AFTER a week of plummeting temperatures and heavy snowfall the decision to run or cancel the WHEELBASE North of England CycloCross Championships was a close call, but guarantees from the Lake District National Park that Brockhole would be open and ready gave organisers the faith to give the event the green light.

Roads to the event were clear of snow and ice and the course was well prepared by the organiser Paul Loftus and his team from the Lakes Road Club.

The Youth riders were the first to hit the snowy Brockhole course at 10.30am and they tackled the frozen course with smiles on their faces and a mixture of running and riding to get around in the fastest time. Jake Womersley, Sowerby Brothers took the win.

It was then up to the budding Under-12 riders to clear the course of more snow ahead of the afternoons racing. Again, another good field of 20 plus enthusiastic riders took to the course with the win being taken by Thomas Mein, MTS Cyclesport over two minutes clear of his closest rival.

Noon saw the largest field of the event start with over 60 riders in the combined Junior, Ladies and Vets race. It was a great sight to see these riders stream off the start line with some riders progressing faster by sprinting through the snow on foot.

A succession of the distinctive black and green riders from local CycloCross team WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE lead out the Vets race to do battle in this very competitive league.

It was Noel Clough WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE who stayed out in front despite problems with iced up pedals to take a convincing win in front of Dan Cook, Planet X and Peter Middleton, Zepat Racing, with fellow team mate Dave Haygarth, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE coming over the line in forth.

Very shortly afterwards WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE got more glory in the Junior race with their new rising star Tom Armstrong punching the air in victory. The Junior race was very fast paced and Armstrong battled all the way with close rival Jack Clarkson, Pedalsport who finished less than 5 seconds down. Edward McParland, J D Cycles took third and Jack Humphreys also from WHEELBASE.co.uk/Cannondale landed forth spot.

Becky Preece, Red Rose Olympic won the Junior women’s race, with Kendal based Eve Dixon, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONALE in second.

SENIORS REPORT The freezing mist that had descended over the course lifted just in time for the race start of the Senior Mens race. The sun came out in a beautiful blue sky, highlighting snow covered Lake District hills as the backdrop for this quality CycloCross race.

The course was well packed down and very ridable from the previous races and it was all on for an epic battle.

Making the best of the thick snowed covered track was Pete Middlehurst, Cycle Premier/Metaltek followed by race favourite, Rob Jebb, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE who was already shouldering his carbon fibre Cannondale Super X bike and well into his stride.

Not getting a good start was current National Trophy Champion, Paul Oldham, Hope Racing. But just as Jebb claimed the lead off Middlehurst, so Oldham started to make up the ground he had lost at the start with a mechanical.

Jebb, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE turned up the gas and pushed on hard, opening up a gap on his challengers with Oldham soon pulling in to second place and chasing down Jebb.

Oldham soon showed why he is probably the best CycloCross rider in the country as he passed Jebb and began to open up a gap to take the victory, not daring to lift his hands from the bars as he crossed the line on the rutted finishing straight.

Jebb, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE rode hard in front of his sponsors and opened up a convincing gap for second place with Pete Middlehurst, Cycle Premier/Metaltek in third.

Post race British Cycling Interview with Rob Jebb, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE; “I got a good start, I enjoyed that, a running start in the snow which suited me. It was a real good course. I think it would be a good one without the snow but it was a fantastic one today. Really challenging and tricky and showed Paul’s excellent bike handling skills.”

Asked, did he feel any pressure because his team WHEELBASE.co.uk were the event sponsors, Rob replied “no. I do it for myself this sport, it’s hard enough as it is. What is good is that Wheelbase are real good sponsors who put a lot into the sport.”

“This looks really professional what they have done here today and I think they have done a fantastic job. I think it would be good for a National Trophy or Championships to come here. I think the courses around the country right now are a bit samy, fast and flat, not that technical.”

“Here, without the snow, there are good tarmac stretches, downhill, uphill, woods and so on; I think it would be a brilliant location.”

And Rob’s favourite section? “Probably the snowy bit that wasn’t too bad. I struggled through the pits and another bit where there was ice under the snow and I found that difficult but I really enjoyed it!”

