Kings Lynn MTB Looking for Strong Results on Home Ground At a Sunny, Hot, Dry, Fast course at Thetford Forest
Kings Lynn MTB Club was looking to build on their fantastic success of two 1st place podium positions in the Mud, Sweat and Gears Series at Hadleigh Olympic Park.
The Club had 13 riders racing in the Mud, Sweat and Gears, Round 5 held at Thetford Forest. Paul Quantrill who had secured a 6th in the previous race was unable to race due to breaking his collar bone during a training ride, we wish him a speedy recovery.

The Grand Vets race had four Kings Lynn MTB riders racing. Paul Ashby did not disappoint, the course most definitely suited his strong style of riding with long stretches on fire roads to power along, anyone hoping to use this to their advantage to pass Paul will need to think again. Paul came in some 10 minutes before his closest rival with both completing 7 laps of the course. The Club also secured a 4th place with Russell Rout fighting a close battle for 3rd and only missing out by 2 seconds. We are looking forward to the next battle and to see 2 KLMTB riders on the podium. John Carpenter rode a strong race and was heading for a 6th place only to drop time on the 6th lap with a puncture, seeing him fall into 7th place. Dick Lines 34th a good steady race. A strong race for KLMTB in the Grand Vets, keep up the good work.

The Open Male race saw 5 riders from KLMTB all hoping to make some ground in Paul’s Quantrill’s absence. Dominic Clarke was pleased with his highest finish in the series so far, finishing strongly in 6th place. A great effort by Dom who is showing that he is both a strong technical rider after his 9th place finish in Hadleigh and now a 6th on a very fast and dry course. Linley Gales improved his standing and moved up from a 24th place spot at Hadleigh to a cracking 17th at Thetford, taking full advantage of knowing the area well. This was also true of Kevin Beales who made big gains on his previous results and finished in a great position in 28th. Mark Hollingworth was returning from injury worked hard and lapped consistently to gain him a 48th place. Roger Seals competing in his first race took 80th in a strong field of 90 riders.

The Sport Female class had Em Quantrill back and looking for a win following her retirement due to a puncture in the last series. Em did not disappoint and was very fast from the off, her first lap an incredible 13:54 which more than matched the other women in the Elite/Expert category above. Em settled into her laps and finished some 7mins 21sec ahead of the next women in her category. Another 1st for Em and Kings Lynn MTB, great biking Em.

Junior Male class Robin Lines completed 6 laps of this fast course in 1.39.33 a really strong ride.

The afternoon hosted the Sport Male race which is always a highly competitive race, James Murphy was not riding this weekend, but the club was represented by the very fast Rob Smithers who was looking to improve on his 20th place finish, racing in forest he knows well. In hot conditions the race began and several riders were fighting for position at the start, there was a crash involving 3 other riders in front of Rob and unfortunately he was unable to avoid a collision with those already on the ground. Rob crashed heavily but got back on the bike and continued to race into his second lap. He fought hard and put in a lap time of 13:45 and was making up places, however it became clear to those watching and to Rob himself that we was in alot of pain and he was forced to retire. We all know Rob shows massive determination but we were surprised and saddened to hear Rob was later taken to hospital with a broken wrist, we would like to wish him a speedy recovery.

Last but certainly not least the Under 9’s race had Joe Allen looking for another strong finish. He had a close race with those who would finally share the 2nd and 3rd places on the podium, with Joe finishing strongly and gaining another 1stplace for Kings Lynn MTB. Well done Joe!!
So the club continues to grow and succeed with three 1st place podiums - looking forward to the next series.
Anyone who would like to come along and ride with King’s Lynn MTB Club we run race training nights every Tuesday and a Social ride every Thursday, GoRide for children on Saturdays through June, which caters for all abilities. Many of the riders mentioned in this report started on those evening rides and have gone from strength to strength, why not give it a try?

For more information please do not hesitate to contact us on our Face book page King’s Lynn MTB Club or kingslynnmtb@gmail.com Report by Anita Stewart

GRAND VETS
1st Paul Ashby 1.27.49 7 laps
4th Russell Rout 1.21.16 6 laps
7th John Carpenter 1.23.26 6 laps
34th Dick Lines 1.26.15 5 laps

OPEN MALE
6th Domonic Clarke 54:01 4 laps
17th Linley Gales 58.52 4 laps
28th Kevin Beales 1:00:39 4 laps
48th Mark Hollingworth 1:05:37 4 laps
80th Roger Seals 56:12: 3 laps

SPORT FEMALE
1st Emily Quantrill 1:16:48 5 laps

SPORT MALE
Rob Smithers Retired

JUNIOR MALE
Robin Lines 1.39.33 6 laps

UNDER 9’s
1st Joe Allen
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