Pictures to follow !
The Eastern Cyclocross league returned to Hillyfields in Colchester for the second time this season. As we’ve come to expect, the ground was hard and dry, with Colchester Rovers having cut some new lines across the middle of the field. It was a course of two halves – lots of off cambers and sharp turns on the large grass bank, with faster sweeping sections on the main field.
James Ollenbuttel again raced in U10, having made his CX debut in the previous fixture at Hillyfields. Sam Brook and Oliver Feris competed in the Youth race – Oliver completing his first CX race, and Sam Brook finishing in 12th after a long battle with Daniel Elliott from Welwyn Wheelers.
As usual we had plenty of representation in the V50+ race, with Peter Golding finishing 27th (4th V60), Karl Hale (48th), Nick Rush (65th), Adrian Grimwood (DNF). Nick consistently managed to nip inside rivals on the exit from the crowd-pleasing spiral feature to get a head start up the final steep bank climb.
In the V40 race, Stephen Brook (32nd) and Simon Christie (34th) were closely matched, ultimately split in a sprint finish by Ferenc Vanhoutte (33rd) from Ely & District CC.
In the Women’s race, Megan Free (12th) and Nicki Davis (16th) rode strongly, Megan backing up a strong start with a consistent ride to a season’s best performance.
Harley Gregory finished 10th overall and 3rd Junior in the final race of the day, after a scorching start that saw him as high as 5th place on the opening lap.
The next Eastern league fixture is on Sunday 9th October at Southill Park, hosted by CC Ashwell.
Also don’t forget that WSW are hosting Round 6 on Saturday 5th November at West Stow Country Park – we need plenty of WSW volunteers to make the event a success. Please get in touch with Giles Prime if you can help.