Wightlink-Wight Mountain Cycle Racing Team members Allan and Ewan Cook, Nick Earley, Adam Holleyman and James Rogers travelled to Winchester on Sunday (19th March) for the 1st round of the Southern XC Series at Matterley Basin.
The course consisted of a variety of muddy root, single track and steep fire road climbs. The grid positions in the Seniors race were randomised, with James being gridded 14th, Adam 30th and Nick 40th.
James and Adam got off to a flying start at the gun and were in 1st and 2nd place as they hit the first turn. Nick was caught in the mix but worked hard picking off riders and eventually caught James mid-way through the first lap. Adam continued to press on ahead and was in the lead with a group of 3 other riders. Nick dug in and managed to bridge across to Adam who had been dropped by the leaders.
Nick rode together with Adam for a lap, before taking off midway through the 3rd lap to chase down the leaders, but narrowly missed out on catching them and had to settle for 3rd place. Adam rolled home in 4th, and James had a sprint finish to cross the line in 6th. This was a valuable experience for the Isle of Wight cyclists in the build-up to the Island Games in Guernsey in July.
In the Junior race, Ewan got penned in at the start but fought back picking off riders and managed to move up the field of 21 riders. With 3 off the front, a game of cat and mouse was then played out with 1 of the other riders over the 3 laps, with Ewan winning the sprint finish to take a well-earned 4th place.
Allan’s race was the last of the day and by then the weather had changed and the wind and rain had set in. With the course already churned up, the conditions became more slippery. Allan did well to finish 19th out of a field of 50.
