Hafren CC racing CX either side of the border!

Sunday the 8^th December will see 13 riders from the Hafren Cycling Club, based in Newtown, Welshpool and the surrounding areas, heading down to the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells for the 2013 Welsh Cyclo‐Cross Championships.

With such a strong field anticipated, members uses last weekend to hone their skills and work on some last minute race day preparations before the big day. Those chasing Welsh championship points headed down to Gilwern, Abergavenny whilst others just hopped over the border to compete in the final round of the West Mid’s league being held in Newport, Shropshire.

Over in Abergavenny, riders were treated to a ‘Spiral of Doom’ which as the name suggests is a section of course which spirals to the center before going back on itself, sending the riders off on their way in a dizzy state. This was tackled on every lap with Hafren’s Paul Bufton and Nick Huband managing to keep their heads, both finishing 22^nd in their respective age categories.

In Newport, Graham Harris was the first Hafren Member to race in the Vets 50+ category and put in a storming performance coming in 14th out of 24 riders.

Next up it was Conrad Taylor, Nathan Seymour and Darren Jarman in the senior category. Unfortunately an early mechanical failure resulted in a pile-up seconds into the race and the 38 strong pack was split in half from the off. The 3 Hafren boys were behind the mayhem which perused and were on the back foot before even crossing the start line where the leading contenders had started from. Darren eventually crossed the line in 15^th position with Nathan and Conrad both successfully finishing their first cyclo-cross race in 32 and 35^th place respectively.

The Welsh Championships on the 8^th December are now closed for entries but spectators are encouraged to come along and support the riders with the under 8’s race kicking of the day at 10.15am with the main race starting at 1.30pm.