//2023-4 London & SE CX Season review
On Saturday the curtain fell on the latest edition of the London & South East Cyclocross league as it was the league presentations at Kingdom in Tonbridge.
For the Green Machine Cross Team it was a bumper season as a record 16 of LEC’s most hardy juniors signed up to take part, a dozen managed to complete all of the squad races with Daniel Furlong completing all ten league races!
To put this achievement into perspective… 990 entrants raced at least one league race this CX season and only 28 raced ALL 10! Massive kudos to Daniel.
Before we go into the results its worth mentioning what makes being part of the Green Machine such fun for the riders. They enter as a team, race as a team, support everyone from the team whilst they race and then after they all play and have fun… as a team! On many occasions this season the Green Machine have taken over a particular area of a course and made it their support base for the passing riders. Many time have they been heard shouting and screaming support to passing riders, handing out high five ‘power ups’ and waving the Green Machine flag - Big Bob at Herne Hill Velodrome has been a particular favourite!
The camaraderie between the squad has been heart-warming as this is exactly what racing as part of a team should be like.
“They enter as a team, race as a team, support everyone from the team whilst they race and then after they all play and have fun… as a team!”
“Racing aside, Dominik has been an inspiring figure for younger team members to look up to, all of which are hoping to emulate Dominik in the future.”
// League champions and podiums
Over the season we saw our little pocket rocket, Lola Stewart dominate the U8 girls. Lola however didn’t just turn up every Sunday to race, she also showed her dedication to training and bettering herself by attending the weekly U12 CX training session at the Cyclopark. Not daunted by being by far the youngest rider, Lola used the time to hone her technical skills and quickly become the queen of dismounts and flying remounts!
With this level of commitment and hard work, Lola came out of the season on the top step of the league standings, bagging herself some lovely tires – that left her dad drooling, a bespoke CX trophy in the style of two CX hurdle boards and a mountain of chocolate – that left Lola drooling!
At the other end of the age spectrum we witnessed junior member & newly accredited LEC coach, Dominik Garner race a hard fought season in the hotly contested junior field.
Having an LEC youth rider progress from the youth team to race in as a junior is a first for the club and something we are incredibly proud of. In usual Dominik style his approach was cool, calm and collected as in various races he lined up against junior National Champions & Team GB riders! As we all know however, consistency is the key and it’s not just one race that counts but the season of races. For Dominik, a long season of perseverance seen him rewarded with third place overall in the league! Racing aside, Dominik has been an inspiring figure for younger team members to look up to, all of which are hoping to emulate Dominik in the future. Bravo Dominik.
Elsewhere across the season we were lucky enough to witness the rider’s development first hand.
// U8’s
Kasper Rackley was one rider who stood out over the season, improving race upon race. Dedication to training and pure enjoyment of racing led Kasper to ending the season in what could only be described as a purple patch of form – in the last race at Preston Park Kasper battled to take the his first race win and end the season on a high.
Late team signing Woody Shearwood also had a stellar first season in the U8’s and is already looking like a hot prospect for the future!
// U10’s
Six Green Machine riders battled it out in this hotly contested category. At each race, the trio of Kien Chu, Daniel Furlong and Tejus Savulionis-Ptasnikas dueled it out and whilst doing so, pushed one another to their absolute limit, ensuring that everything was left out on the mud!
1st year U10 Elias Petruskevicius battled commendably in every race and was not far behind his older teammates. Learning vital race craft with every race Elias has set himself up nicely to be challenging for the podium next season.
CX League first timer, Vicente Sanches completed all team races and in doing so grew in confidence with every race.
Timothy Collins also rounds up the U10 squad.
// U12’s
Floyd Connor and Lucas Perillia are another pair of LEC’s most dedicated riders. Always looking to ride their bikes, train outdoors or even race on the turbo… anything to get the miles in. So it comes as no surprise that these two were involved in weekly tit for tat battles throughout the season.
In the early stages the master, Lucas, was getting the better of his apprentice, Floyd. Lucas’ racing and technical skills were giving him the edge. Much however has to be said about Floyds dedication to improving himself as a cyclist in general. Dedicated to learning the technical skills at the weekly club sessions, improving his fitness & practicing his race craft has led to the apprentice getting the better of the master! With Floyd coming out on top towards the end of the season he just edged ahead of Lucas in the overall but it’s plain to see that this is irrelevant as their friendship seems to have been the only winner.
Sofia Savarese also represented the GM in a couple of races.
// U14’s
This season, the ever popular Edie Wright made the big step up to youth racing. Initially not wanting to race, Edie watched a few races and soon realised that she was missing the Green machine camaraderie! Once back into the fold, Edie didn’t look back. Cheered on by her band of merry supporters, you can always hear when Edie is racing as the chant of ‘Edie, Edie, Edie’ rings out across whatever random field she happens to be racing in!
Not content with getting back into the league fold, Edie then decided to take it a step further by representing the club at national level, taking part in the Cyclocross National Trophy, hosted at the Cyclopark.
// U16’s
Rytis Petruskevicius loves racing off road and for him the CX season is all about fun. Throwing his bike all over the course with his trademark rear end slips, Rytis loved entertaining the crowd. Rytis also bagged himself a pair of Challenge Tires when he won rider of the week at Sommerhill School. After shredding his rear derailleur, Rytis’ bike become unrideable. With no spare in the pits, Rytis picked up his mud laden bike and ran the entire lap just to finish the race and bag his points! Legend!