The final Gorrick Cross Country race this year saw a return to Crowthorne Wood last Sunday. After some rain the course was a little damp in places, but the singletrack stayed dry enough for some fast racing throughout. There were a few changes to the route of earlier this year and the infamous Corkscrew section had been dropped, only to be to be replaced by the twisting troop trenches created during practice for the Battle of Waterloo. Gorrick retained the uphill
start and put in some more tricky downhill sections latticed with roots to keep all of the racers alert.

Jason Emery (PedalOn.co.uk) took full advantage of the early dry conditions to win the Super Masters race ahead of John Hill-Venning (Beyond Mountain Bikes) and Nick Onslow (PedalOn.co.uk). In the Masters category John Smith (numplumz.com) lead from start to finish to take victory beating Sam Phillips (Beyond Mountain Bikes) and John McAndrew (Ben Heyward Cycles).

Some new faces in the Veterans race upset the apple cart. Steve Jones (PedalOn.co.uk) was closely followed by David Nelson (Beyond Mountain Bikes) and first round winner Ray Crosthwainte (PedalOn.co.uk). Michael Thyer (Beyond Mountain Bikes) continued his domination of the Grand Veterans and after he had finished it was four minutes before Andy Smith (1st Gear Cycles) came home in second while John Leyland (Nirvana) took third.

The Novice race usually sees a packed start line with racers jostling for position throughout and this time was no exception. After the first lap there were a series of riders within seconds of each other, but in the end only two emerged at the front. After a ding dong battle Sam Goater (Southampton Uni) beat early leader Oscar Whicheloe (Sigma Sport) to first place. Chris Jameson
(Gus Guitars) couldn’t handle the pace set early on, but held third position.

Luke Smith was aiming for a clean sweep at the autumn races, but he didn’t count on old favourite Brent Collyer showing up. After establishing a first lap lead the pack started to reel him in, but Collyer still had some left in the tank and cruised to a one minute victory. Luke Smith (Kinetic Racing) clung onto second, just ahead of Andrew Boyd (Southampton Uni).

The Expert men had a mini marathon five laps to complete, some finishing in near darkness. Mark Hockridge chalked up another win, with Henry Turgoose (Heiniken), just glad to finish. Rob Gray (Mamba) was the third and final finisher.

In the women’s races Kate Brooker (Wellington Trek) won the Novice category, Helen Copeman (Berks on Bikes) took the Master/Veterans race and Jackie Roberts (Beyond Mountain Bikes) took top honours in the Super Masters.

There was a special event to round off the season’s racing which involved Berks on Bikes and Gorrick riders doing a single lap handicap sprint. 67 year-old Ken Pearce, who helps maintain many of the courses used, won, with Alan Spencer and Anthony Lindsey in hot pursuit.

After a damp days racing at Crowthorne and another great year of Gorrick races it’s time to face winter head on, ready for the bigger and better Exodus Spring Series, which kicks off on 1st February 2004.