Soggy Bottom 2026 - Round 3

A change of venue for the final round of the Soggy Bottom series and we had five members on track today, one for the first time (and with a new bike).

Lewis Stritch: First XC race in the bag! I Felt strong on the climbs and really pleased with how the legs showed up after a solid performance yesterday at Westpoint Crit. I managed my effort well and kept lap times consistent, which was a big goal for race one. The descents are definitely where I lost time, so there’s plenty to work on to become more competitive — but that’s all part of the process. Really enjoyed the experience and I’m excited to keep building skills, speed and confidence for the races ahead

Lucy Cox: Mud, grit and a whole lot of learning at the Soggy Bottom XC race at Granmarcombe today! I knew a wet course wouldn’t play to my strengths just yet, as reading and riding slippery routes is still a skill I’m building — but progress was the real goal. The biggest win? Riding every single section of the course — a huge step forward from my first race just a couple of weeks ago. It’s amazing what can change in such a short time, and it’s got me really excited to see how a dry course compares.

I even ended up on the top step of the podium (by default, as I was solo in my category!) — but it still proves that showing up and giving it a go really does count. If I can do it, you absolutely can too

Lisa Martin: I really really enjoyed this course. Admittedly I was a little nervous after the sighting lap as the course consisted of roots, tight single track and mud. The course started to flow better the more I rode it. I actually felt really good the whole way round and had energy to spare at the end. Eating properly and doing ‘Dry February’ has really paid off. I’m sure I’m getting closer to Miriam who took the top step (again)

Will Hutchins: A real change of terrain from the last two rounds; fewer climbs and a lot more super slippery roots to deal with. You can’t dodge the roots, you just have to suck it up and deal with them. If you get them right this course really flows, if you don’t you need to be prepared for a lot of sit-downs.

A good start for me and fought up to 5th but then had an over the bars crash trying to get past a back marker. Banged my recovering bad wrist and twisted my bars.. Lost some places and battled to regain some of them, but ultimately couldn’t get back to pace. Ended up in 10th on the day and 3rd overall in the series.

Mark Turner-Smith: Mixed feelings on todays race. Was ok off the line nicely and on the tail of riders further back but stupidly when trying to push through to what was 15/16th place (I think) I dumped myself on the deck catching a root wrong. Lost places but got back to the tail of 17th again by mid first lap and got past him at the start of lap 2. 16th held around 3.5min gap on me and I chased all race long until the last lap when it collapsed to 1min gap to chase. At the start of last lap the gap was probably small enough that I could overhauled him, or I could apply pressured hoping 16th place made a mistake. I would be entering sections as 16th came out, I could see him but but not close. Felt strong and good pace throughout.

Really enjoyed the course, and even though heavy mud made things interesting, the new Vittoria Mud XC tyres are fantastic finding grip in places they shouldn't letting me haul through sections and get grip I don"t think other tyres would.

Mixed frustrating race, still making far too many race errors. Training is good and strong /etc but not getting results equal to training efforts.