Cyclo-cross

Dan Street headed north into the London suburbs for Round 8 of the Challenge Tyres London & South East Cyclo-Cross League on Sunday 10th November.  The event was promoted by Lee Valley Youth CC and held at RedbridgeCycling Centre, or Hog Hill as it’s popularly known.

From the second row on the grid Dan struggled to clip in off the start and drifted back into the pack.  Once he had his feet securely attached to the pedals he began pushing on them and fought back to 16th at the end of the first of seven laps.

He gained another spot on lap two then set off in pursuit of the leaders, gaining four places on lap three as riders around him came down as their tyres lost grip in the slippery mud.  He broke into the top ten on the fifth circuit and up to 9th on the penultimate lap, a position he held to the finish.

Darren Haynes by Nicola Hale

The following Sunday it was Darren Haynes’ turn to test himself as he travelled east for the third Round of the East Kent Cyclo-Cross League.  This was held at Lydden Hill motor racing circuit near Canterbury and promoted by La Vie en Velo and VC Deal.

On a hilly, but fast circuit with some tricky off-camber banks Darren struggled for traction as there was no one tyre to suit the various surfaces, but finished 19th from 34 men over 50 with 3 non-finishers.

Darren returned to the same venue on Sunday 8th December for the 4th Round of the East Kent League promoted by Activ Cycles.  On a bitterly cold day and buffeted by a still northerly wind courtesy of Storm Darragh Darren made a good start and was running in the top ten on the opening two laps.

On lap 3 he lost control on a slippery rutted section and had to perform acrobatics to avoid being impaled on one of the course-marking stakes.  He remounted and gave chase to recover the places lost and crossed the line 13th out of the 24 men over 50.