Last weekend saw the end of the cyclocross race season for members of the Ely & District Cycling Club - B&T Motor Repairs with the eleventh and final round of the Eastern League Cyclocross championship. The race was held at Haughley Park, east of Bury St Edmunds, and the event was organised by the Stowmarket & District Cycling Club.
Conditions were sunny but cold for the morning races, with frost still lying on the ground when the Under 12s race started. The shorter course used by the U12 racers consisted largely of singletrack through a wood, which made it difficult for Harvey Woodroffe to make up for a slow start, but he battled his way up to 4th place by the finish. Lucas Bowman, also racing in the U12 race, put in another good performance to finish in 16th position.
The remaining races used the full course which, despite its fast and flowing layout, presented the riders with a number of challenging technical features such as a sand pit, a series of five uphill hurdles and a short but steep bridge together with a number of tricky off-camber sections. The Youth race, which took place after the U12 event, featured Ely riders Tom Lewis and Kieran Vanhoutte. Lewis took another podium, finishing in 3rd place overall and 2nd in the U16 category, while Vanhoutte finished in 8th place in the U14 boys' race.
Lucas Bowman's father Neil was racing in the V50 event, but had a rather below-par race by his usual high standards, finishing in 26th place. Dan Bromilow and Ferenc Vanhoutte was racing in the other Veterans' race, in the V40 category. Vanhoutte put in another solid performance finishing in 36th position while Bromilow finished in 60th place.
The last race of the day was the race for the Senior and Junior categories. Isaac Barton had a very good race, finishing in 9th place in the Junior category and equalling his best result of the season, while Joshua Woodroffe finished 38th in the Senior category.
The final race having been completed the overall positions in the Championship could be calculated, with the scores from each rider's seven best results being added together. Two Ely riders took podiums in the Championship with Harvey Woodroffe taking 2nd place in the U12s category and Tom Lewis taking 3rd place in the U16 boys' series. Lucas Bowman finished 11th in the U12s, Kieran Vanhoutte took 8th place in the U14 boys' field, and Junior racer Isaac Barton ended the season in 14th place. In the V40 category Ferenc Vanhoutte took 27th place overall with Dan Bromilow in 75th place, and Neil Bowman was rewarded for his consistently strong rides with 6th position overall in the V50 event.
Their collective efforts meant that Ely finished in 9th position in the Team competition out of 41 teams from all over East Anglia and the South East.
Photographs:
Neil Bowman rides one of the many steep climbs. Credit Fergus Muir
Ferenc Vanhoutte rides the sand pit. Credit Fergus Muir
Ferenc Vanhoutte tackles the uphill hurdles. Credit Davey Jones.
Joshua Woodroffe descending on the bridge. Credit Davey Jones
Isaac Barton descending on the bridge. Credit Davey Jones
Tom Lewis tackles the uphill hurdles. Credit Davey Jones
Kieran Vanhoutte in the U14 race. Credit Davey Jones
Harvey Woodroffe riding through the frost. Credit Davey Jones
Lucas Bowman at the summit of the bridge. Credit Davey Jones
Ely & District Cycling Club - B&T Motor Repairs Press Release 8th February 2022