Local Riders Shine at firstWeymouth Cycle Race

The first cycle race held in Weymouth for many years, was, according to both riders and spectators alike, a great success. It has taken the organisers, Mud, Sweat n Gears Cycle Club nearly 18months of work, along with British Cycling and West Dorset Council to get the Weymouth Park & Ride Cycle Race series off and running, but it turned out to be worth it.

A strong field of cyclists took to the start of the first race, with riders from as far away as Southampton and Exeter, along with a good selection of MSnG CC members, and straight away two attacked and moved away from the field. Rob Midmore saw the danger and managed to bridge across to the other two joining fellow MSnG CC rider Nick Carroll. The three then worked hard together and managed to stay away from the chasing pack with Rob just missing out on the win after a strong sprint by Oliver Handley from Southampton Uni Road Club. The rest were led over the line by MSnG’s Charlie Cox after a powerful sprint for fourth.

The slightly faster riders in the second race didn’t allow the same thing to happen, with all the early attacks being closed down keeping the group together. MSnG’s leader, Darren Orchard, put in a really strong performance trying to break the pack by repeatedly attacking but each time a different competitor brought him back and maybe all those efforts told at the finish as Darren couldn’t hold on to a flying James Horton, VC St Raphael, who took the win by a couple of bike lengths. Despite this Darren still came a superb 3^rd and with Graham Biles taking 8^th in one of his first races at this higher level it rounded off a stunning performance by all the Mud, Sweat n Gears Cycle Club riders.

With such a great facility in an ideal location it is looking very good for the rest of the series, which wouldn’t have even started if it wasn’t for the brilliant support from club members, a massive thanks goes out to all those who came down to help.

So if you are interested in taking part, helping out or just turning up to watch some thrilling local sport, for free!, then contact Mud, Sweat & Gears on 01305 784849 or email [email protected] or simply come along to the next round on Saturday 20^th May from 5pm.

4^th Cat Race top 12 result 3^rd Cat Race top 12 result

1st Oliver Handley  Southampton Uni Road Club 1st James Horton  VC St Raphael

2nd Robert Midmore  Mud, Sweat n Gears CC 2nd Chris McLaughlin  UK Biking/Bmth Cycleworks

3rd Nick Carroll  Mud, Sweat n Gears CC 3rd Darren Orchard  Mud, Sweat n Gears CC

4th Charlie Cox  Mud, Sweat n Gears CC 4th Thomas Ellis  Southampton Uni Road Club

5th Christopher Wilson  Tornado Road Cycling Club 5th Kevin Egan  Poole Wheelers CC

6th Jack Wiltshire  Offcamber 6th Mark Gibbs  Tanks Direct Cycling

7th Tom Carter  Mud, Sweat n Gears CC 7th Les Thomas  Tri UK

8th Monty Knight  Mud, Sweat n Gears CC 8th Graham Biles  Mud, Sweat n Gears CC

9th James Gilgrist 9th Phil Walter  Tanks Direct Cycling

10th Wiliam Thurgood  Mid Devon CC 10th Patrick Dunn  CC Weymouth

11th Samual Brooke  Poole Wheelers CC 11th Samuel Wadsley  Poole Wheelers CC

12th Luke Monahan  UK Biking/Bmth Cycleworks 12th Vincent Harding  Poole Wheelers CC

Cyclists from the Mud, Sweat N Gears cycle club have made a great start to the season, both on and off road.

Cycle races held under British Cycling have different catagories to allow all levels of riders to race against other competetors of a similar ability with the chance to progress through the year and gain enough points to move up through the system.

Everyone starts as a CAT 4 and thats exactly what some of the club riders have done, but already Anthony Shaw and Graham Biles

have moved up to the next level having achieved some great results at local races, while Josh O'Brian & Monty Knight have gained half of what they need with a great team ride at Westpoint in Exeter last week, finishing in 4^th & 5^th place respectively. So with this Matt Norris, Darren Orchard and Phil Cole also working hard to get points already it looks like its going to be a good year for Mud Sweat N Gears club riders, thanks in part to Darren's enthusiathom and support to the team.

Whilst road cycling is very popular at the moment there is still a lot of Mountain bike racing taking place and Amy Jo Hansford has set herself a high target of winning the Southern XC series and gaining a top 10 finish in the National XC championship. A tough target but she has been training hard and thanks to support from Mud, Sweat n Gears she has a great Scott RC Contessa Scale to help her achieve the high level of performance needed. So Amy was ready when the first Southern XC round took place in March and she put in a superb ride to win the race by over 10 minutes infront of the 2^nd place rider, this gave her great confidence going into the first National round the following weekend. Due to not having competed at this high level before, Amy was seeded last so started at the back of the pack of the best Elite female MTB riders in the country. Despite this Amy worked her way through the field to finish in an amazing 8^th place.

Unfortunately one of the many bugs that have affected plenty this winter bit Amy and she went down with a bout of Flu for 3 weeks, comprimising her training and leading to her decision to miss the 2^nd round of the Southern XC champs, so as not to ruin her chances at the 2^nd round of the National champs a week later. Still not firing on all cyclinders Amy put in another solid performance coming in 8^th once again, which showing her determination, she was a little dissapointed with! This result has put her in an incredible 5^th overall with 3 rounds remaining Amy will have to work very hard to maintain this position but shes determind to do just that and aim for even higher finishes.

Mus Sweat N Gears are holding a series of road races at the Park & Ride in Weymouth starting on Tuesday evening 2^nd May at approximately 7pm. Come down and see what its all about, it can be very exciting and may even inspire you to take part yourself!