R1 - Sherwood Pines

The 2009 Cross-Country racing season got off to a flying start on the weekend with near record numbers, with well over 600 riders entering the new British Mountain Bike Series. Any sniff of the doom and gloom of last year was well and truly buried in the dry loamy trails of Sherwood and with organiser Martyn Salt firmly back in the driving seat, raising the bar once again, helping to transform the UK's premier Cross-Country series we should soon be back to the former glory days of the 90's at this rate!

If round1 was anything to go by, things are firmly on track with near record numbers of riders pre entering races, leaving lots of categories full and with hardly any day entries to be had, which can only be a good thing as it sends out the message that this is THE series to race and if you want to be in it you have to get your act together and enter early to avoid disappointment!

The series kicked off at Sherwood Pines a favourite for many and a nemesis for many others! It's a mixture of tight twisty singletrack, wide stony fire roads, plenty of loose loamy surfaces which made the 7km course a relentless battle for contention right from the off. One of the major changes for the new series was the utilisation of shorter laps to enable spectators to keep a close eye on the action. The course at Sherwood also had an arena 'return' built in which meant the riders swooped back half way in the lap and skirted the arena before heading off to complete the lap.

Rosara Joseph - Elite:

“That was really exciting, I was really impressed with the quality of the field. On this sort of course and with the quality riders that I was up against the race is so fast and although I tried over the first couple of laps to get away, I couldn't shake them off my tail. I wanted to make this a really good workout for me. I haven't done a lot of racing so far this year but I'm looking to do the World Cups, which kick off in a few weeks. I could have just sat in the group but I prefer to work hard. I hope to be able to do a few more rounds of the series, any that don't clash with World Cups, so definitely the next one for sure and maybe even one more after that.”

If you’d like to read the full report please click on the British Cycling button above.