It was an evening of mixed fortunes at the Cycle Circuit as Carlisle Cycling Association ran their fifth race of the season.
The night started with the youth races which had a slightly disappointing attendance this week, possibly impacted upon by the exam season in schools.
But quality is more important than quantity and there were some good performances in all age groups.
There was a strong presence from North of the Border with a Scottish 1-2 in the Under-16 boys, with Oliver Gibson and Zach Barbour beating local rider Alex Hodgson to the line.
Edinburgh’s Andrew Levinson was first to finish in the Under-14 boys and the ever impressive Stewart brothers, Josh, Cobey and Mitch were winners in the remaining boys races.
Isabel Halstead visiting the Circuit for the first time from Northumberland won the Under-16 girls race and Izzy Barbour was victorious in the Under-14 girls.
But the star of the show has to be six-year-old Ivy Hughes, youngest competitor of the night who fought her way around the Circuit to win the Under-8 girl’s prize.
Ivy’s mum, Rachel Brown, recently represented Great Britain in the UCI World ESport Cycling Championships so it’s clearly a case of like mother like daughter, and Ivy will be one to watch as she gets older.
There was a fantastic turnout for the adult Category 3&4 race, however, and this was a fast paced and tightly fought affair.
Muckle CC’s Andrew Davidson and Carlisle born Adam Bent, currently riding for Wheelbase, broke away from the rest of the bunch for a good proportion of the race but were caught by the chasing pack later and the race ended in an exciting sprint with the majority of the field crossing the line within seconds of each other.
The leading pair kept their positions though, with Andrew edging out Adam for maximum points. Mark Shaw Jnr came home in third place.
Unfortunately the evening was slightly marred as a couple of riders hit the tarmac after the finish line but thankfully no serious injuries occurred and volunteers and other riders rallied round to help.
The co-operation that CCA seeks to encourage was exemplified by Association Chairman Neil Withington although he wasn’t racing himself.
Neil’s shoes, pedals and one of his bike wheels were on the Circuit as he lent them out to ensure that other riders who’d had problems were able to compete. The Association is certainly willing to go the extra mile to get people racing! Next week has races for adults of all categories.
