Biketreks Racing Team

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10 Oct 2011

Horwich CC Cyclocross at Leverhulme Park
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Photo courtesy of C. Jackson.

From blistering heat to mud, rain and wind at Leverhulme park - Proper cyclocross conditions on what was a well designed course.

Biketreks Racing Team's John Dodgin and Nic Bertrand competed in the Senior event. After a good start and riding comfortably in the top 15 John unfortunately had to pull out because of a rolled tubular tyre. Nic once again didn't have a great start but was, relatively speaking, happy how he felt his riding was progressing from the previous week finishing in 33rd place, one lap down on race winner Nick Craig (Scott UK). Results on North West Cyclocross Association website.

Many thanks to Horwich CC for a great event.

We are all looking foward to a double week-end of cyclocross racing including Rapha Supercross on 15th October at Brockhole Lake District Visitor Centre on the shores of Lake Windermere - ideal opportunity for all to try your hand at cyclocross and watch some good racing.
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3 Oct 2011

Velocity Cross Clayton Vale
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Biketreks Racing Team at Clayton Vale Cyclocross - Photos courtesy of SportSunday.co.uk

The first cyclocross event of the season for the Biketreks Racing Team took place at Clayton Vale in Manchester on Saturday 1st of October, raced by Nic Bertrand and John Dodgin. The race organised by Velocity is part of the North-West Cyclocross Association's league series. The venue saw a good turnout of riders for the youth and senior races who braced themselves for unseasonally warm and sunny conditions - so much for cyclocross being a winter cyclesport!

The Clayton Vale circuit could be classed as 'not a traditional cyclocross course', with pretty much all singletrack and very little room for passing slower riders the start off the line was all important. Also mixed into this fun loop was gravel, steps, a sandpit and long finishing straight consisting of energy sapping soft wet ground.

A chaotic start to the race saw over 110 riders all jockeying for position into a strech of track no wider than 4-5 riders and an inevitable crash occured, with riders going down in front of them both Nic and John where delayed and spent the majority of the race chasing back through the field passing slower riders by using the limited parts of the course wide enough for overtaking. By the end of the race John had managed to work his way up to 19th position and was left wondering what he could have achieved if his start had gone better - something to work on for next week! Meanwhile Nic started to find a good rythm two laps into the race in the opressive heat finishing an eventual 43rd (Must do bettter!) - one lap down on race winner Giles Dake. (REPORT & FULL RESULTS)

Our Biketreks riders are looking to build on this through the coming weeks and months, after a successful road season the team are looking forward to using the discipline of cyclocross to keep having fun over the winter, give themselves high intensity workouts and improve bike handling for road racing next season.

Many thanks to Andy and the team at Biketreks as well as Specialized for their continued logistical and financial support for the team, the Biketreks riders look forward to racing on the excellent Specialized CruX cyclocross bikes throughout the season.

As we've come to expect at North West cyclocross races, there are also many superb photographs that capture the moment and the effort rather well courtesy of SportSunday photographers David and Laura:

- Under 12s

- Under 16s

- Seniors, Vets, Women and Juniors
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9 Sep 2011

Lancaster CC Jubilee Tower Hill Climb
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Another good turnout at Lancaster Cycling Club's 2nd round of the hill climb club championships. 26 riders, young and old, raced against the clock and gravity on the other side of the Quernmore valley, Jubilee Tower. Weather conditions were favorable to see reasonable times on the night with a weakening tail/crosswind pushing the riders up the steeper part of the incline.

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4 Sep 2011

Great Season Finale for the Biketreks Racing Team at CDNW Bashall Eaves
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John Dodgin, CDNW Road Race League Champion 2011

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2 Sep 2011

Lancaster Cycling Club Hill Climbs - Round 1: Condor Bottoms
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Biketreks Racing Team's Nic on Condor Bottoms (Thanks to Ken Roberts for the photo)

Ahhhh Hill Climbs!!! One of those love/hate relationships! Every single time there is a certain degree of incredulity about how such a short race can be one of the most stressful / painful yet exhilerating and addictive activities one can do on a bike.

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29 Aug 2011

CDNW Bickerstaffe
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CDNW Bickerstaffe, promoted by Southport CC, the penultimate race in the Cycling Development North West road league was held on Saturday 27th August 2011 . John Dodgin and Nic Bertrand made the trip to Merseyside. The race went well for the the team with a positive race right from the outset despite the very wet and windy conditions. The race saw numerous attemtps to get away but all were foiled by a fast moving bunch. 13 and 3/4 laps later and the bunch sprint was won by Wayne Greenhalgh of Maxgear RT. John rolled in 4th position, comforting his lead in the CDNW league. Nic finished in 6th position making this his 2nd top 10 finish in less than a week.

