End of Season Madison | SBCI Cricket Club, Sowerby Bridge
Sunday 5 February 2011 |
The traditional Yorkshire end of season Madison was very nearly a victim of the overnight snows which swept through the region bringing travel chaos with it.
However, the day of the race itself dawned clear and still and with the roads having been cleared overnight a hardy 16 riders turned up to find conditions ideal for racing, with a thin layer of snow over frozen ground.
The teams are carefully chosen to provide something of a level playing field, with faster and more experienced riders paired with younger and less “illustrious” partners.
With several families boasting more than one rider in the race, rivalry and banter were the order of the day as the 30 minute race began.
Levi Moody powered into an early lead before handing over to his partner Adam Bailey. But by lap two Nick Barnes and young Paul Asquith had moved to the front, just ahead of Nick’s father, Steve, and his partner Joe Parker. Another team making progress was that of Vet Giles Bailey and Junior Benny Pygott.
Whilst Nick Barnes and Paul Asquith gradually took control of the race, Steve Barnes and Joe Parker had to give best to the Bailey-Pygott combo on lap four.
Despite a few scares and some pretty hairy bar-to-bar racing from the Barnes family in particular, that is how it stayed to the end, with Nick and Paul taking the win, Benny and Giles second and Steve and Joe third.
Pie and peas followed in the adjacent SBCI cricket club pavilion, with prizes for the winners and all under-12 riders. It was a fittingly low-key and enjoyable end to another remarkable season of racing in Yorkshire, with continued increase in rider numbers and organisers queuing up to hold events in both the summer and winter series run by the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Association.
And Cyclo-Cross racing returns to the region in early May with the first of an extended summer series on Wednesday evenings.
Results
1. Nick Barnes (Zepnat) & Paul Asquith (East Bradford) 9 laps in 28:53
2. Benny Pygott (Pedalsport) & Giles Bailey (Huddersfield Star Wheelers)
3. Steve Barnes (Zepnat) & Joe Parker (East Bradford)
4. Chris Barnes (seacroft Wheelers) & Jamie Asquith (East Bradford)
5. Craig Moody (Pedalsport) & Chris Parker (East Bradford) @ 1 lap
6. Chris Young (Wheelbase) & Alex Bailey (Huddersfield Star Wheelers) @ 1 lap
7. Martin Silkstone (TTIG) & Matt Asquith (East Bradford) @ 1 lap
8. Levi Moody (Pedalsport) & Adam Bailey (Huddersfield Star Wheelers) @ 1 lap
