Mail Order Specialists
Cycle To Work
Expert Advice
0% Finance
Price Match
On the 22nd and 23rd of October our Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Cyclocross team headed to Scotland for round 2 of the National Trophy Cyclocross series. Returning for its second year on the calendar the Falkirk edition has quickly proven itself as a premium venue which is popular with racers and spectators alike thanks to its technical course with challenging features such as ‘The Wall’ and the ‘Bombhole’ as well as its stunning backdrop of Callendar House in Falkirk’s popular Callendar Park.
Callendar House made a stunning backdrop to the weekend’s racing.
In dry conditions the course would have been testing, but factor-in intermittent rain throughout the weekend and the subsequent mud meant each and every race was a real test of each rider’s bike-handling skills as well the hard-working pit-crews and their ability to quickly and effectively clean bikes in an effort to keep their riders at the sharp end of the race.
Falkirk’ National Trophy cyclocross course included the infamous ‘Wall’.
The slick, steep, muddy descents were not for the faint-hearted.
Elsie Haygarth was back in action representing Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli in the very competitive Youth Girls (U16) category; round 2 of the National Trophy series would see 40 racers lining up to compete for the win, another reflection on just how popular cyclocross racing has become with the younger age groups in recent years. This trend bodes well for the future of cross racing in the UK and big numbers in this sort of race means a deeper pool of racing-talent and greater opportunities to hone racing skills within harder racing at a relatively young age. Elsie would improve on her 27th place from the first round of the series taking an excellent 21st place on the testing Falkirk course.
Elsie Haygarth was able to utilise her riding skills in the wet, slippery conditions.
Another strong performance bagged Elsie an excellent 21st place in the national Youth Girls race.
Our cyclocross-mad racer Dave Haygarth lined up for the Vet 50 race on a course that was perfectly suited to his bike-handling skills, honed over years of riding skinny-tyred bikes off-road. Dave was cramming in as much racing into the weekend as possible; taking on the National Trophy on the Saturday before cheering on his daughter Elsie in the Youth (U16 race) and then hot-footing it back down to the North West of England to take on another round of the North West Cyclocross league at Beacon Park on the Sunday. Dave would make short work of the technical Falkirk course placing in an excellent 19th at the end of this fast, frenetic Vet 50 race, backing up his solid 16th place in the first round at Derby for a high overall placing going into round 3 of the series.
The excellent Falkirk cyclocross course was much to Dave Haygarth’s liking.
Dave made short work of the barriers in wet & muddy racing conditions.
Haygarth would take an excellent 19th place at round 2 of the National Trophy Cyclocross series.
Be under no illusion, Vet 50 racing is fast and frenetic and requires you to go VERY deep.
Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli’s Davie Lines is one of the team’s unsung heroes; racing a full road-season campaign while captaining for us, guiding the young riders on the art of racing, before quickly making the switch off-road to represent us in the chaotic world of cyclocross racing. For once our plucky Scot didn’t have to travel too far! And the draw of his ‘local race’ meant that Davie would in fact line up twice over the weekend, once in the Vet 40 on Saturday and again in the Elite senior race on the Sunday afternoon.
Scottish Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli racer Davie Lines excelled on Falkirk’s technical course in the Vet 40 race.
After missing the first round Davie was gridded around 9 rows back and would have his work cut out simply getting to the front of the race. In conditions that weren’t too muddy overall but were slick and slippery in key sections thanks to the on/off rainfall. Davie utilised his bike-handling skills to make up time on the numerous technical sections, riding everything except the infamous ‘Wall’. By the middle of the 2nd lap he had managed to work his way up to 3rd place chasing eventual winner Paul Oldham and 2nd place Tony Fawcett, but the effort to make up all those places would take effect towards the end of the race with Davie unable to hold on to the leading riders, eventually finishing in 5th place, an excellent result considering his difficult starting position.
Racing was tight; here Davie almost tangles with eventual podium finisher Rob Jebb.
A confident bike handler off-road, Davie made short work of the steep, super-slick descent.
Davie overcame a poor starting position to take an excellent 5th place in the Vet 40 race.
Fast-forward to Sunday afternoon and the biggest race of the weekend, the Elite race which features a mix of under-23 racer and senior racers all competing for the win. Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli was represented by young Scottish talent Rory McGuire, seasoned campaigner Giles Drake, up and coming racer Flynn Gregory and last but not least the hardest working racer of the weekend Davie Lines!
The final race of the busy weekend saw 4 of our Wheelbase team take on the Elite race.
