Ewan Cook, Nick Earley and Nadia Lele of the Wightlink-Wight Mountain Cycle Race Team travelled to Folly Farm in Basingstoke to compete in round 2 of the Southern XC MTB Series on Sunday (28th April). Nick faced attritional conditions in the 1st race of the day – the Senior Open Sport category – as due to the heavy overnight rainfall, parts of the course had become unrideable due to the deep clay mud, and the finish had to be changed last minute, leaving riders waiting to race in the freezing cold rain. Nick was well placed on the grid and had a good start, digging in for 4 laps and came home in 5th place and took 3rd place in the Championships. Nick said:
“That was hard, more like a cyclo-cross than an MTB race at times but it was worth it to pick up a medal in the Championships. Thanks to our sponsors Wightlink and Wight Mountain for their support and making it happen.”
Nadia was next up in the Women’s Sport category and brought home the win and 1st place in the Championships. Nadia commented:
“It was more of a survival exercise than a race. My bike was going sideways on the downhills and on some of the climbs I had to get off the bike and run; I had to stop several times just to clear the mud from the frame and rear mech. This was absolutely brutal, but I’m looking forward to the next round and hope I can pull out another good result”
With the course churning up with every race, Ewan had an uphill task going last in the Junior Sport category but he pulled out yet another strong ride to take the win and another 1st place in the Championships for the team. 
Ewan remarked:
“It was a very technical course and by the time I raced, it was chewed up pretty bad. I had a good start and battled for 2nd place, but he got away leaving me in 3rd until he had to stop in the pits, putting me in a good position to fight for the win on the last lap. “When I saw the leader pull up with a mechanical issue, I just went all out and brought home the win. It was more a battle of survival and whose bike could last rather than a race – I reckon I ran half a marathon in that 90 minutes!”
New signing, Al Luxford, was also in action on Sunday and pulled out a superb performance in the Charlotteville 25 mile TT in Farnham to take the win in a time of 53 minutes 21 seconds over some to the best time trial specialists in the South. On Tuesday, James Veal travelled to Thruxton to compete in #3 of the Pronto Bikes Series. After 2 rounds, James was well placed to move up the rankings and was looking forward to racing again at the circuit. With half a lap to go, James was feeling good and well-positioned going into the hill but in the lead up to the final chicane the E/1/2 race and 3rd category race riders came together making it too difficult to get involved in a bunch sprint, leaving James to roll across the line. James is hoping for a better result next week.
Well done guys, showing those mainlanders how it’s done! 🙂
Well done it’s nice to see younsters’ without a phone, games console, or excess weight.