Paul Oldham, Hope Racing (Men) and Victoria Wilkinson (Women) were crowned North of England Cyclo-Cross champions. The WHEELBASE North of England CycloCross Championships was one of the regional championships running in the England on the same weekend. The South of England Championship went ahead at Bicton Arena, Devon with Luke Gray, Hargroves Cycles out sprinting Adrian Lansley, Pedal-On on the line for the win in the Senior Men. WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE rider Mike Cotty came home in fourth, only seconds from the third place rider Crispin Doyle.

The Midlands CX Championships were cancelled due to heavy snow. Photo captions: All photography courtesy of Chris West Photography www.chriswestphotography.co.uk/ C75E7768: Dave Haygarth leads out the Vets at the WHEELBASE North of England CycloCross Champs. Photo: Chris West C75E7855: Vets winner Noel Clough, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE on the run up from the shore of Lake Windermere. Photo: Chris West C75E7885: Junior race winner Tom Armstrong, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE finds the speed in sub zero temperatures. Photo: Chris West C75E8459: Rob Jebb, WHEELBASE.co.uk/CANNONDALE tackling one of the most picturesque circuits in the UK. Photo: Chris West RESULTS (provisional): Youth 1 Jake Womersley Sowerby Brothers 3 00:24:47.8 2 Billy Harding Paul Milnes Bradford O RC 3 00:24:49.6 3 Chris Lawless Maxgear R T 3 00:25:04.3 4 Mike Thompson Richardsons C C 3 00:25:20.5 5 Edwyn Oliver Evans East Bradford CC 3 00:27:01.0 6 Sebastian Marsh Paul Milnes Bradford Olympic 3 00:28:31.6 7 Ben Pygott Pedalsport C C 3 00:29:13.3 8 Christian Braybrooke Sportcity Velo 3 00:29:19.7 9 Samuel Roper BCPM 3 00:29:25.2 10 James Edmond Ferryhill Wheelers MH RT 3 00:30:08.3 11 Joe Dransfield Wakefield Jn Tri 3 00:30:31.6 12 Ashley Clitheroe Red Rose Olympic 3 00:30:34.4 13 Andrew Nixon Red Rose Olympic 3 00:30:44.7 14 Zoe Armstrong Bill Nickson Cycles RT 3 00:30:54.6 15 Robert Armstrong Bill Nickson Cycles RT 3 00:31:47.0 16 Oliver Payton Cycle Sport Pendle 3 00:31:55.6 17 Alexander Braybrooke Sportcity Velo 3 00:33:11.2 18 Christopher Barnes Seacroft Wheelers 3 00:33:34.1 19 Adam Hartley Eastlands Velo 3 00:33:36.9 20 Matthew Walls Eastlands Velo 3 00:34:13.0 21 Jessica Wilkinson Birkrnhead Northend CC 3 00:34:18.9 22 Amira Mellor Holme Valley Wheelers 3 00:36:48.8 23 Joe Westwood Red Rose Olympic 2 00:25:44.8 24 Emma Brady MTS Inkland Sport 2 00:25:54.2 25 Ben Dransfield Wakefield Jn Tri 2 00:29:52.7 26 Joseph Parker Crosstrack 2 00:30:00.9 Under 12 1 Thomas Mein MTS Cyclesport 4 00:12:07.5 2 George Taylor 4 00:14:01.4 3 Mark Donovan Border City 4 00:14:05.2 4 Nathan Hawthorn Cyclesport Pendle 4 00:14:09.7 5 Joe Armstrong Border City Wheelers 4 00:14:13.2 6 Lewis Hartley