Rory McGuire had a solid 5th place from the first round to consolidate; his strong result in Derby meant his start line gridding position was guaranteed, so he could focus on his customary fast start, a tactic which typically sees him well-positioned going into the tighter more technical sections of the course without being held-back by the congestion further back down the packed field of racers. Rory would battle with the leaders for the duration of the race, making the most of the super-efficient bike changes on offer from his hard-working pit crew; with a clean bike at his disposal all Rory had to do was focus on the racing, attacking out of each corner and putting the power down as and when he could.
The first lap of the race meant the riders all hit ‘The Wall’ in one tight pack.
Rory McGuire was able to make his customary fast start at Falkirk, giving him a clear run through the chaos of lap one.
Difficult race conditions meant that there was plenty of running on each lap of the course.
Rory McGuire was able to follow up his excellent 5th place at round 1 in Derby with another brilliant 5th place here in Falkirk.
Eventually the win was taken by Cameron Mason of Trinity Racing, the talented Scot with a ton of international racing experience, taking an emphatic win. Behind him our own Rory McGuire was locked into battle with his usual Under 23 category sparring partners, racing strongly in the upper portion of the top 10; eventually he would finish in 6th place, backing up his excellent 5th place in the first round for a high overall placing in the series. It’s worth mentioning too that within the Under 23 sub-category Rory took a brilliant 3rd place so he’s sitting pretty in that overall league category too.
With two 5th places so far Rory McGuire is set for a high overall placing in the National Trophy Cyclocross series.
Giles Drake had another good ride, taking a solid 11th place in the biggest race of the weekend. There was some frustration with an unfortunate coming-together with another competitor on the first lap, leaving Giles in around 35th position with a lot of work to do to make it back up to the front of the race. Re-composed he quickly began moving up through the field, picking off a big chunk of riders on each lap with his last lap being the fastest of his race. Eventually Giles would finish in 11th place, just 7 seconds off a top 10 position.
Giles Drake is another rider on the Wheelbase squad who excels in the sort of difficult race conditions encountered at Falkirk.
Speedy remounts were the order of the day if you wanted to stay at the sharp end of the race.
After being taken out in a crash on the first lap Giles would fight his way back from around 35th up to an excellent 11th finishing place.
Flynn Gregory continues to impress. Now in his third year racing for Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Flynn has progressed smoothly through the ranks from the Junior categories to racing against the very best UK riders in National Trophy Cyclocross Series. Flynn raced strongly in difficult conditions to take 18th overall and placing 11th in the Under 23 category; following on from his 21st place finishing position in the first round Gregory’s season has started well.
Young racer Flynn Gregory made short work of the steep, slippery run-ups.
With all of our riders competing in wet, slippery conditions our hard-working pit crew were kept busy cleaning bikes throughout the race.
Flynn had another good ride at round 2 of the Trophy series taking 18th place overall and finishing 11th in the U23 category.
Our man Davie Lines was back for more, following on from his brilliant 5th place in the Vet 40 race on the Saturday, what would Sunday’s main race bring? Let’s leave the last word to Davie and his brief account of the race…
‘For Sunday’s senior race I was again gridded poorly, this time on the second to back row, so had lots of guys to get past. I never went too deep at the start of this one and just picked my way through. The course today was a lot slicker due to the overnight rain and all of the subsequent races that had happened, but I was still managing to ride a lot of the technical sections and bankings. The legs, arms and back were real nippy from the V40 race the day before so the extra power required to get the speed back up out the corners and tech stuff was tough. I benefitted from regular bike changes today with Stu and Tyla in the pits keeping the bikes running sweet and a quick drop in tyre pressures helped too for improved grip in the slicker conditions. At the end of this attritional race I was pleased to finish in 26th position overall, while placing as 10th senior rider.’
Our man Davie lined up again on Sunday for the Elite race, after taking 5th place in the Vet 40 race the day before.
Davie never stops; after a full season of road racing he seamlessly switched to cyclocross taking 5th place on Saturday and 26th place on Sunday.
Excelling in difficult racing conditions Davie made the most of his ‘home National Trophy race’.
Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli Results:
Day 1 Saturday
YOUTH Girls (U16)
21st Elsie Haygarth
VET 40 Men
5th Davie Lines
VET 50 Men
19th Dave Haygarth
Day 2 Sunday
Elite Men
6th Overall / 3rd U23 Rory McGuire
11th Overall / 4th Senior Giles Drake
18th Overall / 11th U23 Flynn Gregory
26th Overall / 10th Senior Davie Lines
Written by Johnny Dodgin
Photos by Man Down Media
Have you seen our weekly Fast Bike Friday feature? Missed some of our best bikes? You can now see all of our featured bikes in one place over on Pinterest where you’ll find links to each of our Fast Bike Friday Blogs too!
Click the link below and search our archive…
