Wightlink-Wight Mountain Cycle Race Team team members Ewan Cook, Kirsty Cook, MacKenzie Cook, Nadia Lele and Oli Nolan were in action again on Sunday (27th October) at events across the South.
Ewan, Kirsty, MacKenzie and Nadia travelled to Highlands Farm in Surrey for the Gorrick Halloween Classic XC and Oli competed in the 7th round of the Wessex Cyclocross League at Kingsclere, near Newbury.
The MTB course at Highlands Farm, which is pretty flat with a few punchy climbs and technical corners would be a challenge for the riders, especially Kirsty who was racing for the first time, but they pulled out some fantastic performances and were rewarded with a few podiums.
Nadia, who made the decision to step up to race in the Expert class, had a fantastic race and just missed out on the win. Nadia says:
“I had a really good close race, leading all the way until the end of my 4th lap when I failed to scrape up enough speed and washed out on one of the corners. Unfortunately, I couldn’t recover from that mistake and had to settle for 2nd place, but I’m still very pleased with that result!”
Junior, Ewan, had a brilliant race in the Open Sport Category to take the win. Ewan says:
“I had a good start, breaking away with two other riders then moved up into second. The legs felt good so I went in for the kill early on and took the lead which grew over the course of the race and finished in first place”.
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Despite crashing on one of the technical parts of the course, Kirsty dug in to take 2nd place in the Grand Vet category and MacKenzie, who is improving with every race, just missed out on a podium in the Junior category.
Despite further rain throughout the week, the Kingsclere CX course couldn’t have been more different to the mud-fest of last weekend, with the entire track dry and fast flowing. Starting on the first row of the grid, Oli got off to a great start, initially running in the top 3. However, the high pace, coupled with an impressive field of riders, several of which travelled from neighbouring regions, saw him slip down the order over the hour-long race.
A good battle with another rider saw Oli just miss out on a top 10, crossing the line in 11th.
