Established in 2024, the series is jointly run by Edinburgh Road Club, Falkirk Junior Bike Club, Stirling Bike Club and West Lothian Clarion – and is designed to give youth riders more experience of racing: to put into practice the skills they are taught in Road and Circuit Development and Cluster sessions, and prepare them for Scottish and British Series races.
From the start, collaboration has been key, as most of those involved hadn’t organised events previously. They have quickly proven the benefits of clubs working together, with all events running efficiently and professionally throughout the season. Simple things like an online shared folder has made it easier for each individual club to take the lead on organising a round of the series. Templates for race manuals, risk assessments, volunteer rotas have all served to reduce the recurring admin burden on the volunteer teams.
After a successful first season in 2024, heading into 2025 the series secured sponsorship from The Cycling Podcast. Richard Moore co-founded The Cycling Podcast and represented Scotland in the road race at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Richard died suddenly in March 2022 at the age of 48 and this series recognises his contribution to cycling. He was a big supporter of the West Lothian Cycle Circuit project. The Cycling Podcast and its listeners contributed towards the fundraising effort when the circuit was still in its planning stage.
With this new backing, 2025 has seen a number of innovations to the series, including the introduction of the ‘Buffalo’ award. The winner at each event has been the rider the organisers and commissaires feel has put an exceptional effort into the race. For example, this could be an attack off the front (even if it doesn’t succeed), chasing down a breakaway or riding to catch back onto a group after being dropped. Richard’s affectionate nickname was the ‘Buffalo’ because his attitude to his work, life and cycling was to just get on with it, do your best, and learn in the hope of being better next time. It’s created a really positive additional dynamic to the races this season, with riders gratefully receiving a water bottle during the presentations at the end of each race.
Reflecting on this season, Richard Levinson who represents Edinburgh RC and leads the coordination of the series said:
“The Richard Moore Youth Race Series has almost doubled the number of races open to youth riders within Scotland. This year, across 5 rounds, we’ve had over 80 riders from all over Scotland (and come up from England) competing in the Youth A, B and C categories – as well as over 20 Youth D and E riders – ranging from British and Scottish National Youth Champions to riders who have never competed in a bike race before.
The series shows what can be achieved when clubs work together. Each club have run rounds of the series, but every race has been supported by volunteers from these fours clubs as well as others from all over Scotland. Without all of these volunteers, none of these events could have taken place.”
Levinson added:
“These races give new riders the chance to try racing in a pressure-free environment, while also allowing more experienced riders the chance to put the skills they learn at club and Scottish Cycling-run coaching sessions into practice on a more frequent basis.
One thing we noticed last year was that many riders were afraid of losing a race, and so many races would end in a bunch sprint. This year, we mixed things up a bit to try to encourage more attacking racing, and give more chances to different types of riders. Rather than the usual single races, we’ve run a couple of rounds with two shorter races and also included a Time Trial in round three.
We also introduced a primes competition, encouraging riders to either attack to win prizes by crossing the line first or sprint to success – which has proved a great success, as evidenced by a number of different riders on the podiums in the prime competitions to those on the main race series podiums”.
The series is showing positive signs of growth, with a 16% increase in participation in 2025 vs 2024. As they look ahead to 2026, the team is hopeful that this momentum can continue, and across five Tuesdays in the Spring and Summer, the West Lothian Cycle Circuit will be buzzing as riders learn, develop and have fun in this grassroots environment.