Author: Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Association

With just the final round of the 2022-23 Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Championships to come (Peel Park, Bradford, 2nd January 2023), we’ve had a quick look at all the Championship categories and tried to work out what’s at stake. Some categories are already settled, whereas some hang in the balance. Remember, a rider’s best five scores count towards the championships, with an ties being settled by the better performance in the final round (or most recent round one or other of the tied riders has competed in). We’ve only had a quick check of the scores and this list only aims to set up interest for the final round (i.e. don’t accept it as gospel – do your own checks if in doubt). The final standings will be checked and double checked before we hand out the awards in February.

The current standings can be found here

This is how we think things stand after round 7 of 8:

Under 14 Girls

• Clara McKee has secured 1^st overall.
• Lily Speak and Izabel Young are tied 2^nd and are likely to finish 2^nd and 3^rd overall, though Poppy Spencer could podium overall if she wins at Peel Park and Lily and Izabel don’t improve their overall scores.

Under 14 Boys

• George Hughes, Luke Trafford and Cormac Denwood can all finish 1^st overall, depending on the result at Peel Park, but these three riders will form the top 3 overall whatever happens.

Under 16 Girls

• Elena Green will come 1^st overall if Lola Stevenson does not finish first at Peel Park; but if she does, Elena needs to finish 4^th or better to secure 1^st overall and Lola would finish 2^nd overall.
• Lottie Stevenson would take 3^rd place overall if Eleina McFadden does not ride at Peel Park; but if she does either rider could finish 3^rd overall depending on how both finish.

Under 16 Boys

• Matthew Bell is currently leading the series, but he can be caught by Jamie Stewart if Jamie wins at Peel Park and Matthew 4^th is or worse.
• A further four riders are competing for 2^nd and 3^rd overall – Isaac Oliver, Magnus Denwood, Oliver Barker and Oscar Saxton can all mathematically podium, depending on the results at Peel Park of all six riders in the mix.

Junior Women

• Amy Mourne has secured 1^st overall.
• The remaining podium places are up for grabs between Ellie Harrison, Amelia Walton, Florence Whiteley, Floella Phillips and Freya Whiteside, depending on how each finishes at Peel Park.

Junior Men

• Rowan Baxter and Oscar Taylor have secured 1^st and 2^nd overall respectively.
• Four riders are competing for 3^rd place overall – Jack Parnaby, Alexander Robinson, Elliot Fraser and Joe Watkins-Wilson. However, Jack can secure 3^rd place overall with a third placed finish at Peel Park – but a high placed finish would see Joe as his only competition, with Joe needing to finish 4 places higher than Jack to steal 3^rd place overall.

Senior Women

• Victoria Peel has secured 1^st overall.
• Libby Greatorex will finish 2^nd overall unless Sophie Thackray finishes first at Peel Park, with Sophie taking 3^rd overall if not.

Senior Men

• Joe Barker will finish 1^st overall unless Jenson Young finishes 10^th or better at Peel Park, in which case even a win for Joe would see him take 2^nd overall.
• Other podium places could in theory be taken by Robin Godden, Matthew Lock, George Holland, Will Thompson or Lewis Ridley, depending on how they each finish or if they ride at Peel Park.

Vet40 Women

• Alison Kinloch has secured 1^st overall.
• A win or second place at Peel Park would be needed by Julia Oldroyd to take 2^nd place from Nikola Matthews, assuming Nikola finishes no better than 5^th at Peel Park.
• Lisa Green can also take 2^nd overall, but this would require a win or second place at Peel Park with Nikola finishing no better than fifth or Julia taking first place.
• All three therefore are in contention for 3^rd place overall, depending on their and each other’s Peel Park finishing position.

Vet40 Men

• James Sharp has secured 1^st overall.
• Richard Middleton, David Beachill, Nick Ashmore and Robert Thackray are all in contention for 2^nd and 3^rd place overall, depending on their finishing position or if they ride at Peel Park

Vet50 Women

• Liz Rylott can only be beaten for 1^st overall by Geri Gorton, but this would require Geri to win at Peel Park, or finish second and ahead of Liz.
• Similarly, Geri can only be beaten for 2^nd place overall by Rachel Lightfoot, but this would require Rachel to win at Peel Park, or finish second and ahead of Geri.
• Rachel cannot be beaten for 3^rd place overall, therefore will secure this placing at least.

Vet50 Men

• The top 3 is already decided, with Paul Nutton securing 1^st overall, Stefan Macina 2^nd and Michael Burdon 3^rd.

Vet60 Women

• Anthony Matthews has secured 1^st overall, and John Galway 2^nd overall.
• Stephen Walker, Timothy Beachill and Kevin Holmes are currently tied for 3^rd place overall – with too many permutations to describe!

