There was a great atmosphere at Carlisle Cycling Association’s 9th round of their evening race series on Thursday.
The riders may be rivals on the Circuit but there was plenty of convivial chat before and after the races, with one of the visiting cyclists from the North East commenting that the Carlisle races are the friendliest that he had ever attended and well worth the journey across the Pennines.
The evening began with racing for Youth riders of all age groups with some keen competition even from the youngest children.
Local lad Oliver Nichol won the Under 8 boys race with Skye Stewart of Castle Douglas winning the equivalent girls’ competition. There were more Scottish victories in the Under 10s with Zoe Martin top girl and Mitch Stewart winning the boys’ race.
The older age groups raced next with the visitors dominant again. There were victories for Scots Izzy Barbour, Josh Stewart and Cobey Stewart in their age groups whilst Zack Stobbs from the Tyneside Vagabonds Cycling Club celebrated the end of his GCSE exams with a dominant performance to win the Under 16 boys’ race.
After a short break, a good sized field of riders ranging from teenagers to veteran riders in their 50s and 60s gathered on the startline for a 50-minute race for Category 2,3 and 4 riders.
This time it was the locals who gained the upper hand. Dearham based rider Jude Davison who is currently on excellent form took his second victory of the week, having already won the racing in Lancaster on Tuesday night.
He was closely followed to the line by Joe Beckingsale, the Welshman who has become a popular member of the local cycling community during his student placement at Pirelli over the last 12 months, and the podium was rounded out by another on form Cumbrian, Jonathan Wilson on Velo Club Cumbria.
There were many other strong rides further down the field, but special mention must go to 15-year-old Andrew Levinson of Edinburgh Road Club who finished 13th.
Although under 16, Andrew has special dispensation from British Cycling to compete in adult races due to the high number of ranking points he has amassed so far this year.
The youngster kept with the leading group throughout the majority of the race, just missing out the final sprint and won the admiration of the spectators and his fellow riders.
Competition returns to Harraby next week with races for all categories of adult riders.