Eastlands Velo 4 00:15:05.4 7 Kim Baptista Eastlands Velo 4 00:15:12.0 8 Matthew Braybrooke Eastlands Velo 4 00:15:41.2 9 Jacob Feetham Wakefield Tri 3 00:12:32.3 10 Jenson Young Pedalsport 3 00:13:19.6 11 Matthew Egglestone Border City Wheelers 3 00:13:25.4 12 Tyla Loftus Cogset 3 00:14:23.6 13 Anna Armstrong Border City 3 00:14:26.7 14 Matthew Baptista Eastlands Velo 3 00:14:33.6 15 Adam Nelson 3 00:15:00.7 16 Simeon Young Pedalsport 3 00:16:05.0 17 Marcus Hiley Pedalsport 3 00:17:03.7 18 Matthew Turner Cycle Sport Pendle 2 00:09:52.7 19 Chloe Loftus Cogset 2 00:13:58.6 20 Tom Martin Future Furness Flyers 1 00:05:40.3 Junior 1 Thomas Armstrong Wheelbase.co.uk Cannondale 6 00:40:56.1 2 Jack Clarkson Pedalsport CC 6 00:41:01.8 3 Edward McParland J D Cycles Ilkley 6 00:42:40.9 4 Jack Humphreys Wheelbase- Cannondale 6 00:44:23.9 5 Nicholas Barnes Zepat Racing Team 6 00:46:31.2 Junior - Women 1 Becky Preece Red Rose Olympic 5 00:47:19.9 2 Eve Dixon Cog Set 3 00:41:39.3 Senior - Women 1 Victoria Wilkinson BC PM 5 00:41:57.5 2 Nikola Butler Pedalsport CC 5 00:49:25.5 Veteran 40 plus 1 Noel Clough Wheelbase.co.uk Cannondale 6 00:42:20.7 2 Dan Cook Planet X 6 00:42:33.0 3 Peter Middleton Zepat Racing Team 6 00:43:58.9 4 Jonathan Watson Charge Bikes 6 00:44:53.3 5 Dave Haygarth Wheelbase.co.uk Cannondale 6 00:44:57.2 6 Julian Hodgson Pedalsport CC 6 00:45:40.8 7 Stephen Barnes Zepat Racing Team 6 00:46:29.3 8 John Mein Derwentside CC 6 00:47:32.1 9 Mick Style Manchester Wheelers 6 00:47:59.7 10 Mike Young Pedalsport C C 5 00:41:14.6 11 Dean Smith St HelensCRC 5 00:41:26.0 12 Keith Ashbridge Velo Club Cumbria 5 00:41:33.7 13 Richard Allen Here Come the Belgians 5 00:41:35.2 14 Chris Young Wheelbase.co.uk Cannondale 5 00:42:22.0 15 Sean Beswick Buxton CC 5 00:42:57.0 16 David Jennaway York 5 00:45:02.0 17 Timothy Evans East Bradford CC 5 00:45:11.9 18 Ian Chapman Moonglu RT 5 00:45:16.8 19 Sean Hoban VC Cumbria 5 00:45:19.9 20 Carl Nelson Rossendale 5 00:45:29.3 21 Kevin Hoban Honister 92 5 00:45:38.5 22 Ian Kendal Liverpool Century RC 5 00:47:10.2 23 Adrian Nelhams BC PM 5 00:47:12.0 24 Graham Theobald BCPM 5 00:47:16.4 25 Graham Piccavey Huddersfield 5 00:49:06.5 26 Mark Turner Here Come the Belgians 5 00:49:51.4 27 Clive Wilkinson Birkrnhead Northend CC 4 00:41:52.8 28 Jamie Brady Tyne & Wear Fire Service 4 00:42:12.7 29 Ed Cooper Tyne & Wear Fire Service 4 00:46:17.5 30 Ian Vatter Cockermouth 4 00:51:51.6 Veteran 50+ 1 Pete Wilkin Fietsen Tempo/ Chapters 6 00:48:18.9 2 Clifford Featherstone MTS Iwilland 5 00:43:08.9 3 Duncan Stewart Keswickbike.co.uk 5 00:43:12.7 4 Ray Pugh Liverpool Mercury ( Dolan ) 5 00:45:01.5 5 Mick Speirs Horwich CC 5 00:45:10.4 6 Simon Cunningham Manchester Wheelers 5 00:45:33.6 7 Graham Kennerley Lancaster C C 5 00:46:52.5 8 Paul Andrews Lancaster CC 5 00:47:14.6