Carlisle Cycling Association had a race meeting of contrasts this week.
The Youth races took place in glorious sunshine, and youngsters from Scotland and the North East enjoyed the summer weather.
The winners in the younger children’s race were all Scots, with Josh, Cobey and Mitchell Stewart winning the boys races in their age groups and Boo Williams and Zoe Martin taking the girls’ wins.
The under-16s also saw Scottish domination thanks to Isla Easto and Sam Barbour, but the Cumbrians fought back in the under-14s with Megan Pool of Carlisle winning the girls’ race and Frizington’s Ewan McGrath first boy home.
As the youngsters were receiving their prizes, however, the weather clouded over and not long after the adult racing began, the heavens opened.
The majority of the race took place in heavy rain, but sensible and controlled riding meant that everyone remained upright despite the conditions.
A sizeable bunch of riders contested the final sprint but the clear winner was Max Lutz-Atkinson of the Ribble rchg Race Team.
The Under-23 rider from the North East has put in strong rides at Carlisle in the last few weeks but narrowly missed out on victory so this well-deserved win was popular with the spectators.
The rest of the podium were also youthful, with Under-18 rider Alasdair Baillie crossing the line strongly in second and Beacon Wheelers’ Under-23 rider Ed Moss, recently back from injury, showing a return to his early season form in third.
Next week is a full evening of adult races for all categories, hopefully in more predictable weather conditions!
