All four of our Youth team made the journey to the south coast to battle the weather, the course and their competitors for Round 4 at Clanfield, hosted by the fantastic youth cycling club, Solent Pirates.
Barnaby’s report (from his last few races): I am really pleased with my end to the season, securing first place in the Iceni Velo Cross at Buckenham Park and second overall in the Youth Under-14 Eastern Championships. This weekend, I had my race of the season, finishing 23rd overall in the Youth Under-14s at the National Trophy race on a tough, very muddy course in Clanfield.
I will continue to train hard, build confidence, and race smarter. With just a few weeks until Christmas, I have a couple more races before the end of the year and I am looking forward to competing in the National Championships in Kent.
Elizabeth’s report: This weekend was very different to all the other national trophies because it was also the inter-regional championship where each region sent a youth team to compete across a two day event. I was asked to ride for the Eastern Region. The events were the normal trophy race, a short ten minute race under floodlights, a technical skills time trial (akin to a slalom race) followed by a team relay of all Eastern riders. The event was also happening at the same time as Storm Darragh! The course was not only very windy but also wet and very muddy. I had to run large amounts of my main race as it was so muddy and my chain came off. I had to swap bikes every lap, I fell a lot and was terrified of sliding down the biggest hill! I finished in 19th position, the same as rounds one and two but I am pleased with this result as a first year U14. The floodlit race was interesting, over a shorter course and in the dark. In the slalom, we had to run through certain gates and there were a lot of very tight U-turns that we had to ride. The final race of the weekend was a very cold and very windy, utterly slippery, team relay. Well done to all of the Eastern team and the other Rovers riders who competed this weekend.
Isaac’s report: I had an alright start being in the top-10 after another front row gridding, but after the first bend (which we had to run up) my shoe had come undone. Fortunately, I managed to scramble to get it back tight again somewhere on the first lap. It was a course with lots of running which made the race extremely challenging. After settling into a rhythm I picked off a couple of places but also being overtaken by others at the same time. Experiencing cramps in all parts of my body caused a slowing in pace throughout the race as well. I stayed in around the same position for the whole race, taking 11th in the end. I am not super pleased with this result but I knew that I would have a couple of weeks in the middle of the season of bad legs before feeling great again. Thank you to those who helped with dealing with the mud all day and for being in the pits so I could change to a much cleaner, lighter bike which was much appreciated.
