The Challenge Tyres London & South East Cyclo Cross League concluded on the opening day of February.  The venue was the picturesque grounds of Preston Park velodrome and the race was ably promoted by Brighton Mitre CC.  The racers were spared heavy rain, but outside of the velodrome and its grounds the mud was the worst possible combination of seemingly providing zero grip and yet being incredibly keen to cling to bikes and their drivetrains.

Georgina Wise (Destination Bike RT) had an off on the first lap as she struggled for traction and then experienced a slowly deflating front tyre that made cornering even more precarious.  Ninth amongst women over 30 at the end of the first of a quartet of laps she held that position to the flag.

From the second row of the grid in the following race for men over 50 Dan Street was well placed going into the first fast sweeping right hand corner.  Sadly somebody on his inside clipped his rear wheel and his attempt to counterbalance by leaning on the rider outside him only lasted so far before gravity prevailed and he found himself down on the grass and at the rear of the field.

Dan Street and Stephen Burgess by Paget Cohen

Avoiding the mechanical issues that had plagued the rest of his season Dan fought back to lie 24th at the end of the first of half-a-dozen laps.  He rose a further four places on lap 2, then five more on the third circuit.  Further progress was limited by how much the field had been strung out by the conditions, but he got as far as 13th on the penultimate circuit, before fatigue took its toll and he was demoted to, a still impressive, 14th at the finish.

Darren Haynes enjoyed a relatively trouble-free race in comparison. Managing to avoid any spills and technical issues he was 32nd at the close of the initial circuit.  Like Dan he gained four places the next time around.  He emerged from the midfield tussle with enough in the legs to gain four places on the final lap to cross the line in 24th place of the 44 finishers in his age group.

Stephen Burgess was the only competitor in the over-70 category and he suffered a couple of slow-speed falls, but kept going to complete five laps in 47th from 56 riders overall, with four non-finishers.