Words: Crank It Cycling
The fourth round of the Crank It Cycling series kicked off this weekend at Leeds Urban Bike Park, with a course that had everything an XC rider could wish for – flowing smooth descents, bike park trails and tight woodland single track boasting natural features that would challenge even the most proficient of riders. Crank It weekenders seem to be on a roll with the good weather, with yet another glorious sunshine weekend, that had riders making the most of the shade the woodland provided.
On the Saturday riders had the opportunity to take part in the Crank It coaching sessions, honing those skills and developing confidence as riders. It’s amazing to see how far the riders who take part in these sessions have come since the start of the series and these are available to all who have booked onto the Crank It Challenge or XCO race so make sure you don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity! After practice came the new Crank It Challenge where riders took to the course to face the mash-up style multi-staged race.
Then came the Sunday race day, beginning with the Sport Race. Sam Marshall took an early lead, putting in an impressive sub-7 minute lap time on his first lap. Sam showed no sign of slowing, putting in a rapid final lap on his way to taking first place. Brett Dempsey took home second, closely followed by Jack Johnson in third.
The Youth and Juvenile categories followed next, with Dec Oldham making an early break away. Dec went on to take first place by just over a minute, followed by Arthur Limb in second and Luke Trafford rounding off the podium in third overall and taking the win in the juvenile field. It was a Hope double top-podium, with Madeline Moorhouse Smith taking the win in the female youth and juvenile category and claiming sixth overall in the combined male-female field. Poppy Spencer claimed second place overall in the female youth-juvenile race, with Tia Taylor taking third overall.
In the afternoon the Women’s categories took to the track. Just a second separated the top three riders at the end of the first lap with Sophie Thackray, Victoria Peel and Rebecca Preece battling it out to take the lead. But it was Sophie Thackray who ultimately took the win, showing her endurance talent claiming the top podium by just under 3 minutes. Victoria Peel took second with Rebecca Preece rounding off the podium in third.
The final race of the day was the Senior Men’s race. It was Ashley de Lotz’s day and he was a force to be reckoned with, putting in an impressive 11 laps of sub-7 minute timings, one of only 3 riders to achieve this throughout the day. Ashley ultimately went on to take the win overall in the Senior men’s race, followed by Matthew Kipling in second and Douglas Main in third.
The next round of the Crank It Cycling series takes place on 10-11th June at Rother Valley Country Park.