As usual, thanks go to Marshalls, CDNW officials and helpers who have made this event enjoyable and a success.

All minds are set for the final event around the long Bashall Eaves circuit next Sunday.

Also this week, look forward to grabbing some outstanding bargains. With the road season being over soon, the Biketreks Racing Team bikes are going to be advertised on this very site: Three top end Specialized Tarmac road bikes and one Transition Pro TT bike.

Top 10:
1. Wayne Greenhalgh maxgear rt
2. James Warren Bill Nickson RT
3. David Crowley Bill Nickson RT
4. John Dodgin Biketreks RT
5. Jason Livesey Airevalley RT
6. Nicolas Bertrand Biketreks RT
7. Simon Deeley Southport CC
8. Eldon Garnett teamwallis chh
9. Andrew McCleod Lancs Road Club
10. Philip Knupfer manchester wheelers
Results on VeloUK

Photos by Energy Pics Photograpgy HERE
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22 Aug 2011

CDNW Oakenclough
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The Cycling Development North West Road League continued in its stride with the 15th Event at Oakenclough on Sunday 21st of August. Biketreks Racing Team's Kieren Banlin raced with the E/1/2s. John Dodgin and I, Nic Bertrand, raced the support race in the 3 & 4 categories.

Results on VeloUK

Pictures by Phillip Harrison (More here)
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In the Cat 3/4 race, John consistently looked strong at the front of the bunch. My own race plan was simple: hide near the front and may be grab some placing at the end but also watch for moves from riders who would appear to be a threat to John's current lead in the League. I wouldn't call that a very confident game plan but after all, I was coming back from a traumatic CDNW Dolphinholme race on the previous Sunday where I was feeling comfortable right up until I blew spectacularly as we crossed the line onto the last lap. So traumatic that no trace of a race report from Dolphinholme RR is to be found on this site. Fact that goes a long way to show that enjoyable riding around Provence, even if it includes hill repeats on Mont Ventoux does not really prepare you for road racing up short and steep climbs.

Anyhow, back to Oakenckough RR :-) The race started fairly steady with the notably exception of Sandy Lockett (Lune RCC) going out straight from the gun and gaining 30sec advantage over the bunch. Only to be taken down by a muddy corner. The race continued steady until the 2nd lap when four riders got away mid way up the main Oakenclough climb. No real chase got organised so the gap grew up to 1min10s. The four riders in the breakaway ultimately remained clear of a rather thinned out bunch of 13 riders by about 30 seconds. In the galop to the finish John crossed the line in 11th place and I grabbed two BC points finishing in 9th position. 17 finishers out of 41 starters. A sure sign of selective race.

In the Elite race, Kieren finished a lap down showing how brutal the racing had been in that race too.

Many thanks to CDNW Officials, Marshalls, Cleveleys Road Club and other helpers for putting on a great race for the North-West racing calendar. Thanks to Keith and other friends for the support on the side of the road.

Pictures by Chris Holmes on Flickr:
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5 Jul 2011

CDNW Tour of Blackpool photos and results
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Many great photos from the Tour of Blackpool event organised by Cycling Development North West on 2nd of July by Neil Hendry, Martyn Bowes and Tony Whittaker.

Only Nic of the Biketreks Racing Team raced in the Regional A (2/3/4 crit) in support of the National Women Series event. The races inauguarted this new closed circuit. Situated at the rear of the Palatine Sport Centre on St Anne's road, the cicrcuit is readily accessible. The shape of the circuit is similar to Salt Ayre but with much tighter corners including a sharp hairpin on the northern end of the circuit. This makes the Blackpool circuit somewhat more technical and demanding as this requires sprint efforts on every laps.

Results:
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3 Jul 2011

3 peaks cyclocross 2011
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After about a month of deliberation*, I have put my name down for the 3 peaks cyclocross on 1st of July, day of pre-entries starting. John and Gaz but also Biketreks Supremo Andy will hopefully be racing. John's preparation started today with an off-road ride over Salter Fell. I opted to kick off the celebrations with a hike to the top of Barbon Fell. On the bike or off the bike, Barbondale is special. Perfect day for it too. This is the first in a series of posts that will build up to the race itself on 25th of September.

Nic

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1 Jul 2011

Hospice Hill Climb Series Rd 2: Gamswell Hill. John Dodgin on top
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'Hill Climbs are a funny branch of cyclesport.' Anonymous

For those who are not familiar with the format: Someone finds an infamous hill and organises a timed climb from a designated start line to another designated finish line. Riders sign in get a number, pay a modest fee, and then proceed to climb the said hill against the clock at 1 minute intervals. The format is simple. It is accessible to anyone. It is also great to watch and an ideal event for sports photographers to capture faces and bodies in full effort.

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More photos courtesy of Connor Furness's sister on Barrow Central Wheelers Website and Results

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