Wessex CX League round 3, Reading
Last Sunday Wessex League returned to Reading once again for the Bill Higson Memorial Cyclocross race. Unlike in previous years, the ground was hard and the weather was dry, creating the perfect recipe for CX craziness. Once again, Reading CX featured the infamous Hilly McHillFace and the Chute, plus the usual addition of climbing switchbacks, trips through narrow woodland trails and the long drag to the finish.
The races kicked off later than usual but still great. In the U8 Girls, Summer Zhao came ninth in her first ever cyclocross race. In the U10 Girls, Flo Boustred took second place and Olivia Davies finished eighth. In the Open, Wilf Barlow came ninth and Sunni Muriithi finished eleventh. Harrison Hough came twenty-sixth, Leighton Riley twenty-eighth and Jordan Riley thirtieth. In the U12 Girls, Jess Barry came seventh. Theo Plumb took third in the Open category, followed by Archie Frogley in fourth. Joseph Lovegrove finished eighth and Alfie Hough tenth.
Next up, the older Youth categories. In the U14 Girls, Elsa Varney claimed second place with Emily Williams not far behind in third place. In the Open, Freddie Trosh came seventh, Leeyo Muriithi eleventh, Ruben Davies fourteenth, Reuben Lewis fifteenth, Billy Dyer sixteenth, James Martin nineteenth and James Sutton twentieth. In the U16 Girls, Alexis Barry came fifth. Aneurin Gilbert took eleventh place in the U16 Open with Sam Comben in thirteenth and Morgan Gilbert in fourteenth.
George Boustred came ninth in the Junior Open and Sam Ridgment came eighth in the U23/Senior Open race. Andi Gardiner had an epic battle at the front that resulted in a second place position in the M40 Open. Pete Boustred came fifth, James Gillfillan came seventh and Ian Crocker eighth. Marit Davidse came third in the Junior Women’s and Emma Harrison finished fourteenth in the U23/Senior/Masters Women’s. Jon Dudley finished eighth in the M60 Open and Jon Hall also came eighth in the M50 Open.
Overall, good results for Sotonia last weekend. We’ll see you all this weekend at Candovers for Round Four!!
Wessex CX, Round 2, Southampton
For the second round of the Wessex Cyclocross League it was Sotonia’s very own home race at Southampton Sports Centre. This year saw a slightly different course due to terrain changes but it didn’t stop it from being one of our best courses to date. With corners, banks, berms and our lovely off-camber section, I must say we did pretty well this year. Not only was the course good but we had an amazing turn-out as well.
The first to take to the course were the U8s. Lucy Greenhalgh came second in the Girls. Max Adams took his second podium of the year, finishing in third with Eli Tang only five seconds behind him in fourth. In the U10 Girls, Flo Boustred came second and Olivia Davies came seventh. Leighton Riley finished fourth in the Open category, Wilf Barlow in seventh, Joshua Marsden in fourteenth, Sunni Muriithi in fifteenth, Harrison Hough in eighteenth and Jordan Riley in twentieth. Ella Greenhalgh came second in the U12 Girls and Jess Barry finished sixth. Theo Plumb came fourth in the Open category, Joseph Lovegrove in seventh, Archie Frogley in ninth, Alfie Hough in tenth and Rex Davies in fifteenth.
Then we were introduced to the adults course and the last of the youths took to the stage. In the U14 Girls, Emily Williams came fifth, Penny Campbell in fifteenth and Ruby Boustred in sixteenth. Freddie Trosh came ninth in the Open category, Billie Dyer in fourteenth, Leeyo Muriithi in sixteenth, Ruben Davies in seventeenth, James Sutton in nineteenth, James Martin in twentieth and Reuben Lewis twenty-fourth. In the U16 Girls category, Alexis Barry came sixth. In the Open category, our Sotonians followed each other over the line with Aneurin Gilbert, Sam Comben and Morgan Gilbert coming ninth, tenth and eleventh. What a great turn out for our Youth section!
In the Junior Open, George Boustred came thirteenth and Niclas Olley took his first Senior Open win of the season after an epic battle with Andi Gardiner who came second in the M40 Open race. Sam Ridgement came ninth in the Senior category, followed by Sam Marcade in tenth and Oliver Starkey in twenty-eighth. Pete Boustred brought home fourth in the M40 Open. Jon Hall came ninth in the M50 Open and Jon Dudley finished eighth in the M60s.
