Right on the heels of EUCC’s incredibly performance at BUCS DH in Rheola, five riders headed south to Newport ready to race BUCS Track. With only one previous session on the track together to get teams and tactics sorted, BUCS was really going to be a baptism of fire for the five.
Time on the track is highly sought after, especially with the upcoming Olympics, so racing was quick fire rounds with little chance to cool down between races. First off was the 4km Individual Pursuit qualifiers, a simple rider against the clock affair for five minutes of pain. All riders, Iain Cook, Angus Elliot, Andy Leith and Rich Teague, put in a good performance, getting their legs spinning and used to the track again. Chris Hutchens took on the Kilo for Edinburgh, four laps as fast as you can. Legs were obviously tired from the BUCS Downhill held earlier in the afternoon but Chris still put in a stellar performance showing everyone Edinburgh meant business.
Last race of the day was the Team Sprint qualifiers, consisting of Chris, Rich and Angus in first, second and third positions respectively the team had only one previous attempt at a sprint before without much success. Posting an incredible time of 55.015s the team placed themselves in the bronze medal ride-offs.
Sprint qualifiers started 9am sharp on the Sunday morning. Chris and Iain both took to the boards to set some Flying 200 qualifying times with Iain progressing through to the first knockout heat, unfortunately being knocked out by Kenny Ayre, the eventual Silver medallist.
With little chance to recover the Team Pursuit was underway. Consisting of Iain Cook, Chris Hutchens, Andy Leith and Rich Teague the pursuit team had a similar lack of track time as the Team Sprint squad. Despite a fast start the team were caught by UCLAN and Rich fell back. Through an absolutely phenomenal ride Andy pulled his way back onto the line and the three remaining riders defied belief and posted a 05:08 time ranking them third in qualifiers. Due to time constraints there was no Bronze medal ride off and, to Edinburgh’s delight, Bronze was awarded to them.
A short break for lunch let the riders recover before the Team Sprint ride-offs. Filled with confidence the team were riding against University of Exeter, the same as in the qualifiers. Unfortunately Edinburgh were pipped to the post by Exeter and narrowly missed out on another podium position. Although no medal was won it just underlines the talent in the team if they can make the Bronze ride-offs with so minimal practice.
Final race of the day was the Points with Iain Cook representing Edinburgh. 40km on the clock with sprints every 10 laps made racers really work hard for their points. Despite a weekend of hard racing Iain managed to place an incredibly 6th. Over half of the initial racers had to pull out, underlining just how tough this final race of the day was.
With all the racing over and an exceptional performance from all riders a long drive back to Edinburgh awaited.
The success at both the Downhill and Track really highlights the depth of talent and sportsmanship within the club currently. All the results should place Edinburgh at the top spot of the BUCS league with a few more races still to take place. Help keep us at the top and come race BUCS!










