STEVE Sage of North Devon Wheelers cycle club took part in the first round of the South West cyclo-cross series at Bodmin last Sunday.
It was the first time Steve had participated in a cross event which is an hour long blast held over varying terrain including steep banks where riders are forced to dismount their bikes and run with them on their shoulders, stretches of road, grass and sand.
Steve started the event well, riding in a group challenging for fourth place but a technical error after about 20 minutes of racing, on one of the steep banks made him lose his position in that group.
From then he was unable to regain contact with the group, so he rode the remaining part of the race on his own to eventually finish in a very respectable ninth place.