This year’s Mildenhall Cycling Festival once proved to be a happy hunting for Spalding Cycling Club grass track team.
With activities spread over three days, the usual programme devised by Max Pendleton and the organising team from Mildenhall Cycling Club offered chances of good, competitive racing.
Numbers appeared to be down, but the usual high standard of racing went off in perfect weather.
Along with Spalding, teams from Bourne Wheelers and Colchester Rovers, West Suffolk Wheelers, Chelmer CC, Fenland Clarion, VC Londres, Ashwell CC, South Pennine Road Club and Team Terminator were all present in varying numbers and across the age groups.
Although Spalding’s team only numbered three, Jack and Velvet Bowser and Tom Wright all rode exceptionally well.
The Juvenile Omnium at Mildenhall is a special event for Jack Bowser – in the 2015 season he won the under-8s event, while 2016 saw him on the top step of the podium again.
This year, in the under-10s category event, it was another return to the top ahead of Evander Wishart (Fenland Clarion) and Aidin Pettitt (South Pennines).
In the under-12 girls’ omnium, Velvet Bowser could not quite repeat her 2016 third place. Very fast and competitive racing in a strong field made this omnium one of the most exciting of the day to watch, though.
Both Jack and Velvet Bowser are incredibly talented and capable athletes with great futures in cycling.
Meanwhile, it was Team Chelmer on the top two steps of the podium after the under-16s omnium with Aaron Freeman the winner, Fred Gill runner-up and Spalding’s Wright in third place.
Wright finished fourth behind Freeman in 2016 in the under-14s, so all eyes will be on their battles next year.
