Wheeler Malcom McFarlane in Top Spot

Mud was the order of the day at both round 15 of the Eastern Cyclo Cross league, which made a welcome return to Chantry Park, Ipswich, and G8 Events Mountain Bike Race in Thetford Forest both on Sunday

Another superb turnout of West Suffolk Wheelers and Triathlon Club’s off road racing group saw the club grab podium finishes in both disciplines.

Stand out performance of the day was from Malcolm McFarlane at Thetford. Racing in the Men’s Grand Vets 4-hour race, Malcolm lead almost from the off over a 4-mile course which became increasingly cut up and deeply rutted as the race progressed, producing energy sapping and technical conditions on an otherwise fast flowing surface.

Grinding out the miles, Malcolm proved more than a match to power home in first spot, his first ever top placed finish.

Club mates Ray Reeves, Chris Hinitt and Darren Baker all competed in the 2-hour event, with Reeves enjoying the day in a very competitive race and finishing well in 36^th (2 hour Vets), Hinitt will be pleased in his debut Open category race with 12^th and Baker, taking a break from cyclo cross, bagging 20^th spot on the male Grand Vet race.

Meanwhile in Ipswich, the cyclo crossers revelled in the thick treacle like mud, causing riders’ lines to become blurred and adding to the confusion as the day progressed.

Specialist mountain bike racer Paul Watson again produced the goods in the combined women’s and 50+ Men’s race, he too making light of the conditions for an outstanding 3^rd place, a season’s best for him.

Barry Denny again worked hard for 29^th, an overall top 3 finish in sight for the second season running. Husband and wife David Griggs (48^th) and Tracey Griggs (49^th) continued their season long tussle, with Nicole Gregory racing well for 55^th.

Meanwhile, Nicole’s son Harley has his sight firmly set on an overall 1^st place in the U10 rankings; his 2^nd place on the day a fine reward for a superb season so far. Oliver Griggs had another good race, 10^th in the U12. Round off the juniors was Lianna Denny, 37^th in the Youth race.

In the Men’s 40-49 race, triathlete specialist Matt Shingleton lead the Wheelers’ contingent home in 16^th, followed by Matt Denny (27^th), a resurgent Stu Grand (28^th), Giles Prime (43^rd) and Richard Stiff (45^th).