In the Junior Women’s, Marit Davidse fought well and finished fifth. Emma Harrison finished ninth in the Senior Women’s. Sotonia also saw some new faces in the women’s race this week, following the Women’s Taster Session the day before that encouraged some on-the-day race entries; Caroline Trosh came sixth in the M40 Women’s, Julie Williams in tenth and Nicole Barry in eleventh.
Sunday saw an epic turn out for all races and some pretty good fights. Thank you to all the volunteers, coaches and participants. An especially big thank you to everyone who helped organise, set-up/take-down the course, assist in sign-on, timing, food etc, and thank you to our wonderful marshalls. We would not be able to make these events happen without all your support and the time you gave up to be there. Another thank you to everyone who took part in the races and also a big well done to you all. Now, a week off before we see everyone again in Reading on the 27th.
Cross is Back with the First Round @ Clanfield
Welcome back to Cyclocross as the Wessex League returned to Clanfield for the first round of the 2026 Cyclocross Season. Once again hosted by Solent Pirates, the start of September saw the kick off of the CX in the South. Another difficult course with precarious off-camber, switchback climbs and the usual power play, Clanfield returned as one of the hardest courses on our calendar.
This year the racing schedule is a little different but we still started the day with our youth cyclists. In the U8s, Max Adams claimed second, taking his first ever CX podium in his first ever CX race. Flo Boustred came third in the U10 Girls, followed by Amie Williams in sixth. Wilf Barlow finished seventh in the Open category and Harrison Hough finished fifteenth. In the U12s, Jess Barry came sixth in the Girls and Theo Plumb took sixth in the Open. Archie Frogley finished ninth, Joseph Lovegrove in eleventh, Alfie Hough in sixteenth and Rex Davies in eighteenth.
This season a few of our Sotonia riders took to the adults course for the first time. In the U14 Girls, Emily Williams came fourth, an excellent result for her first race in the U14s. Billy Dyer came tenth in the Open category. Reuben Lewis finished fifteen with James Martin not far behind in sixteenth. James Sutton came eighteenth and Ruben Davies in nineteenth. In the U16 Girls, Alexis Barry came fifth. Eve Carline suffered a mechanical and finished sixth.
Then came the schedule change. This season, the Senior Open joined the M40 and Juniors, adding to the usual cyclocross craziness. Niclas Olley took his first podium in the Seniors category, finishing second with Sam Marcade coming fourth. Andi Gardiner claimed his first win of the season, with Pete Boustred finishing third. Marit Davidse came fourth in her first Junior Women’s race. Jon Hall took twelfth in the M50s, while Jon Dudley finished fifth in the M60s.
So once again a great start to the cyclocross season with Sotonia appearing on five podiums. Looking forward to seeing you all for our home race next week!!
FWCC Summer Cross round 1, 7.6.2022
Brilliant to see some local Summer cyclocross racing at Romsey on Tuesday evening for round 1 of the Fareham Wheelers Summer Cross series.
Sotonia riders were there in numbers and we saw youth wins for Freddie, Billy and Izzy. Top 3s for Thomas, James, Jaya, Jacob, Samuel, Corden, Tom and Louis.
Andy Gardiner took third place in a 3-up sprint in the combined senior race but bagged the V40 win and Jon Hall won the v50 category. Verity Horner also won the v40 women's race.
Great riding everyone! 🔥🔥🔥
Southern Regional CX Championships, Keynsham
It was a bitterly cold day at Keynsham near Bristol in the shadow of the old chocolate factory for the Western and Southern Regional Cyclocross Championships. The event hosted by ShamXross brought together some of the top riders from the Western and Wessex cyclocross leagues to battle the mud and obstacles including steep banks, a huge spiral, rollers and a sandpit.
The youth races started with a hard frost on the frozen ground but as the sun rose, a slick top layer formed on the course to send riders sliding on the flat grass corners. Team Sotonia still managed a fine haul of results and podiums and from the first race, with Freddie Trosh who took the U8 boys championship race. In the U10s Matilda Wilks and Jaya Martingale were first and second girls, Billy Dyer taking second place boy. Sophie Jacobs and Tom Wilks also second and third in the U12s. The U14 race saw Izzy Hall pick up another silver medal. Other notable performances were Miles Horner and Louis Kirk with season bests to come 5th and 6th in the U16s.
Great riding everyone!
