THE best rides by East Lancashire racing cyclists over the past week have come from our younger riders, with 19-year-old Steven Burke, of Colne, topping the pile with two gold medals in the British National Track Championships held in the Manchester Velodrome.

Steven took a superb win in the 20km Scratch Race, in which he beat some of Britain's best, including Chris Newton in second place for the treasured gold medal.

He then followed it by being part of the four man winning squad in the 4000 metre Team Pursuit with them catching and therefore eliminating their opponents in the Final.

Burke has now returned from a season of Road Racing in Italy with his 100 per cent ME team.

Seventeen-year-old Adam Pinder of Great Harwood and a member of the Blackburn and District CTC scored his first win in an Open Hill Climb event by ascending the 1.85 mile road from Quernmore to Jubilee Tower in 7 minutes 51.7 seconds to win the Lancaster Cycling Club promotion by 20 seconds from Mark Holton of ProBikeKit.com team.

Backed by Carl Helliwell (8m 14.7) in third place and Dave Collinge (8m 42.7) in eighth slot, the CTC trio were clear winners of the team prize. Pinder will start number 30 on the 1 in 4 climb of The Rake at Ramsbottom on Sunday with star attraction Bradley Wiggins No. 50 and National Champion James Dobbin No.60. First rider starts at 12.01.