Bike Orienteering - Golden reward for Charlotte at World Masters (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Bike Orienteering - Golden reward for Charlotte at World Masters

10:19am Thursday 7th July 2011 in Sport

BIKE orienteer Charlotte Somers Cocks took two gold and a silver medal at the Masters World Championships in Sweden.

Lakeland OC member Somers Cocks, from Warton, raced in three events at the mountain bike orienteering championships in a change of format which saw several races determined on their own merits, rather than a cumulative time.

And it was to prove worthwhile for Somers Cocks as she took gold on the opening day over the middle distance course.

She said: “The course proved to be extremely wet with a lot of exposed slippery tree roots and the occasional boulder on the small tracks making for some more technical riding which suited me.

“I lost very little time over the 13 controls and while two Swedish riders got close, I held onto the lead by a minute to win gold.”

On a drier second day, the long distance race was to prove tricky for Somers Cocks and a couple of mistakes saw her slip behind and have to settle for silver.

But the final, short distance race, which saw 14 controls lcoated in an area of small paths criss crossing each other, gave her the chance to step back to the top of the podium and a four-minute margin gave Somers Cocks her second gold in as many days.