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Tilford TrailTrax results and photos [updated]

by Paul Howard, 15 Oct 07. Results [  ]

Sunday has to go down in the record books as the best Autumn TrailTrax weather ever; crisp early on, then brightening and warming up to the point many riders were just in t's and shorts.

I know many of you were affected by the unauthorised removal of two checkpoints, not a problem we've encountered before, so consequently there was a lot of riding around in circles and searching going on that reduced the potential for a full house. Nevertheless there some noteworthy performances from Julian Hemsted (Grand Vet Solo) achieving the highest score of the day, 1950 points in 2h 50m. Graham Hildyard (Veteran Solo) also scored a nett 1950 but was 4 minutes late so totalled 1910, closely followed by Sid Hardy on 1890. Dean Stacey (Solo) who got his timing dead right at 3hrs but made a schoolboy error during map marking missing out number 14 without realising until after the finish. Steve Cox managed a creditable 1950 points but was 8 minutes late, this bumped Jason Robinson up to second place with the same points but a faster elapsed time. Two Women competed in the Solo category with Jane Robinson scoring 1400 points for the win.

The various Pairs categories are always closely fought, the Veterans being no exception. Early leaders Dave Nicholson and Andy Smith were confident of the win for at least 40 minutes with 1560 points. That was until the return of Dave Brothers, teamed up with new riding partner Mark Oxford, finished with 1690. Finger nails were bitten awaiting the return of Keith Seston and Jeremy Ray who finally claimed the top spot with 1750 points.

In the ordinary Pairs category Glyn Perry and John Clark scored 1500 points over a tie for second, and the Mixed Pairing of Mark and Stephanie Wyer also scored 1500.

In the 2 hour events Bill and Mark Weller (Family) timed their return to perfection in exactly 2 hours finishing well clear of the competition with 1200 points. Matt & Neil Gumbrell won Pairs with 1130 points despite returning 13 minutes late. In the Solo category Melanie Slade was on a mission to score highly before rushing off to a nice lunch but she still returned 22 minutes late reducing her nett score of 1360 points to 1140.

Guy Swarbrick was lurking in the undergrowth photographing unsuspecting riders, you can download sample images free of charge or purchase high quality prints from his website.

That was our final TrailTrax of 2007, so on behalf of all the Gorrick staff and others who have helped at events we thank you for continuing to support us. We hope you have not only enjoyed yourselves but been taken to new riding areas and will return to ride them at your leisure - you've even got a free colour map to plan your route on! Also big thanks to Mountain Trax who sponsor and supply all the prizes.

Looking ahead to 2008 we have set all the Race dates and venues but are still preparing the TrailTrax calendar. We'll send out an e-mail to the newsletter subscribers when the dates are confirmed.

In the meantime don't forget the second Autumn Classic Race at Crowthorne on the 4th November or the Test Valley Tour Cool MTB Challenge at Andover on the 18th November, for more info on this marked route offroad ride visit the Test Valley Tour website. For those not in the know Gorrick organise and plan all the Tours so expect our usual high standard of event.