Join us in celebrating the 2022/23 Cyclocross season at the YCCA Annual Dinner and Awards ceremony, hosted at Shipley Golf Club with a two course dinner and a chance to catch up with your friends and rivals!

All Youth (U14 & U16) and Adult category winners will receive their awards and trophies. Plus there are a couple of special awards, including best Yorkshire rider of the season.  

Event date: Sat 25 Feb 2023 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Venue: Shipley Golf Club, BD16 1LX
Tickets: £23.00 (U12 £12.50) 

Buy Tickets Here

Any queries, please email yccasocial@outlook.com

Detailed rider instructions have been emailed to all riders for the North of England Cyclo-Cross Championships – you can also view these instructions here

The Key Points (more details later in the document)

• Please use only a bucket and sponge/brush to clean your bike – jet/pressure washers of all kinds are not allowed.
• Please don’t park in the main car park at the leisure centre (we could lose the venue permanently if you do!)
• Please don’t ride on the tarmac road circuit at any time
• Your shoulder number is your grid position
• Please can we have help removing the course at the end of the day
• Have a great day – we’re looking forward to seeing everyone on the day!

Entries are still being taken for this traditional event on 19 Nov.

Race Entry: £8.00 Pre-entry only using the “purchase ticket” button below, closing date Fri 18th November 2022 6pm – more details via link below:

https://bingleyharriers.teamapp.com/clubs/567035/events/18489032-harriers-v-cyclists?_detail=v1&_expires_at=1667260799

Welcome to round 6 of the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross winter 2022 series.

Below are the things you need to know ahead of Round 6 of the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Championships at Graves Park, Sheffield on Sunday 13 November 2022.

KEY POINTS:

• PLAN YOUR PARKING – see below. Allow extra time to get parked and walk/ride to sign-on
• Pressure Washing – this is still not allowed. Buckets, water & sponges only, please!
• Please don’t use the public toilets as changing rooms (i.e. please keep them clean and avoid wearing muddy boots in there)
• Please help clear the course after the last race.

 

THE DETAILS

Race Day Schedule:

09.00 – 09.30 Practice for all Under-12 categories

09.45 UNDER-9 RACE (10 mins)

10.00 UNDER-12 RACE (15 MINS)

10.30 – 11.00 Practice for Youth (Under-14, Under-16) and Women categories

11.15 YOUTH RACE (30 mins)

12.00 WOMEN RACE (40 mins)

13.00 – 13.30 Practice for Men (Junior, Senior & all Vet) categories

13.45 VETERAN-50, VETERAN-60 MEN (40 mins)

14.45 JUNIOR, SENIOR, VETERAN-40 MEN RACE (50 mins)

Event HQ Location

Sat Nav address: 159 Cobnar Road, Norton Lees, Sheffield, S8 8QE – the race HQ is the park pavilion on your left immediately after turning into Cobnar Road.

What3words location – object.range.flying

PARKING – parking at this venue’s HQ is very limited. Please give yourself extra time to find somewhere to park. Please depart promptly to free us parking spaces once your race is finished.

There are several small car parks (some are pay and display) around Graves Park. There is also a very small car park at the event HQ (which you can use to drop off equipment). However, you may well find that parking on residential streets and then walking/cycling to the event HQ is your best option. As ever, please park with consideration – we would love to come back to this excellent venue!

Nearby streets in which you may be able to park include Derbyshire Lane, Hemsworth Road, Norton Lane, Charles Ashmore Road & Matthews Lane, but there are options all round this (very large) park.

NO PRESSURE WASHERS: No pressure washers on any kind are allowed on site (petrol, electric/battery, hand pressurised). This policy will remain in place until the hosepipe ban has been lifted in Yorkshire. Buckets, sponges, water are all welcome. Please help enforce this rule and remind any fellow competitors you see trying to use pressure washers.

RACING INSTRUCTIONS

1/ Sign-On – as usual simply pop to our sign-on table and collect your envelope that will contain your riders number and pins (left shoulder) and your timing ankle chip. Please sign on BEFORE you practice.

2/ Practice – All riders must sign on before practicing on the course. Please wear your chip and number if practicing. Your chip should be visible (i.e. worn over the sock) if you are practicing with clothing over your number. No one else is permitted to ride on the course with the exception of coaches with the appropriate qualification: British Cycling Level 2 Cyclo-Cross Award. This qualification will be displayed on your race licence and coaches wishing to ride the course should present their licence to the sign on team who will provide them with a temporary race number to display on their bike.

3/ Podiums – we will run podiums immediately after each race (except the under-9 podium, which is after the U12 race) in the vicinity of the finish area. Please listen for announcements and attend the podium if you think you finished top three in your category. There will be podiums for Under-9, Under-12, Youth Under-14, Youth Under-16, Juniors, Seniors, Vet-40, Vet-50 and Vet-60.

