Manchester Wheelers ‘Cross 2012: Preview
Preview just in from Mick Style …
So next up the Manchester Wheelers Cross Race up at Bogart Hole Clough, Blackley, Manchester, M9 7DF on Sunday 14th October.
There is good parking available at the Visitor’s Centre and out on Charlestown Road but please don’t park in the loop where the buses turn around at the entrance to the car park. As usual take care of all your bikes and kit, especially on the back/top of cars.
Signing-on is at the Visitor’s Centre as usual and will open at 10.00. League Riders – please don’t forget your numbers! The order of play is as follows and the usual rules apply – please do not warm up on any part of the course being used for the Youth Race (full course) and for the Under 12s and 10s who will race on a smaller loop.
Youth 11.30 30 mins £6.00 Under 12’s 12.30 15mins Free Under 10’s 1pm 15mins Free Senior/Junior/Vet/Women 2pm 1 hour £11.00*
*£3 surcharge for non BC members applies.
Many thanks to Maxgear who are supplying prizes for the Youth and Under 12’s/10’s.
For those wanting refreshments, there is a community café just two minutes walk past the Athletics track, across the boating lake and they do the usual (very well priced) teas, coffees, sandwiches etc. Ian Bury will be joining us again on the PA for some wry observations, choice words of encouragement and a bit of relevant race info here and there!
There will be one set of pits at the start finish/area – the same as last year. The course will be the same one as we ran last year with the field start, tracks in the wooded areas, section of tarmac, couple of descents in the woods, the bottom path (which was muddy and wet at the MTB race in August and will be the same for our race), steps run-up, tough tarmac climb, more fields and roots, run-up a bank, finish area and jump boards, freshly painted in Wheelers club colours! A word of warning – this summer’s rain has eroded more topsoil than usual and the roots are more prominent and exposed this year so please a) be careful they don’t throw you off and b) have a think about tyre pressure if you’re running clinchers as there may be more danger of pinch flats. Try and pre-ride the course and we’ll try and highlight some of the worst ones but the spray may get obscured in the mud pretty quickly! That said, I rode the course on Sunday and it’s still good, bit muddier than last year, but this IS cross!
Bikes and rock n roll go together, right? Yeah, man. Well anyone is welcome to join some of us for an after-race party at the Waterside Arts Centre in Sale where the Peatbog Faeries are playing. If you’re interested in a bit of a mad Sunday evening rather than sipping studiously on your ReGo, then tickets and information here –
http://watersideartscentre.co.
I hope that you all enjoy the day and I look forward to seeing you down at BHC!
Mick