Racing

Last updated 15:56, Wednesday, 14 May 2008

EACH week, the Lakeland Sprinters’ Division One riders take part in a number of different activities – coaching by the British Cycling qualified coaches – in various aspects of road and circuit racing where riders compete against the clock and not each other.

This week, besides the individual time trail, 10 young racers took part in a team pursuit time trial, a Keirin race and a ‘Devil take the Hindmost’.

In the Devil, Patrick Cowman and Daniel Baron fought fiercely from the start, but a crash on the last lap by Daniel and a strong attacking finish by Patrick gave him first place ahead of Alex Hargreaves and William Hughes. Daniel still managed to come home in fourth.

In the Kierin, the roles were reversed, with a convincing win by Daniel Baron ahead of Alex Hargreaves (second) and Patrick Cowman (third).

The team pursuit time trial, run over five laps (2.5km), was won by Patrick Cowman (team leader), Stephen Gascoigne, Alex Hargreaves, George Bennett and William Hughes in 6,37, just eight seconds faster than Daniel Baron (team leader), Ailsa Cowan, Tom Smith, Kristian Cook, and Sam Hayworth.

In Division Two (1km), Jacob Critchley took the fastest time with 2,51, followed by Daniel Rooney (3,14), Georgia Canning (3,18) and Robert Atkinson (3,20). These riders have just moved up from Division Two and are competing at the 1km distance for the first time this year.

Division Three (500m) riders all turned in new personal best times. Fastest home on the day was Scott Glaister (1,39) followed by Ruth Jennings (1,53), Matthew Last (1,58) and newcomer Lucy Hewitt (2,20). Heather Thomas, riding for her first time at Rowrah, turned in a time of 2,00, placing her firmly as a challenger in this close division.

In Division Four (500m), George Cowan showed his racing pedigree (his mother, father and elder sister are all racing cyclists) leading the way home in 2,18 (new pb).

In the Division Three hill climb, Scott Glaister lead the uphill climb in an awesome time of 19,0, whilst in Division Two, Georgia Canning annihilated the opposition with her time of 16,3.

Ex-Lakeland Sprinter Richard Houghton, 16, now riding for Keswick Bikes and VC Cumbria, took part in the Fred Whitton Challenge event last Sunday and finished in an amazing 20th place.