The 4th round of the Lincolnshire Cyclo-Cross league took place on the usual field venue at Stroxton near Grantham. Conditions were good with rain earlier in the week taking the hardness out of the ground but not enough to make it muddy. The only issues were in routing round the large thistle patch at the end of the straight/finish straight, next year we will take a strimmer and eliminate the problem!
As usual the course was tweeked with some extra curves and bends added into the far field and the general response from riders was very positive, although next year we may need to extend the laps a little further  as with the record 122 riders in the senior field the judges were kept very busy.
First race up was the 30 minute Under 16s race on the full course with a slightly depleted field due to a clash with an East Mids track session at Manchester Velodrome. There was still a good race with James Swadling Nottingham Clarion leading the way home with Witham Wheelers rider Egner and Robert McAndrew taking 2nd and 3rd in the under 16s and Elizabeth McLoughlin 4th under 14 girl showing real perseverance to finish as the youngest rider in the field.
Next up it was the under 12s in a 15 minute race on a smaller circuit in the second field and it was a great sight to see 50 young riders charging across the field from the start. Good turnout of the club young cross riders with some promising rides in their first season
15th Max Moore, 18th Tazmin Brown, 20th Mazel Brown, 28th Leo Moore, 33rd Jessica East, 39th Jack Simpson, 40th Callum East, 41st Joshua Farmer, 43rd Noah Farmer
The final race for Senior riders saw a record 122 riders take to the start line but the wide circuit coped well and there were no major incidents. The race developed into a battle between George Thompson (Sleaford Whs) and Mark Cotton (Ellmore Factory Racing) with George taking his 3rd win of the season when Mark rolled a tyre with a lap to go and lost 30 seconds on the run in to the line.
Of the club riders taking parts Reece Egner led the way in 31st place and Jennifer McAndrew was first women home in 67th overall and there were good rides by some first time cross riders, especially Heidi Moulds continuing her steady improvement in fitness over the last couple of years.
31st Reece Egner 4th Junior
50th Paul Conneely 7th Vet 50+
53rd Sean East 17th Vet 40+
65th Dave Moulds
67th Jennifer McAndrew 1st Junior Lady & First Women
93rd John (OMG) Framer
115th Heidi Moulds 7th Women
Full results can be found on the British Cycling web site and they will be posted to the Lincs Cyclo-Cross site shortly.
Well done to Dave Beckett for organising a great event again and a thank you to all the club members who turned out to help set the course up and with the event on the day.
