XCC Race Report: British XC National Series Round 3 Matterley Basin by Mandownmedia

Round 3 of the National XC Series takes place this weekend at Matterley Basin, Winchester kicking off with the Short Track races. After a last-minute change of venue, the Southern XC Team stepped up and produced an incredible Short Track course, full of steep climbs, tight berms, rooty woodland sections and fast-flowing descents - everything to test a rider's ability during a compact 20-minute Short Track Race. Despite the less-than-ideal weather, riders turned up in their droves to have their go at tackling this course.

There was a great turnout of riders braving the heavy rain to race the Short Track

After winning the last round at Margam in the Short Track, could Leon Atkins do it again?

British Cycling Commissaires were on hand to make sure the day ran smoothly

Even despite the conditions riders were excited to get back racing

Great to see Joolze and Hannah back on the mics this weekend keeping us all up to date on the action

It was a long slog up the climb

Tulsi Bakrania kept it steady throughout the race on her way to first place in the Girls Juvenile/Youth field

It was a close-fought battle between Leon Atkins and Alex Hart, with Leon ultimately taking the win

Dec Oldham had a promising start although it was not to be this weekend for Dec after sliding in forest section

Dec Oldham had a promising start, although it was not to be this weekend for Dec after sliding in the forest section

As the rain continued to fall, the track began to evolve and areas that were already sketchy began to turn treacherous. There were many ways to take this line . . . with varying degrees of success

Sometimes it's best not to know the carnage behind you

A solid top-10 finish for Sam Budd in the Youth/Juvenile field

The Matterley Basin course had the perfect combination of steep climbs, tight forestry corners and then long flowing descents where riders could let off the brakes

Who needs a shower when you've got a water bottle that does the job just as well?!

Family and friends braved the harsh weather conditions to be support crews for their riders

Who needs tan lines when you can get mud lines!?

You'd have thought the Veteran's would've known better than to come out and race in the rain. However, the rain didn't dampen their spirits with some close-fought racing

It wasn't easy getting off the mark on the wet tarmac

The start of the short track course opened with a fire road climb where riders could really put the power down

With the mud and rain came plenty of puddles

Sam Chatwin looked strong but just missed out on the podium this weekend

What would normally be a simple set of roots, in the wet weather turned into a treacherous set of sniper roots ready to catch you out at any moment

Paul Oldham took an impressive win in the Veteran's race by over a minute and a half

George Gori had his eyes on the prize, taking second place in the Men's Veteran race

The perfect way to end a race with high fives all round

Despite being one of only two female Veterans to take on the Short Track, Davina McLelland put in a strong performance taking 7th overall in the combined field

It was a close battle in the first lap of the Junior/Senior Men's race

Short Track is all about this kind of bar-to-bar racing

There wasn't much time to stay clipped in with foot dabs needed on nearly every corner

Anna McGorum easily negotiated the dense woodland section on her way to second in the Women's Senior field

Elena McGorum showed her strength in Short Track taking home first place in the Women's Senior field

Hope's Max Greensill took a dominating win in the Men's Junior/Senior race by 27 seconds

It's just as well the timing chips are waterproof with all the puddles forming

With the Short track taking place on the day of the King's Coronation it was only fitting our winners were crowned

Round 3 continues on Sunday with the XCO Race at Matterley Basin, here's hoping the weather is a little better!

Full Results and Images

Author Info:

Mandownmedia

Member since Nov 28, 2019
244 articles

8 Comments

benpinnick (May 9, 2023 at 2:49)

Someone needs to introduce these people to mudguards. I mean for the 10g or so the minimal ones weigh...

DrPea (May 9, 2023 at 3:02)

Agreed! I race all teh winter Brass Monkey series on my mudguarded up singlespeed.... Booty and face lovely and clean at the end!!!

jeza08 (May 10, 2023 at 2:36)

A mud guard would have definitely clogged on this course. Also a mud guard won't stop spray from other peoples bikes.

calcrossland26 (May 7, 2023 at 13:47)

It would be really cool if the mountain bike races at Matterley actually used some of the motocross track. An XC race would work round there

mj46 (May 8, 2023 at 0:16)

As the organiser, and having ridden my bike around the MXGP course wondering the same thing, it wouldn’t work at all. Bikes would be clogging up mega quickly, and there’s no real difficulty or fun to be had over there apart from climbing very steeply on a bad surface for bicycles just to end up coming back down the same bad surface for bicycles. Nice idea, but it’s not worth the trip over to it.

calcrossland26 (May 9, 2023 at 5:20)

@mj46: The track only gets used for the GP and one charity event each year, most of the time it's grassed over. Surely a bit of creativity with course taping could add some challenge for an XC race? Looking at the photos above and YouTube videos, the area used for the recent race doesn't look to offer a great deal more technical features? Would be a nice unique selling point to be able to race on the Britain's MXGP track with a good event set up, and has endless branding opportunities too!

Starch-Anton (May 7, 2023 at 6:55)

Matterley Basin gives me MXGP vibes......

Monkey71 (May 7, 2023 at 15:37)

#magspeed