Three mighty Medway Velo riders headed to Sandwich Technical College on Sunday 4 October for the first event in the East Kent cyclocross series – a race held in memory of East Kent racer Tim Mountford who sadly died this year. Many riders were seen sporting pink socks in tribute to Tim who was known for sporting fabulous pink socks at Cyclocross events.

With heavy rain making conditions very muddy and slippery nothing was going to dampen the spirits of the riders and first up was Michael Stanley in the Vet 40+ category.

Racing for an hour with some 40 others, taking on a sandpit, 40cm hurdles and around 60 Technical twists it was going to be a tough challenge.

Michael was the only rider in the field riding a mountain bike with the rest of the riders opting for lighter and nimbler Cyclocross machines. To make it even tougher he was gridded at the back of the pack but the plucky velo didn’t let that stop him making up over 10 places throughout the event and finishing strongly – albeit covered in mud.

Next up was Cassie McGoldrick and Sally Smith in a busy womens race with over 25 racing. Cassie like Michael was riding her MTB giving her a slight disadvantage to her opponents. However regardless of her bike Cassie is a classy rider and this shone through as she overtook rider after rider after starting at the back of the pack to finish midfield.

At the finish just one rider separated Cassie from teammate Sally who was happy with her ride, an improvement from her other races this season.

The event run by the East Kent Cyclocross League and went like clockwork with everyone social distancing, spectators wearing masks and everyone using the hand gel on offer.

Event organisers like EKCX have been thrown a curveball with Covid-19 but they rose to the challenge with an race that was a fitting memorial to former league racer Tim Mountford.