The West Drayton MBC are pleased to announce that on October 20^th they will be once again running their popular Autumn off Road Duathlon to be held once again at Black Park Country Park, Near to Slough Berkshire.

Cross Country racing has now been held at this venue for a number of years with this being the 3^rd year the duathlon event has been held, the event will follow the tried and tested format with distances being a 3 mile run followed by a 12 mile bike leg and then a further 3 mile run to finish.

With the help of the rangers from the park the club have been allowed to open up some new tracks and as always there will be a few new surprises as the course continually evolves and although mainly a flat circuit the bike section features, a mixture of forest tracks, twisting single track and few bomb holes!

The event is being supported by the West Drayton MBCs long time club sponsors Beyond Mountain Bikes www.beyondmountainbikes.com with additional support from www.Triathlon.co.uk  and www.goape.co.uk   Last years winners Jim McConnel and Maddie Horton are expected back to defend their titles.

Race categories are Male/Female, Male/Female Vets and teams, Male/Female/Mixed

On line entry is available now at www.blackparkraces.co.uk

Further details chris@westdraytonmbc.co.uk

Also a big thanks to Bucks County Council for the use of the venue.

Pictures of last years event are available here

http://hertfordshireeventphotography.co.uk/photocart/index.php?category=57

Race Report Beyond Mountain Bikes Black Park Duathlon

As the promoting club made the final preparations for the event in the morning, the heavens opened with thunder and lighting in the air, it was looking pretty ominous for the event and no doubt a number of likely competitors rolled over in their duvets and decided today was going to be a duvet day..

Those that did make the journey to this venue, renowned as a film location and home to mountain biking for a number of years were rewarded for their bravery, for as the start time approached with impeccable timing the rain stopped and their was a mixture of sunshine and clouds for the whole event.

Those on the start line included defending champion Jim McConnel ,local top athlete Rick Featherston but the star name in the field was Ex Terra winner Ian Leitch looking very lean as he racked his bike.

The event started of with a 3 mile run and it was no surprise to see Leitch appeared at the transition area 1^st, not far behind was Andy Weanes with McConnel doing his best to defend his title in 3^rd,the leading lady at this stage was Elle Gosling in a close tussle with Fay Cripps.

On to the bike and Leitch showed he was able to master the course which was a combination of fast forest tracks and tight single track. After a slow 1^st Lap on the bike McConnel started matching Leitch on the bike as he moved into second but into the final run Leitch produced a series of sub 6 minute miles to take victory. McConnel came in second but had the consolation of finishing 1^st in the veterans class., next to finish was Featherstone for 2^nd in the vets with Nigel Grantham, Pedal On completing the podium. Weanes could not match his run speed on the bike and finished 4^th overall to take 2^nd in the open category with GS Henleys Gavin Spiers 3^rd.

In the ladies class Fay Cripps soon showed her class on the bike overhauling early pace setter Gosling and cruised around the last run for a comfortable win with Southdown Velo team mate Julia Hammond taking 2^nd with Gosling dropping to 3^rd.In the Ladies veterans class Maggie Bryant took top spot from Vivian Tindley whilst Karen Sawkins this time paired with Jenny Zaremba took her 3^rd Ladies double title as they beat WDMBC team mates Jules Fox and Alison Donelan.

In the men’s pair it was also a 1, 2 for the promoting club the West Drayton MBC as Nicholas and Chris Try took the honours

With great timing soon after the prize presentations with some great prizes having being handed out thanks to sponsors Beyond Mountain Bikes, Go Ape and the Bucks Off Road Sportive the heavens once again opened but to late to spoil a great days racing.

Info for Riders

Although we recommend MT Bikes for the cycling section cross bikes are allowed and have been used in the past The venue has the advantage of hard standing car parking as well as proper toilets and on site catering For those bringing the family there is also Go Ape tree top adventure as well as Segways within the Park, the event is brought to you by long time promoters West Drayton MBC. There is an age limit of 16 years for the event. For pairs entry fee is per rider. Any Q's chris@westdraytonmbc.co.uk Updates will be sent to entered riders with final instructions sent out in the preceding week