Cotswold Veldrijden hosted Round 3 of the Wessex Cyclocross League which took riders to the newly revamped Moredon Sporting Hub in Swindon. Unrecognisable from previous visits the new facilities include a tarmac cycle circuit, 3g football pitches, and toilets which don’t make you want to cry (although the old changing and toilet block still stands ominously behind the shiny new pavillion).
The course was a bumpy affair on dry grass which left little for the runners in the field, the steps that had been promised were deemed too uneven and the hurdles too sharp to be included.
NFCC riders this week were Jay Tarrant and Matt Knight in the OV40 race and Emma and Joe Shepherd in the Senior Women and Open Senior races respectively.
After a hairy start in the V40s with the first 100m on tarmac leading into a bottleneck with fenceposts either side, a few riders were held up and there were some dropped chains on the lumps and bumps that followed. Jay wasn’t fazed by the bumpy terrain and only came a cropper on the freshly laid tarmac section, fortunately he recovered well to record another impressive 4th place. With an impressive set of results so far, Jay will be looking at improving on last year’s overall 4th place finish come the end of the season. Matt Knight finished 50th in a very large field.
Emma Shepherd took to the start having enjoyed a 2nd place finish in her first outing at Clanfield. After getting stuck behind a crash on the first lap, Emma dug in riding most of the race in a two up tt with a solent pirates rider. Some canny race craft left Emma striking for home alone and claiming another 2nd place amongst the Senior Women.
Not to be outdone by his wife (although he always is) Joe sprinted off the line in the final race of the day. The 6 wide grid, 2 less than usual, meant Joe started in the 3rd row and after 3 laps had work to do. Some impressive negative splits meant that by lap 10 Joe had made his way back to his closest rival so far this season. As they took the bell, Joe made an effort to put some distance between himself and Andy from Nova Race Team. Not to be denied, Andy counter attacked on the back section of course only for Joe to fight back to lead up the final ramp onto the finish straight. Having delivered a text-book lead out for his rival, Joe was pipped on the line by 0.16s in what some witnesses may have described as the most exciting sprint for 10th & 11th place in a local amateur CX race they had ever seen.

If that excitement has whetted your appetite for cyclocross then the next round can be entered here: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/308742/Wessex-Cyclocross-League-Round-4—Reading-CC-Bill-Higson-Memorial-CX