The final round of the 2021-22 Eastern Cyclocross league was hosted by Stowmarket & District Cycle Club at Haughley Park. It’s a relatively new venue, and SDCC made some significant changes to the course this year – adding a bridge, a long sand section and a feature named ‘the bone’; a series of 5 hurdles set up a hill side forcing riders to dismount and shoulder their bikes.
The organisers faced high winds on Saturday setting up the course, but Sunday morning presented sunshine and beautiful clear sky.
The Under 10 and Under 12 races were run mostly in the wooded section, including a Belgian-style flyover bridge coming out of the woods and into the main field.
The Youth race covered the whole of the new course. WSW had three Youth riders, Isabel Moore (3rd U14 girl), Sam Brook and Harley Gregory – Harley taking the win to round off a season where he won the overall Youth league title with a perfect 7 wins counting towards his league position.
In the Vet50 men’s race, Paul Watson finished 5th overall and first Vet60 with Peter Golding 19th overall and 3rd Vet60, with Karl Hale and Nick Rush the other Wheelers.
Matt Shingleton and Simon Christie joined regulars Matt Denny and Stephen Brook in the men’s Vet40 race, finishing strongly in 27th and 29 places.
The Women’s race was the most closely fought of the day, with Bethany Barnett, Gemma Melton, Elvita Branch and Katy Simcock locked together until Bethany rode clear on lap 6, going on to take the win. Megan Free and Nicki Davis represented WSW, finishing 12th and 17th.
The men’s Junior and Senior race was led from start to finish by our recently crowned British National Junior champion Joseph Smith, with James Madgwick chasing hard throughout the race to finish only 9 seconds down. Anthony Ashford of WSW rode consistently as others faded, finishing 30th.
Congratulations to all the Wheelers who participated this year, and for the support & encouragement during each race. WSW finished 4th in the overall League team competition, showing the breadth of riders we have across all age and gender categories. We’re looking forward to seeing you all again in September when the 2022-23 season starts.