Another competitive round of the Wessex CX league on the last Sunday in October at Kingsclere, hosted by Newbury Velo with Velo Clinic. It was a sunny day, something our riders both welcomed and despised. The sun beat down on a tough course that held many drag-like climbs and corners, the heavy grass making for a hard effort.
Two sets of hurdles were in play with riders either running or hopping them, showing off a range of skills. An unfavourable, winding drag up to the finish caused much pain and suffering amongst our riders but still they persevered as always.
Another positive outcome in our youth section beginning with our U8s. Florence Boustred received another third place with Annie Forsyth close behind in fourth. Leighton Riley came second with Joshua Marsden in tenth, Sunny Muriithi fourteenth and Jordan Riley seventeenth. For U10s, Theo Plumb worked hard to reach second place but finished third, and Joseph Lovegrove ran out of ‘beans’ right before the end but managed to find the energy to push his bike over the line and finish fourteenth. Well done to both of them.
In the U12s, Emily Williams just missed top five, finishing sixth, and Ruby Boustred in ninth. Freddie Trish came sixth with Billy Dyer working hard to close the gap and coming seventh, Reuben Lewis had a bit of a battle with another rider, ending eighth. James Sutton came thirteenth and Leeyo Muriithi came seventeenth.
The U14 Sotonia group were made up of purely girls. Eve Carline led most of the race but suffered a cramped leg in her final lap and finished second alongside Matilda Wilks in third. Alexis Barry finished ninth and Jaya Martingale in tenth. It was nice to see the two girls racing again!
A small field for U16s but with more positive results for Sotonia. A tough start, especially for second row, up the straight and round the first corner. Tom Allen led most of the race but struggling with his back, he settled in second for the finish. Reuben Harrington recieved his first podium of the season after finished third, alongside Henry Forsyth in fourth. Adam Koperdan came seventh and Finlay Banks finished ninth after a puncher where he was fortunate enough to be able to swap bikes with a fellow rider. George Boustred finished eleventh. Marit Davidse came fourth followed by Poppy Carline in fifth. A tough but brilliant race for all.
Following our youth riders, the junior men’s and v40s took to the course. George Connell had an excellent start, finishing third, with Samuel Ridgment coming fifth and Niclas Olley receiving yet another win. Danny Forsyth came seventh and Samuel Marcade, nineth. Andrew Gardiner went head-to-head with Nic and managed to beat him by a few seconds, coming third in the v40s. Pete Boustred battled it out with Jamie Plumb, beating him on the uphill sprint by a couple seconds and coming eighth. After a crash, Tom Budden came twelfth with Phil Banks a second behind.
The women’s races saw Emma Harrison second Junior and Gemma Wilks fourth v40s. Jon Hall, Phil Connell and chairman, Jason Harrison battled for top Sotonia finisher in the v50 open race, finishing 9th, 12th and 17th.
Well done to everyone and hope to see you all at Newbury Showground for round 8.