Observer Reports

(Oualie, Nevis) - It was a first time event for the Nevis Cycle Youth Club as they lined up at Oualie Beach on a very windy Sunday afternoon, 27 athletes, ranging in age from 10yrs old to 65yrs young, were set to take on this new challenge.

The course was over 21 miles (35kms) including the bypass and Westbury Hill. Each category was given a separate route but all of them had to finish up in Fountain Village.

It was a wonderful afternoon of racing as the youngsters really came to grips with their new sport and determined to do their very best, with some great battles between the riders. In the Cadet mountainbike division Kennard Sampson proved too much of a handful for his competition taking 1st place. In second was Terell Daniel and newcomer Delroy Cornelius came in third.

The Cadet road bikers were also putting on quite a show with Devon Jeffers battling with Dorez Daniel. On this occasion Dorez proved too tough on the climb up to Fountain and took 1st, Devon second and Akeem Nisbet 3rd.

The Junior riders took to the road with the elite men and women, and quite a fierce fight took place between all of the categories, most of the early pace being set by visiting riders Monica Ceccon and James Weekes. After the turnaround near the MUA the group split up into factions all trying to tag back to the lead group, but it was not to be.

Standout performances on this day came from Assim Chapman, Alexis Lemmex and newcomer Gerard Browne. Although race favorite James Weekes took the overall win he was chased hard by Monica, with Gerard showed outstanding raw ability to place 3rd overall in his very first serious race, an amazing performance.

Monica was 2nd overall and 1st female followed by Kristina Stoney and Alexis in 3rd, Greg Phillip rounded out the top 3 in the male category. The juniors were having a serious time of things Assim and Tarel Morton pushing hard up the hill alongside Stephen Ward, but Assim was too strong and pulled away to take 1st place Junior despite his being only 13yrs old, a real future talent to watch.

For the spectators in Fountain it must have been a joy to see such an array of young talent that is here on Nevis. Congratulations to all of the participants.

While the team was busy at home Reggie Douglas was flying the Nevis flag high in St Martin and Anguilla. On Saturday Reggie teamed up with sportsman Fritz Bus to tackle his first adventure race that involved running, biking, swimming, kayaking and trekking over a 66km course. It took them over 5hrs and they got 1st place, amazing

Then on Sunday Reggie travelled over to Anguilla for a 67km road bike race, and placed 2nd in the A+ category. Go Reggie!!

This weekend the athletes of Nevis continue their travels. Reggie and James head down to Grenada for their Olympic distance Triathlon, while Kristina Stoney takes on the challenge of her first Half-Ironman (70.3) and the famous ‘Beast’ over in St Croix .