BROMSGROVE Olympique's cyclo-cross team was depleted in the West Midlands League at Rugeley last weekend.

This was due to the number of other events which attracted members to travel further afield, two families going hundreds of miles.

The Dingleys probably travelled the furthest with Ross and Jason taking part in the British Schools Hill Climb National Championship near Scarborough.

They both did excellently, Jason taking the silver medal, only losing the title by three tenths of a second.

Ross also rode well on a tough climb to take fifth place.

Meanwhile, the Wilcox's travelled in the opposite direction to Portsmouth, where Heather spent the weekend training and racing on the only other indoor track in Britain to the superb Manchester Velodrome venue, the extremely steep Calshot track.

This 142-metre, 45-degree timber-banked track is based in the old supermarine aircraft hangers at Calshot, and, with laps possible in under ten seconds, trying to keep your head is quite a problem! Heather did well in the track league events, taking a second place in one race.

Veteran Rob Greenaway and the Dyus brothers also went south to Cheltenham to ride the National Trophy Series event -- results next week. The remaining crew had a successful day at Rugeley despite heavy rain for the senior race. Craig Talbot took second place in the under-12s with Genny Billington third girl. Craig now moves into the series lead after three events.

The youth event saw another second place, with Alex Billington not quite able to match Wolverhampton Wheelers Stuart Jones' strength and pace. He still managed to hold off the chasing group by over 100 metres at the finish.

Peter Banham survived a dive into the stream on the penultimate lap to finish sixth, with Peter Yates not far behind in eighth and Chris MacDonald 12th.

The vets, juniors and ladies event saw two Olympique winners, with Rob Twigg taking the vets event and Francine Billington the ladies.

Other Olympique riders scoring valuable league points included Kate Salmon, Martin Barnett, Paul Chamberlain, Mike Cooper, Ian Billington and Gerry Blackmoor.

The senior event had two Olympique entrants. Steve Talbot rode an excellent event in only his second race, moving up from last place after the opening sprint across the field to take scalps before the finish. Luke Twigg also rode well.

Next week sees a tough race for all at a well know mountain bike venue near Ludlow. For further details phone Ian on (01527) 833847.