Gloucester City Mountain Biker Andy Weaving travelled to Checkendon, South Oxfordshire to compete in the sixth and final round of the Southern cross country series. Heavy rain before and during the race turned the largely flat single track course into one that was going to test bike handling skills to the limit. Due to previous results Weaving was gridded on the front row and he got away quickly to enter the first single track section within the first 7 riders.
Feeling strong and relishing the conditions Weaving attacked at every opportunity and as he caught and passed riders his confidence grew. At the end of lap two Weaving was in 3rd place, could see the rider in front and was gaining ground on him. By the end of lap 3 Weaving had caught and passed his rival but couldn`t distance him enough, so a last lap fight was on for the second podium place. The two racers were wheel to wheel as they exited the trees and were faced with a 100m sprint to the line, one which Weaving won by a bike length.
Second place on the day also gave Weaving 3rd overall in the 2015 series.
Andy also travelled to Cannock Chase in Staffordshire to compete in the fifth and final round of the British National cross country mountain bike points series.
Two practice laps Weaving took on the day before the race revealed a course that would be testing to the very best but luckily was drying quickly from the previous days heavy rain. Weaving competes in the Grand Veteran class and the race was to be over 3 laps of a very technical 5 mile circuit.
From the gun the pace was hard and fast and Weaving was near the front of the race as it hit the first real technical feature, a 30 metre downhill rock garden. to avoid the carnage Weaving followed others down the slower `B` line and lost a couple of places. Decisions like that were critical as there were at least four sections per lap that offered fast and challenging `A` lines or slower but safer `B` lines. Weaving rode hard consistent laps and came home in 12th place which secured a 9th place overall in the 2015 National Series.