Fife College hosts 'Return to Racing' cyclocross event
The grounds of Fife College's Dunfermline campus played host to the Scottish Cyclocross 'Return to Racing' event organised by a team of Dunfermline cyclists this weekend.
Over 200 cyclists from around Scotland raced around campus buildings on grass, mud, tarmac and gravel to complete as many laps as possible within the given race time.
This year's event looked slightly different to previous iterations, with lower numbers allowed to enter, open events of varying lengths, no pits, and various other COVID-19 protocols in place.
The races included a juniors event, along with an open event and a students race that is part of this year's Scottish Students Cyclocross Championships.
Cyclocross is an off-road sport that takes places on a variety of surfaces, with courses often featuring obstacles such as hurdles and sand pits, forcing riders to dismount and carry or run with their bikes. Some courses are more ‘technical’ than others, featuring tight single-track trails, tree roots and other obstacles.
This year's event was also supported by local independent Fife cycle shop Leslie Bike Shop Ltd.
Paul Davies, who organised this year's event said afterwards:
"It was great to see so friends in the cyclocross community catching-up and competing again after the long break caused by the pandemic.
"Cyclocross is a really fun event, a brilliant way to get outdoors and a great way to start cycle racing.
“Over 200 people entered the event, and many of the cyclists I spoke to were really excited to be back racing and really enjoyed the challenges of the muddy course.
"Huge thanks go to Fife College for allowing us to use their grounds to host the race. It's a big commitment to make and without the support of the Fife Collee team this event simply wouldn't have been possible."
Tam Cunningham, Estates Manager at Fife College said:
"We were really pleased to be able to welcome Scottish Cyclocross back to our campus this year.
"It was slightly different to usual with the COVID-19 protocols that were in place, but we're glad everyone was able to have a good time.
"At Fife College we're always happy to play our part in the local community, and to help out groups such as this.
"Cyclocross is a great activity and hopefully events like this encourage more people in Fife to get involved."