4/ Gridding for Youth and Adult Races (there is no gridding for Under-12/9 races) – your shoulder number is your grid number. Numbers one to ten will be on row one. Eleven to twenty on row two and so on. All Youth 14/16 and adult races are gridded based on results from the latest Championships standings. If you think you are inappropriately gridded, please approach the start commissaire to discuss. Please accept their decisions.

5/ Results will be posted here – http://results.smartiming.co.uk/ – Results queries – please email louise@smartiming.co.uk within 48 hours of the race. “Final” results and series standings will be posted later on our website https://yorkshirecyclocross.com/ along with series standings.

We hope you have a great day of racing. Thank you for supporting our series.

On the weekend of 15th and 16th of October the Yorkshire Cyclo Cross Association organised an overseas excursion for some of our up-and-coming Youth riders. The plan was to give them experience of cyclo cross racing as practiced in the sport’s heartland of Belgium, visiting events at Wuustwezel on the Saturday and Huesden-Zolder on the Sunday.

First job was meeting up at very early o’clock on the Friday with Chris Young our YCCA “Overseas Racing Organiser”. Once we’d gathered all the riders and the volunteer drivers/pit crews, we set off for the Channel Tunnel and from there travelled across to France and on to Belgium. We stayed on the outskirts of Brussels in Deigem, famous for its annual night race and a convenient base, with the two race venues no more than an hour’s drive each day.

The racers who made the trip were Oliver Barker, Eleina McFadden, Elena Green, Madeline Moorhouse-Smith, Luca Bednarek, Jamie Stewart, Noah Ellison and Mackenzie Riley – all of whom fitted neatly into Belgian age category U17. They were supported by Chris, coach Lisa Green, mechanic Kevin Smith and pit technician Ted Sarmiento.

First up was the two-day race event at Wuustwezel, with all the Youth races happening on the Saturday. The course was fairly flat but with a number of tricky technical sections including sand riding, ditches, lumps and other typical Belgian features. It was difficult not to be slightly distracted by all the plush motorhomes and all the young Tormans’ riders on show.

According to Maddie “the Wuustwezel course was technical and sandy with a grass start which then went up a very steep sandy banking. Later on in the course there was a large sand pit. Further on there was a slightly more muddy section in the woods which weaved up and down, with some steep, short climbs out of corners. Throughout the course there was also a lot of man-made bankings, which I found useful to get around other riders, as well as lots of ruts around corners.”

Maddie managed a very credible 4th in her category, just missing a podium spot with Oliver 18th, Eleina 15th, Elena 12th, Luca 19th, Jamie 23rd, Noah 30th and Mackenzie 12th.

An interesting facet of Belgian Youth racing is that all riders are given a random slot on the grid via an iPad app, no matter who they are. So our YCCA racers were scattered all over the start field. That said, the race winner was the local Belgian National Champion who “wins every week” according to our Flemish pit neighbours. No frites were available at this venue, only beer and hot dogs. That didn’t go down well: happily our riders’ frites cravings were satisfied on day two!

The Huesden-Zolder course weaved its way around all sorts of land including up someone’s driveway to create a tight and technical course that included a double flyover with staircase. The pit crew were treated to a ‘dubbel materialpost’ with jet washing facilities but the weather was more like summer ‘cross, so they were rarely used by any of the racers or helpers.

Again, from Maddie’s perspective “Heusden Zolder was even better. There was a grass start which the proceeded to go into a long section in the woods. The section in the woods was quite tight, making it hard to pass people, it also contained a lot of tree roots, some of which I bunny-hopped. After that we went through a sandy section with some tight corners, I personally found these corners hard at race pace as if you went too wide you ran out into the loose sand, however I got to grips with them as the race progressed. The course also contained a set of hurdles and two bridges, one of which had stairs on”.

This time Maddie made it onto the podium having worked hard throughout the race to just put sufficient distance into her Belgian rival on the day. Our other riders all did very well, with Mackenzie looking comfortable in the lead of the boys race until a flattening rear tyre, then a puncture set him back in the field. He recovered really well to take 13th. Other results: Oliver 51th, Eleina 12th, Elena 11th (and what a battle that was!), Luca 28th, Jamie 19th and Noah 22nd.

The trip was funded by the Mike Scott Memorial Fund and the British Cyclo-Cross Trust. All riders have thanked them for their amazing support. YCCA want to continue to provide opportunities for our younger racers to experience the Belgian racing scene and we will be promoting the donation page for the Fund more as we approach the race on the 2nd of January at Peel Park which this year YCCA have designated the Mike Scott Memorial race.

If you want to donate to see more of this, please follow the Just Giving link below: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mike-scott-fund

Welcome to round 2 of the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross winter 2022 series. As host club, Bronte Tykes CC would like to thank you for supporting our event and we hope you have a fun and successful day of racing.

