Matterly Basin is better known as the home of the British MotoX GP. Sunday it played host to a slightly quieter form of two wheeled racing - the first round of the Southern XC series. Set on the slopes of the South Downs close to Winchester, the course clambered over the local hills, twisting in and out of the woodland and across open grassland. It was a blustery day on the exposed hillside but the sun did its best to shine, as the clouds scooted across the sky.
Despite the recent heavy rain the forest sections weren’t too greasy and a racing line formed in the drying mud. The warmer temperatures meant it was also my first outing this year in shorts! Although this does mean I had to expose my hairy legs to the smoothly shaved racer boys.
The club seemed destined just to miss the podium with Ian, Will and Steve all coming home in 4th place! The duck was broken by James Darcy who won the Grand Vets.
Elsewhere Alex was 16th in Open, I was 20th in the Masters and Ollie 10th in the Juniors.
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| The podium boy! |
