Another wet week meant another muddy cyclocross round for the Wessex League. Luckily this week it was a little closer to home on a familiar course at Southampton Sports Centre. The course had all the usual Southampton features: an uphill start, steep banks and the off camber.

Jay got off to a good start and was in the battle for top 3 from the start. The muddy course was tough but it only seemed to slow Jay down a little bit. An excellent ride secured Jay yet another podium finish of 3rd.

As the rain stopped, Emma lined up for the women’s race. Emma managed possibly the worst ever cyclocross start. Despite being on the front row she managed to be last over the line after spinning the back wheel and only just staying upright. Emma quickly got over her bad start and powered on to get back up to her usual competitors in the first half lap. As the course started to get sticky, the riding got harder, but some close racing kept Emma pushing all the way to the line to finish 6th overall, 3rd senior.

Finally, Joe took to the line on a bike that could only change onto easier gears. The course was now at its worst, with thick sticky mud making much of the course quicker to run. Joe was once again gridded on the front row and had a great start. After half a lap he had settled into the third group on the course to battle for 5th. Unfortunately the thick mud quickly took its toll on Joe’s bike and he started to drop back. Thankfully, the rain started again mid race, which helped stop the mud from clogging up bikes. Joe managed to keep the bike going long enough to secure 9th.

Another successful round for New Forest. Next week is a combined national trophy round and wessex league round at Clanfield before the league has a break over Christmas. There are 2 rounds in the new year: Andover supercross (always a fun one) and our own event at Crow on the 26th January. If anyone is interested in cyclocross and wants to come along, to watch or ride, Crow is an excellent chance to do so. Help is always wanted at the event so keep an eye out for requests from Catherine nearer the time.