A SUPER CROSS

Several days of heavy fog finally lifted over Macclesfield on the morning of the event to reveal the sun and a brand new course awaiting a field of over 300 riders.  Dry conditions leading up the event made for a fast and firm course, if not a little (very) greasy in places.

The 2024 Supacross was Round 10 of the Northwest League and the penultimate event in the series.   The league area covers from Cheshire up to Cumbria and attracts riders from across the respective counties.  But this event is a favourite of a family of racers from north of the border, who made the 4-hour journey down from Scotland to race in our event! 

The day's racing kicked off with the Under 16 Youths who used the full 1.7 mile course for half an hour of intense racing.  This was followed by the Under 8s, Under 10s and Under 12s on compressed circuit.  In total, there was almost one hundred riders under the age of 16 who raced in the park on the day.   There was also a great turn-out in the women's race with a league record of 42 riders.  The men's races were also as competitive as ever, with league points being fought out across all age categories including racers well into their 70s.

Due to the cyclocross calendar having been very busy early in the season, it looked as though we would be unable to fit the Supacross into our preferred month of October.  For that reason, there was much uncertainty as to whether the Macclesfield Wheelers would promote the Supacross in 2024.  When the organising team committed to holding the event in between Christmas and New Year, we knew that we'd have to rely on the support of our club members because, by this point, league riders had already committed to supporting other league events with their marshalling duties.  The response from the club was fantastic.  Help on the day was provided by almost 50 club members (nearly one in four of our membership) plus a handful of friends of the club, and this included erecting and dismantling the course (in almost complete darkness), marshalling, judging, support at sign-on and many other unseen roles.  There is an enormous amount of work that goes into organising cycling races and we are lucky to have the support of our fantastic club members who volunteer their time so kindly.  The effort didn't go unrecognised and we've received lots of kind praise from the riders since.  We are also grateful to Cheshire East Council and ANSA for their permission to use the park and so maintain our tradition since 1984.

Race results and photos are available on the Northwest Cyclocross League webpage here: Macclesfield Supacross / NWCCA Round 10 results – North West Cyclocross Association

The Supacross raised a surplus of £608, largely thanks to the league encouraging organisers to award a set prize fund this year. This has meant we’ve been able to donate £300 to Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and £300 to the Cheshire Wildlife Trust. These are two charities that the organising team felt they wanted to support, but of course, everyone who helped with the running of the event has contributed to this, so thank you.

Event history

We’ve been running this event since 1984, named after its first sponsor, SupaGasMart. Notable entrants include: Ian Field, Liam Killeen, Nick Craig, Ian Bibby, Paul Dixon, Chris Young, Robert Dane, Steve Douce, Glen Coleman, Tim Gould, Roger Hammond, Gary Ford, Barrie Clarke, Adrian Timmis, Paul Sherwen, Martin Earley and Joey McLoughlin.

Take a trip down memory lane and look at our collection of race programmes and newsletters.