First heavy rain of the year began falling just a few hours too soon, turning the course chosen for the Inter-area Cyclo-cross championships at Bristol into a quagmire and deterring all but the most determined to take part in the fourth reliability ride of the winter organised by the Sotonia CC.

With the final round of the National Trophy series one week away, the Wessex teams selected for the cyclo-cross meeting were a little lightweight, and all but one of those who competed had difficulty coping with the course.

Overnight rain had turned it from a firm, frosty surface into a morass and two ascents, each about 100 yards long, were impossible to ride. Malcolm Cross (Hargroves Cycles RT Trant) was the sole Wessex man who shone in difficult conditions and led the veterans race until the last lap when he dropped back to third.

The East Midlands team took the honours in this race, their second success of the day, and finished 20 points ahead of the Wessex trio of Cross, Dave Lloyd (Didcot Phoenix) and Chris Devine (Salisbury RC).

Didcot's Paul Lloyd was the Wessex team's best man in the senior Championship but was no match for individual winner Chris Young, British champion ten years ago. But his Yorkshire squad lost the team title to the North West England squad.

Young apart, the meeting failed to attract many of the country's leading cyclo-cross men, Roger Hammond (Collstrop), who retained his British title in Birmingham last week, returned to the road in preparation for the forthcoming season and won the winter series event organised by Twickenham CC at Hillingdon, West London, but a similar event at Milton Keynes was cancelled, snow over an inch deep in places covering the course.

Only 13 stalwarts turned up at Chilworth for the Sotonia reliabilty ride, but only one failed to complete the 50-mile course. Keith Mack, a new member from North Baddesley, led the way to the finish in Romsey a few minutes ahead of Jonathan Slynn and the club's redoubtable tandem pair Norman Harvey and Mary Corbett.

Results:

Inter-Arca Cyclo-Cross Championships, Bristol - 1 North West England 32pts, 2 East Midlands 38, 3 West Midlands 58, 4 South West England 63, 5 Wales 96, 8 Wessex 135.

Veterans: 1 East Midlands 28, 2 Yorkshire 32, 3 London 33, 4 North West 33, 5 South West 38, 7 Wessex 48.

Youths: 1 East Midlands 13, 2 London 14, 3 Wet Midlands 31, 8 Wessex 79.

Oxonian CC Cyclo-Cross Oxford - 1 Paul Lloyd (Didcot Phoenix) 10.5 miles in 50m 1s, 2 C Lahyo (Kenilworth Wheelers) @ 4m 49s, 3 J Kulkern (Milton Keynes CC) @ 5m 37s.