish 48th overall in only his second ever cyclo-cross race.
Despite a vicious pace over an extremely technical course, James stuck to his gameplan.
Despite starting right at the back of the 90 rider field, the Bourne rider picked rival riders off consistently throughout the hour long race.
Club coach Mark Botteley said: “A top 50 performance was a great achievement bearing in mind his inexperience at the discipline.
“One can only wonder how much higher up the field James would have finished if he’d had a full season at the sport.”
On the Saturday it was the youth and veterans who kicked off the championships.
First up for Bourne were Tim James and Maddie Gammons, and both rode incredibly well, with Tim coming in 9th in the U14 boys and Maddie 10th in the U14 girls.
Next up was Sian Botteley in the U16 girls race, who had shown terrific form in 2011. But she got off to a terrible start on Saturday - her worst of the season - and dropped right to the back of the 21 rider field. Undeterred, she surged through the field to eventually finish a very creditable 11th.
Last of the Bourne riders to compete was Mark Botteley, competing in the veterans’ race.
Despite being seeded 85th out of the 100 starters, and like James right at the back of the field as they set off, Mark surged through the field, overtaking riders all the way through the 40 minute race.
Mark crossed the finish line in 32nd place, 25 higher than last year.
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Weather for Bourne
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
