HORWICH Cyclo-Cross team are celebrating after racing to victory in the North West League for the seventh consecutive season.
And, to cap a great season, individual successes saw David Brailsford become the senior champion, Rick Sale win the under-23 title and Eric Taylor crowned the over-60s winner.
The season started in September, and ended in victory for the Horwich riders.
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Each rider took part in 12 rides over the course of the season, with the best nine times counting towards the individuals' final scores.
The three individuals with the best scores then contribute towards the team's overall score; with Brailsford, Sale and Martyn Kitchen the trio that helped to bring home the team trophy for Horwich.
Cyclo-cross is a bike race mixed with steeplechase. Riders race laps around a short course that usually features some pavement, some dirt, some woods, some steep hills and for good measure, some obstacles thrown in that require riders to dismount, work their way through and then get back on and ride some more.
The course is usually 2.5-3.5km with a race lasting anywhere between 30 to 75 minutes. About 80 per cent of the course will be rideable, with the rest made up of natural obstacles like creeks and fallen trees combined with man-made barriers like bales of straw and low fences.
"It is a great feeling to win the event," said Brailsford, who started cycling 15 years ago when he entered a sponsored bike ride as a 12-year-old. It is the culmination of a lot of hard work. The season is quite long, and there is also the training that is involved. I train on the bike up to 16 hours a week, and that doesn't include running and gym work.
"Then, I sometimes meet up with other riders from the club and we go for rides that last between three and seven hours."
Brailsford is now gearing himself up for the national championships after being crowned North-west champion. He will not be defending his title, and will instead take part in some summer events before the winter season starts again in September.
"I am concentrating on getting more miles into my legs and getting a more structured training programme," Brailsford said.
"If I achieve that, there is no reason why I can't end up in the top 20 of the national competition."
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