Ruthie Coles reports: So, on Sunday 24th June eight heroic Ratae members turned up at a field in Marston Trussell armed and ready for combat: this was to be a day of cyclocross. “Cyclocross!” I hear you say, “But it’s mid summer!” Ah, but this was no ordinary cross, this was Mega Cross!
The Mega Cross was organised by Dean from the Leicestershire Cyclocross League and was a four hour endurance cyclocross race which could be done in teams of two, or, for the brave hearted, individually. We opted for the team approach and had four teams entered: two men’s teams, one women’s team and one mixed team.
The event was really well organised and was open to mountain bikes, gravel bikes as well as cyclocross bikes. We had a well positioned club gazebo just near the start/finish with John Redfearn on hand to keep everyone well supplied with tea and coffee, and Peter Kott keeping us all focused!
The race began with a very exciting mass start off the line involving over 160 riders, which pretty quickly thinned out with racers spread out well over the 7km course. The route was tough and undulating with a cracking grass climb right after the start line. The route then weaved through woodland making use of firetracks as well as plenty of technical single track between the trees. The weather was kind to us and the rain kept off until after the race had finished.
All our teams completed the event and put in a top effort. Chris and Ed completed the most laps from the Ratae contingent, while Laura and Natalie came first in their category!
It would be fair to say the event was a real success, extremely well organised with a great atmosphere. Hopefully it’ll be back next year when even more Ratae off roaders can take part.
Meanwhile, check out the Facebook and WhatsApp
posts for more info on the activities of our off road section.
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