2013 Welsh MTB Series – round 1 at Margam Park – Port Talbot.

By Lee-Michelle Jones

The 2013 Welsh Mountain Bike Series got under way this weekend at Margam Park on verywet and blustery welsh winters day.Racing started at 09.30 with the under 8’s, followed by the under 10’s and under 12’s battling on the lower section of the muddy, and very technical course.Garan Jones and Freya took second boy and girl in the under 8’s with a steady and controlled race, while Cian put in his usual gutsy skillful performance.

In the under 10’s Gruffydd Daniel raced his way to complete his first WMTB race with a solid performance and is now looking forward to the next battle of the series. In the under 12’s, Iwan Evans, Cian Roberts, Iwan Godfrey, Adam Thorne & Tom Butterworth all braved the blistery rain and mud to battle the longer lower section of the course to gain 4th, 6th, 7th, 10th & 13th respectively. 

Racing started for the longer course riders at 11am – with the women, vets and gran-vet riders braving the 3.5kms muddy swamp. As the course preview stated … there were some muddy wet areas but overall the course was riding well. As a spectator, there were a number of “over the handle bar falls” and looking at the state of the competitors – it was clearly mud, sweat and tears!! Clearly a tough course physically with little way of rest and certainly with some muddy challenges!

In the veteran race both Wayne Davies and Wayne Jones battled the mud well to complete in 14^th and 16^th positions respectively. In a spectacular race, Nick took the youth A win completing a speedy second fastest first lap of the race on the full course, with Matt Thorne finishing in 10^th position. Both boys met the mud well following “over the handle bar” falls and still came out smiling. Hefin also braved the full course in the youth A category but sadly retired following a puncture.

In the juvenile male, Ioan Thomas also had to retire due to a mechanical problem soon after the start, so will eagerly await the next round.

In the Youth A female category, Ffion James from Abergavenny took the overall win, with our own Tanwen coming in second position with an outstanding ride knee deep in mud, sweat and smiles.

In the second race of the day, which started at 1pm – we saw the junior racers battle the mud with Carwyn Davies completing the challenge in a respectable 5^th position and Geraint Godfrey taking a superb 9^th.

There were clearly some serious challenges out there today, with the rain, mud and the challenges did not stop there. For I am sure some washing machines also braved the onslaught, cleaning the kit ready for the next round of the WMTB series. 

 Full Event Results

All Photos : Courtesy of Craig Fawkes (Follow this link to view more)