Fat Tyre Navigator
Winter Series 2004/05: Round 1 - Dec 12, Shackleford
2004 wasn't blessed with the glorious Indian summer that 2003 enjoyed, but Trail Break events have faired pretty well anyway. Shackleford was a case in point - the final event of the year and the weather was fine and dry and the trails firm and first.
We thought the tricky navigating on parts of the course would affect scores, but things didn't turn out as we expected. The good trails added to the decision (for safety reasons) not to place any checkpoints on the far side of the A3 produced an astonishing six course clearances, showing how good the top end of the field really is and what can happen if we don't use the whole map for the course.
Fastest of these clearances was from Nick Calkin (Allparts Auto) who came in comfortably with nearly a full half hour to spare.Local rider Paul Howard cleared up to take the Single mens category from three other maximum finishers; John Hill Venning took second by just 4 seconds from Jon Brooke, with Andy Snell fourth. The sixth clearance (and third fastest of the day in fact!) went to that walking testament to the power of Sanatogen, Nick Dean in the Super Vets category. Well done on six great performances guys and what a remarkable way to end the year!
That's not that the womens categories haven't contributed to the events this year. Nick Deans mixed pairs partner form the Autumn series, Iwona Szmyd took on the single womens class riding for Mosquito Bikes and set an impressive 500 points; with so much time to spare as to suggest that she may have misjudged the course and could be notching up bigger totals in future. Her position in the monthly overall rankings (which will be published very soon) will give a few of the better male competitors something to think about. Keep an eye out for more on that in the next day or so.
So that's it for another year. The new year kicks off where the old one ended (with a Navigator) this time on the South Downs at Duncton. We'll have a full preview and update on next years Trail Break calendar before Christmas on our news page.
Click here to book the Winter series events
Shackleford Navigator Results