Provisional results:
https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16665&RId=3305
Photo: Pitchside Paul
Round 6, Miche Wessex CX League, Andover
Redenham Park, near Andover was the venue for round 6, hosted by Andover Wheelers who laid on a great spread and plenty of refreshment options for hungry riders and support crews.
The course on the country park estate, a mix of grass meadow and twisting, woodland single track with a short tarmac section and a couple of imposing bomb holes. Heavy mid-week rain failed to dampen the course save for a few squirrelly wood sections and the race pace was fast again. The bomb holes certainly played their part though in detonating the race action, claiming a few victims to the steep crater walls!
Back to back wins for Tom and Tilly in the u12 and u10s, Freddie on the u8 boys top step, joined by Samuel in third. Tom and Niclas third and fourth u14 boys with Miles breaking into the top ten as a first year u16. Finally, ex-Sotonia youth rider, Max Darnton (Nova RT) took his first win in the Junior men. Well done everyone!
Photos: Pitchside Paul
Round 4, Miche Wessex CX League, Reading
The diehards prayed for rain and they got rain – after three dry rounds, the Gods of Cross decided enough was enough and the heavens duly opened ahead of round four with hosts, Reading CC, working hard to lay out the course early on race day. Riders faced the classic parkland parcours and twisting single track of Prospect Park. In the sunshine however, it was to be no mud bath as the ground dried in most parts with a high pace to some cracking race action.
Luke Hammond won his first race in the U8s and as his dad Roger used to ride a bit, maybe a taste of what's to come? Tom Wilks was also on the top step in the U12s with Billy, Tilly, Eve and Jaya all top 5 in the U10 races, Sophie second in U12s. In the U14s, Izzy proudly wore her series leader jersey and finished a fine second place, Niclas and Monty both riding strongly too.
Special mention to the noisy bunch of Sotonia kids who cheered parents and coaches racing later in the day as they struggled up "Hilly McHillFace" - it certainly put a smile on our faces!
Round 3, Miche Wessex CX League, Foxhill
Round three of the Miche Wessex CX League was again held at Foxhill on Sunday, hosted by Andy Smith Events. Situated on a hilltop, south of Swindon this moto-cross venue is blessed with views to rival the best - not that many had time to soak it all in as fierce racing was matched by sunny and dry but challenging terrain. Familiar off-camber features like the hillside switchbacks, rutted turns and a super bumpy bank were back to challenge riders but it was an innocuous looking patch of gravel on the exit to a flat turn seemed to claim most victims. 14 Sotonia youth riders were in action after the drive to Swindon, claiming eight top five finishes between them! Big up also to the supporters and team mates who rang their cowbells so enthusiastically and cheered the riders each lap!
Great riding everyone!
Thanks to Pitchside Paul for the photos
Round 2, Miche Wessex CX League, Swindon
It was another dry and wickedly fast day of cross racing for round 2 of the Miche Wessex Cyclocross league hosted by Cotswold Veldrijden at the old Moredon Golf course venue in Swindon. The action was certainly on par with close fought battles in many of the races. Big race fields and sunshine the order of the day once the early dampness burnt off on the flowing, twisting course with plenty of tricky cambers to test riders’ resolve to stay off the brakes!
A strong showing by Sotonia youths and another hatful of great performances including the Wilks siblings who continued their winning streaks, Tom Allen taking more big steps forward as he pushed for the win all the way to the line in the u14 boys. Sophie Jacobs and Izzy Hall also on the girls u12 and u14 podiums.
Great riding everyone!
Thanks to Pitchside Paul for the photos
Round 1, Miche Wessex CX League, Romsey
Cross is back! We were stoked to be racing cx with supporters again last weekend. It was great to see the extended Wessex 'cross family' to socialise and see some hot, fast action supplied by hosts Fareham Wheelers in the early season sunshine at a new venue just up the road near Romsey - a rolling grassland course at the New Forest Care Outdoor Learning Centre.
From our squad of 25 youth entrants, we wasted no time in grabbing some hard earned podium places, with a 1-2 for Thomas and Luke in the U8 boys, a 1-2-3 for Tilly, Eva and Eve in the U10 girls, with Billy taking 2nd in the U10 boys, as well as a win for Tom and a 2nd place for Sophie in the U12s! In the U14 categories, Izzy finished 3rd, Tom Allen was 5th, while the U16 boys, Louis, Miles, Thomas, George and Sam all battled hard in a strong field.
Great riding everyone!