There are a couple of points to draw to everyone’s attention. Firstly, as you know Myrtle Park is a long-standing fixture in the cross season and a number of riders know the venue well.

Parking at the park is restricted to small area by the town council buildings and street parking near the park entrance, please ensure that you park responsibly on the day and respect our neighbours. We will be opening the gates at 9am, so please don’t arrive any earlier.

Gazebos and warm-up area can be set up in the main event field, which is grass, but we won’t be allowing awnings and other space-eating set-ups in the car park. Please plan your warm-ups etc accordingly

Location:

Location of the park and limited parking.

Myrtle Park Bingley, Myrtle Grove, Bingley, BD16 2LQ

Additional street parking can be found on Beech Street, Sycamore Ave and adjoining street see map below.

Please remember no parking at Lidl

Please remember to not bare all to our neighbours after your race.

Road Closures In Bradford

he Epilepsy Action 10k running race is taking place in Bradford on the morning of our event. Roads in central Bradford and between Bradford and Shipley are going to be closed. If you are coming to our event from this direction, please have a look at their road closures info sheet – paste this link into your browser:

https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/sites/epilepsy/files/content-admin-uploads/Epilepsy%20Action%20Bradford%2010k%20-%20road%20closure%20information.pdf

Dear Rider,

As you might expect, the events of the last 24 hours have cast a shadow over this weekend’s opening event of our 2022-23 Cyclo-Cross Championships. Below are several important messages, all of which need to be read very carefully and given equal attention.

WE’RE GOING AHEAD

Following the death of the Queen, we have been in touch with British Cycling, who have given grass-roots events the green light to go ahead this weekend. We will be continuing to follow their guidance. Please keep an eye on your email in-boxes and our social media. We will let you know by these means if we have any updates. But, for the time being, please assume the event is ON.

As a mark of respect, we will not be running any podiums on Sunday and plan to hold a minute’s silence at the start of the races.

IMPORTANT – WE HAVE A CHANGE OF VENUE

Entirely coincidentally, we have been forced to move this weekend’s event from the intended venue – Bishop Burton College, near Beverley. The landowners have been concerned following recent rainfall at the venue and decided that the risk to their future equine events was too great and have cancelled our booking. We’re grateful to VC Beverley for all their efforts in putting the event together and we share their disappointment at the decision, which was entirely out of their hands.

Rather than cancel completely, we have been able to move the event to an alternative venue, the Hunsworth Showground, Hunsworth Lane, Bradford, BD4 6RN, just off the M62 Junction 26 Cleckheaton. You might recall that Shibden CC were able to use this venue when all others were unavailable to us during the covid restrictions, and we used this venue for a couple of summer races this year. Once again, Shibden CC have stepped in in our hour of need. They promise us a fresh course and have even moved in machinery to create some new challenges for us! The event schedule will remain the same and the event’s listing on the British Cycling website will be updated to reflect the change in venue.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IF YOU CAN’T/DON’T WANT TO RACE

We realise that Hunsworth is many miles from the original venue and that some riders may not wish to make the journey. We also understand that riders may not wish to race for other reasons.

We are therefore offering two options for all riders who decide not to race:

1/ A refund of your entry fee. Simply email ycca@hotmail.co.uk with your full name, race category, date of birth and British Cycling number and put the word “refund” in the subject line of your email. We will organise the refunds during next week. Deadline – please let us know by 9pm on Saturday 10^th September.

2/ Transfer your entry to a later event in the series. This option is slightly more complicated, given the uncertainty surrounding next week’s event at Bingley and its proximity to the Queen’s funeral. So we’d ask that you nominate to have you entry transferred to a later event from Round 3 onwards (full list of events is on our website homepage).

Again, please email us at ycca@hotmail.co.uk with your full name, race category, date of birth and British Cycling number and put the word “transfer” in the subject line of your email. Then simply let us know the date and round number of the event you want to have your entry transferred to. Deadline – please let us know by 9pm on Saturday 10^th September.

We will compile a full list of transfers and add them to the appropriate events as the events go live for entries. You will receive a confirmation email once this has happened. This may take a couple of weeks.

NO PRESSURE WASHERS AT EVENTS

As if things weren’t complicated enough, we’re also asking everyone not to use any kind of pressure washers at our events during the hosepipe ban in Yorkshire. Aside from the obvious need to do our bit to support the water-saving sacrifices we are all making, the bad PR likely to come from a public park full of jet-washers running at full blast doesn’t bear thinking about.

The ban includes all pressurised petrol or electric/battery powered washers and hand-pump pressurised units. This ban extends to all parts of our venues, including car parking areas. Please keep it simple and don’t bring them with you. We will disqualify riders who ignore this request.

Pitting and bike wash areas will be provided at events as usual and you will be very welcome to use water, buckets, sponges and brushes, plus spare bikes.

The ban will remain in place until the hosepipe ban in Yorkshire is lifted.