AFTER a two-month break, house moves and flu took its toll on the Flitch Bikes squad for the third round of the Thetford Mountain Bike Racing winter series.

Only Tim and Jack Peal and Stuart Carmichael made the trip up to Fire road 24 just north west of Brandon last Sunday which turned out to be the driest event for some time.

It made for fast racing in all categories. The extra time to train paid off for the Peal father and son duo, with Tim getting on the third podium spot in the fun race just two minutes off first place.

“Next time I’ll do it,” vowed Tim on his proposal of achieving the top step of the podium in the last race of the series, before he plans to move up to the two hour race for next winter.

Jack also ripped round the eight miles of mostly technical single-track course finishing stronger than ever. In the overall for the fun class Tim now lies in 6th and Jack 17th.

In the four hour event increased numbers in the field led to even more competitive racing with a much higher pace.

Carmichael road hard for the duration making up four places on his last lap to complete seven of the eight mile laps in 4hours 28mins coming 13th - ten minutes and a staggering whole lap more off the first placed man Andrew Cockburn.

He said: “I can’t believe how much faster I rode today and still came in the same place as the last race. It just goes to show how competitive the series is becoming leading up to the final round on February 27.”

In the overall series for the Four hour class he has now broken in to the top ten holding the 9th spot and is hoping he and the Peal duo can carry on the improvements and get a good all round result for the team.