Osborn’s efforts recognised with the President’s Award

Osborn is not only a successful competitor but has contributed greatly at committee level, organised and volunteered to ensure events went ahead, mentored juniors, and was the secret brain behind the successful hill climb series.

The GVC held their awards night on Saturday and club president Alex Margison went beyond a pure performance basis when he gave the top prize to the Island Games rider, instead crediting a season’s worth of results and his widespread service in local cycling.

‘He has almost become one of the stalwarts of the club,’ Margison said.

‘He is still a long way off becoming a veteran, but he brings great experience. He has done a lot of racing in France and the UK and some of his time-trial performances, particularly towards the end of the year, were superb.’

Junior rider Ollie Duguid became a noticeably young winner of the Wallbridge Trophy for sportsmanship.

But it was a most deserved accolade. He had stopped to help an injured Megan Dowinton when she crashed on the opening enduro stage of the week-long Tour of Guernsey, ultimately sacrificing his entire race – it meant he had technically not finished the stage and was ineligible for the general classification.

Academy rider Chay Kennedy-Cook won the Watts Trophy for endeavour after a breakthrough season across multiple disciplines, where Margison says he has come on in ‘leaps and bounds’.

On top of placing sixth youth boy in the SouthernXC series, he has established himself among the domestic senior mountain-bike elite.

He more recently enjoyed multiple hard days of learning and gaining experience at the North West Youth Tour road race.

In contrast, grand veteran Glen Irven won the Rose Bowl novice prize.

After his first appearance on the mountain bike last winter, he has become a regular across numerous disciplines.

That was the last committee prize to be awarded, but another major talking point was the debut of an Allan Renyard Trophy for best 25-mile time-trial performance in relation to age group standards, which provide a leveller for veterans.

Karina Jackson emerged a deserving winner of the award, which was named after a man who was often considered the ‘father’ of bike racing in Guernsey before his death last year.

‘Allan’s ambition was always to get under the hour in the 25 TT, which he never quite managed,’ Margison added.

‘He used to look after all the standards. We thought it would be fitting to have a trophy for best on standard.’

Among the other club titles presented, Osborn completed a fine double in the road race championship and the five-mile TT.

While John Mapley extended his enviable run of downhill titles, his girlfriend, Chloe Woods, earned recognition as the most improved mountain-biker – no mean feat with the number of riders that have upped their game over the season.

The attendees at the awards night were in elite company, with Trinity Racing professional Sam Culverwell and World Tour physiotherapist Dan Guillemette coming on as guest speakers and providing a Q&A session.