Moreton Kermis Series Rnd 3 27/05/10

After dodging the tractors in the first week and sprinting on gravel in the second, the third round of the Moreton series ran free of major hazards. So it was a little ironic that it was this week that saw a major crash on the last lap. Putting some mileage in the theory that the more tricky you make a race the more sensibly everyone will ride, the crash was blamed on

‘idiotic riding’ by ‘idiots who can’t ride trying to win the race on the last corner’. So claimed Eamon Deane, after ending his race in a water filled ditch, having bounced off a tree and wrecked his front wheel.

Up until then, the race had gone well: over 40 riders signing-on on a bright, warm evening. There was a strong wind, making for a hard race, with the field coming together with four laps to go. The crash came after the last corner, turning off the main road and onto the newly laid surface of the finishing straight. Wheels touched and several riders were caught up in the carnage. Several picked their way through, with Charles Rees of Raleigh RT and Stu Bowers of Hargroves Cycles finishing in a virtual dead heat. After much studying of the photograph, the win was given to Charles Rees, with Kim Abbott of Off Camber third and Andrew Boyd of CC Weymouth fourth. Greg Shrosbee came fifth ahead of a brace of CC Weymouth riders: Ian Cardy sixth, Julian Thacker seventh and John Wickham eighth. Lewis Keightley and Martin Peters rounded out the top ten.

To finish with a couple more rants: Could all entrants please fill out an entry form, as Pete is getting fed up with checking riders numbers against an illegible scrawl on the signing-on sheet. If you want your name  and club up here in the results then make sure we can tell who you are. And, finally, keep to the left of the white line on the main road when turning into the last corner. Its bad enough having the bunch spread across the entire road but to see a solitary, dropped, rider take the ‘racing line’ in this way is just stupid.

That is all. See you Tuesday for the next Heath Road Race.