IN November 1998, Christopher Chester entered his first mountain bike race at Lightwater Valley theme park, in North Yorkshire. He finished 13th but this was the start of his competition riding.

He began to compete in local cyclo-cross events, gaining third place overall in 1999 and second last year.

Christopher's success has continued. He has been the BCF North-East Omnium Track champion for the past two years, finished runner-up in the League 2000 road race series and then won the league this year.

In August, he came sixth in the Tour of Manchester and in October he became the under-16 National Hill Climbing Champion.

Last month, he won the event that introduced him to competitive cycling at Lightwater Valley.