The final round of the wessex cyclocross league took place on Sunday at Crow with New Forest being one of 4 organising clubs. The team put together a fast course of twists and turns with plenty of elevation and a fantastic wooded section. With Catherine busy organising and a couple of riders out with injuries, there were 5 riders from New Forest competing.

Jay Tarrant and Matt Knight both got off to good starts with plenty of home support cheering them on. Jay avoided the mechanical issues this week, however, Matt was unlucky to get a puncture shortly after the pits. A fair bit of running later Matt finally made it back round to change bikes for his final lap. Unfortunately this cost Matt quite a few places but he still finished 59th. Jay looked to be racing well throughout and secured himself a 10th.

Emma Shepherd was up next after some last minute puncture repairs from her attempted practice laps. Emma had a steady start, not quite keeping up with a bunch in front. After the first lap she seemed to find her legs and got a couple of places back. The pressure was kept on from behind but Emma hung on for another 5th place finish in her category (10th overall).

The club was also represented in the V50 men by Jonathon Chadwick. A quick first lap and a half put him in a great position and he managed to ride well throughout to hold onto 42nd.

Finally the senior men’s race with Joe Shepherd. His excellent result last week pulled him up onto the second row at the start. A brilliant start got Joe into a strong position early on. After last years well documented hurdles incident, Joe has learnt his lesson and he made the wise decision to run them instead. Turns out you do a lot better when you stay upright! Joe continued to race hard and slowly pulled himself past his regular competitors to finish in a brilliant 14th.

A fantastic day was had by all on a great course. A massive thank you to Catherine and everyone involved in organising the event, the set up and take down of the course. It’s a lot of work and their efforts are appreciate by all the riders.