IT WAS double delight for Wem cyclo cross star Isaac Vickery has he took two race wins throughout half-term.

The first a trip was to Yorkshire to ride in round three of the No nonsense Cyclo Cross series.

Thick drying mud meant that tyre choice was critical, ass thick and sticky mud affects how much tread to use.

Tyres with more tread have more grip, but also the more mud that will cling to the tyres increasing the weight of the bike.

Isaac went for an intermediate tyre and slipped, slid and ran to a convincing win, giving him two wins and a second so far in the five race series.

Next up was a downhill mountain bike race in Gloucester at FlyUp417 bike park.

For Isaac there was professional inspiration in the form of Matt Walker, from Oswestry, who learnt to ride in Corbett Woods where Isaac trains, had become the UCI Elite Men's Downhill Overall World Cup winner 2020-21.

For downhill events the riders get an hour's window to practice the course before two timed runs.

The Under-9 field was very strong with Coby Wrayford from Newton Abbot, the current national BMX champion, Henry Ruskin, the son of the owner of the FlyUp417 bike park, and Sennen Brown, the son of Dan Brown who manages the Atherton's and runs the Dyfi Bike Park, all entered.

Isaac was ceded first so had to set a time for them to chase.

Nervous and hampered by high winds, Isaac set a time of one minute 50 second and 912 tenths on his first run which was just good enough to see him go first again in the second run.

With less wind and a near faultless run Isaac set a time of 1.49.501 on his second run, beating Coby by 1.221 seconds, with Henry in third and Sennen in fourth.