More than a hundred off-road cyclists showed no signs of over indulging during the Christmas break, as they lined up for the fourth race in the Flying Colours Mountain Bike Race Series held at Lagoon Park on Sunday.

In the top A category, in a somewhat smaller field than normal, many of the top contenders were present with Robin Horsefield, the winner of the previous event at the National Museum in Dockyard, keen for another victory.

However, the anticipation of another hard-fought race was quickly quashed when Horsefield, Dylan Hill, Matthew Oliviera and Kaden Hopkins entered the first single track section within a minute of the start.

Horsefield struck a tree root at speed sending him airborne, and unable to control his direction, was thrown into a tree trunk breaking his front wheel in two.

Hopkins was forced off the trail into bushes and by the time he remounted he had the unenviable task of trying to chase down Hill and Oliviera, who by the end of the first lap already opened up a 30-second lead.

On the second lap the two leaders were neck and neck, and it looked like another enthralling race between the two.

With Hopkins completing the lap within four seconds of the pair, he was maintaining his position but not closing the gap.

Then disaster struck as Oliviera flatted and was forced to retire.

A clearly focused Hill continued to drive the pace lap after lap, increasing his lead eventually completing the 50-minute race uncontested with Hopkins second, followed by Kent Richardson.

In the Male veterans race run at the same time, as expected Hans Hirschi and Dexter Swan took an early lead on the first lap, but half way through they faced a short steep uphill section that would prove be a problem for many riders on the day.

With exposed tree roots running across the surface, picking the right line was vital, and with the early morning sun shining directly into the riders’ eyes there was sure to be difficulties as Swan found out.

With the key to getting over the climb requiring the riders to attack the base at speed, part way up Swans rear wheel hit a root at an angle and he was thrown heavily to the ground.

To his credit he quickly remounted but by the time he recovered Hirschi had opened up a gap that he maintained to the finish. Swan held on strongly for second, with Peter Dunne who had fought back and forth for the whole race with female veteran Karen Bordage taking third less than a second ahead of Bordage.

In the biggest category of the day, the Male B, 32 riders were on the start line for their 40-minute race. A group of four or five riders set the pace for the first two laps with Adam Kirk, Jenai Robinson and Deshi Smith never far from the front.

By the third it was clear that these three would contest the win bar any crashes or mechanicals. Half way through the race Kirk took charge and started to pull away.

Smith, who raced patiently, got stronger as the race got longer and moved into second with Robinson never too far behind. This would prove to be the finishing order with Kirk taking a well-deserved first victory of the season.

Alyssa Rowse again proved she is in a class of her own in the women’s field. Despite a heavy fall on the first lap on the same hill that claimed Swan and many others on the day, a clearly hurt Rowse proved that she is not only a very talented rider but a tough, determined one, too.

Continuing on, and choosing to dismount and run the hill for the rest of the race, she took victory by more than a 1½ minutes ahead of Tristan Narraway who is enjoying a strong season riding consistently well. Ashley Robinson rounded out the top three.

Heinz Knut was the winner in the men’s novice race just over a minute ahead of Wendell Burrows, both completing five laps of the course with Darius Burch coming in third completing four laps.

Jennifer Wilson won the women’s novice race, with Elizabeth Stewart and Adrea Proctor taking second and third in the closest finish of the day, less than one second separating them.

It was another impressive race from the 13-15 boys, with Nick Pilgrim beating Alex Miller and Kion Richardson with all three recording lap times that would match many of their senior counterparts. Kayla Williams won the girls’ race.

Ahzai Smith, Christopher Raymond and Odin Heinz were the top three in the boys’ 12 and under and Megan Hinds won the girls’ race.