Strathclyde Park

A good turnout by the Clarion saw 8 Youths take part in the latest race hosted by East Kilbride Road Club.
Thankfully a longer course than last week with plenty of room for passing which was just as well as there were 60 riders off in the first race !
All the Clarion kids showed real determination in what was a very different course to anything they'd exprienced before.
The start was on a long straight, into the woods for a wee bumpy technical section, back onto the flat for a blast through the timing gate then there was a steep banking with kerb to get up. This feature saw a lot of riders crash or get off and push. They were then back down the banking around a long loop then straight into a double hurdle. It was fantastic to see the effort put in by all the kids when lifting their bikes over this, something I know we are now going to have to work on with the coaching team !
There were great performances by all and a few mechanicals too. Abby Mason had another great race despite her chain coming off and Cameron Mason suffered 2 punctures before and then one during the race.

Race 2 saw the Youth A's and B's battle it out on the main course.
The start was at the top of a very wet muddy field then into the kids section of technical woods. They then had an additional very steep banking to walk/ride up before entering the woods. The first challenge was a "bombhole" which had about a foot of mud and managed to swallow a few shoes. It was then a swoop around and up a very steep very muddy banking then onto a long fireroad climb. More grass at the top then saw a very technical fast descent which really played to the mountainbikers skills/nerve. It was then onto a very loose gravel track which led to the big muddy field and the hurdles which seemed to get higher with each lap.
A fantastic race by both Erica and Jamie on what was a brutal course which had nowhere to rest.
Both showed tremendous spirit and deserve at least an extra 2 hours of TV !

Race 1
Cameron Mason, 2nd (U12'sM)
Ryan Ewing, 7th (U12'sM)
Andrew Turner, 14th (U10'sM)
Andrew Oxley, 16th (U10'sM)
Martin Johnstone, 13th (U12'sM)
Abby Mason, 4th (U10'sF)

Race 2

Jamie Mason, 9th (U16'sM)

Erica Oxley, 8th (U14's F)

As the racing continued throughout the day the course got even more challenging, with the mud devouring more bikes. The Vets race saw 115 start but had 21 DNF and by the time the Seniors race was over 23 of the original 55 failed to finish.

It's all about the bike !

See you all at Tranent on the 27th !