Ickworth House’s iconic rotunda provided a magnificent backdrop to the final round of the Mud Sweat & Gears Cross Country Mountain Bike Series. When not obscured by the passing clouds the sun shone brightly making pretty much ideal weather for both riders and spectators.

The course, set in the estate grounds, was physically demanding consisting mainly of open grassy tracks interspersed with more technical wooded sections.  The sticky mud made for heavy going.

Five West Suffolk Wheelers & Triathlon members took part.  First up was Matthew Whitwell, racing in the Under 12 Boys category, who had the misfortune to lose his chain over a bumpy section luckily a kindly fellow rider helped to assist. Despite this setback, he managed to battle back to place 18^th out of a field of 30 riders.

There were four WSW &T riders in the afternoon race (1 ½ hours) in which Matthew Eaglen recorded the quickest average time finishing 29^th out of 50 riders in the Veteran category with Paul Barry placing 42^nd.  In the Sport category, Matthew Soame finished 22^nd and Jeremy Waterson 26^th out of 34 riders.

 For full results see:  http://www.mudsweatgears.co.uk/