Young riders put in some sterling performances in the rain-soaked fourth round of the winter series mountain bike races with 18 year old James Ashby (Fat Birds CC) having a clear win in the 18 – 39 category and 15-year-old Josh Hannan (Extreme Sports Therapy) recovering from breaking a bone in his foot five weeks previously to win a hotly contested junior race.
 
This final round of the series was held in Tunstall Forest, just inland from the Suffolk coast. Water was everywhere. Throughout the event it never stopped raining. Puddles got deeper and deeper – soon hub height. And with most modern MTB’s having disk breaks, that means brakes under water.
 
Even the straight and usually fast fire roads became a “batter mix” as Norwich rider Andrew Manning (Adventure Crew/Streetlife) described it. Manning was in the 2 hour race for riders aged 40+ which ended in a tight finish which winner John McAndrew (Ben Hayward / OTH) described as a “sprint at 8 MPH”, so thick was the mud.
 
Manning, who was stuck in his top cog as a result of disentangling a stick from his gears, was much at a disadvantage, but still had 55 seconds on third place Richard Muchmore from Honington. James Ashby took the lead of the 18 – 39 two-hour race halfway through the first lap. Michael Raven (Extreme Sports Therapy),struggling to see through muddy glasses, at one time opened up a small gap on Ashby, but a broken seat post effectively ended his challenge.
Thetford rider Nick Owen (Salsa) benefitting from 20 years experience of MTB racing, stayed upright for the whole race and took third place. His descriptions likened the mud to soup or porridge according to where you were on the course.
 
Norwich rider Josh Hannan (Extreme Sports Therapy) recovered from his bone-breaking crash in the last round, attacked on a fire road on the first lap of the junior race and opened a gap on the third-round winner Bradley Burbridge. Hannan was handicapped by a broken backbrake lever and Mike Thompson later joined him at the front, but Hannan had the power to gain six seconds in another straight line attack.
 
Conditions were such that the long enduro was shortened, by general agreement, to less than three hours. Young Billy-Joe Whenman, riding for race sponsors Whyte Racing, won the 18 – 39 race, with Stephen James, from Diss, fifth and Norwich rider Dean Pointer 11th. Paul Ashby (Fat Birds) had seven minutes in hand at the head of the 40+ field in which Kim Marsh of race organisers Trog (Tunstall & Rendlesham Off-road Group) was fourth.
 
Fergus Muir.