Month: June 2016

Round 4 of the MSG Eastern region came from the Lee Valley Velopark in Stratford, London. There was a smaller turnout for this event compared to the others in the series due to it being an ‘extra’ event. The course itself was very technical compared to the others in the series, with several A and B lines.

I set off early for the practice lap, and made sure I was comfortable with all of the A lines as you could gain a significant amount of time by opting for these rather than the slower B lines. The track was very flat, with hardly any uphill sections, almost the opposite of Hadleigh Park. The surface was also very similar to Hadleigh Park, making the fast rolling Mitas Scylla the tyre of choice.

I was gridded on the front row along with Joe Champness for my race. I got a good start and managed to settle into a rhythm in around 10^th place. Traffic was a big issue on this track with it being very narrow, and soon long trains were starting to form behind slower riders. I managed to stay out of trouble to finish 9^th, with Joe Champness taking his best finish of the year with a superb 4^th place. In the open female Jane Brockman took an excellent 6^th place, and in the open male Paul Cavalla finished in a well deserved 3^rd  place, with Kevin Darragh and Matt Phillips finishing in 11^th and 12^th respectively.

In the under 12’s race Daniel Cavalla put in a great performance to get 12^th position, his best yet.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable event thanks to the superb organising of the Mud Sweat and Gears team, also thank you to our excellent sponsors Mitas UK for the superb Scylla tyres and Hardnutz helmets for the well ventilated helmet on what was a hot day in London.

By Adam Cavalla; Hadleigh MTB Club Youth Race Team Member. 

Photo Credit Basil Thornton 

Round 5 of the MSG Eastern Region was at Hadleigh Park, Hadleigh, Essex. This was also the Regional Championships and it was at our home track!  In total across all the categories there were 27 people racing for Hadleigh Mountain Bike Club, from under 9s to Grand Veterans – which meant there were plenty of familiar faces to spot in the races.

It was a nice sunny morning and I got to the track early to do a warm up lap of the adult’s track – which was a good start to the day, as it was very hilly with lots of technical features. 

I took part in the under 12s training which started at 10am.  I was in the same group as Mason and Arthur from the club – we had good fun practicing manuals over the ramps and hill climbing.  Whilst doing the training I could see the morning racers doing triple trouble – I could see that racers taking the ‘A’ line were considerably faster than those taking the ‘B’.

After the training I had half an hour’s rest in the sunshine, relaxing before my race. 

I was very nervous waiting to be gridded for the start. Once the race started it was a sprint to the first long downhill section, which had a sharp right hand turn at the bottom.  When I got to oak tree descent there was a slight downhill and then a sharp turn, the person in front of me slowed down so I had to stop, and the person behind me then crashed into me causing me to come off.  I quickly jumped back on my bike and carried on with the race. I think the support from the club marshals and members around the track helped me to move up to 11^th place – which is my best of the season!

It was good to see George and Sue on the podiums – both Eastern Region champions.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the adult races from different places around the track.  Jake’s shoe broke during his race meaning he had to go into the technical zone to change into one of Connors shoes!

It was a fun day with some great results for the club.

Thank you to Mitas and Hardnutz for their support.

by Daniel Cavalla, Hadleigh MTB Club Youth Race Team member. 

-Photo Credit Barry Ablitt.