Sarnians battle in the New Forest

SARNIANS produced battling performances as the New Forest hosted round three of the Southern XC Mountain Bike Series in hot and humid conditions. The picturesque race course right in the heart of the forest was being used for the first time since the '90s.

Based mostly in the woods, it was a mix of fire roads and twisty single track leaving the riders no room for error.

The surface, although dry and full of grip, was soft and often sponge-like in places, really sapping the riders' energy.

KPMG travel-funded Ben Burtenshaw, Matt Osborn and Josh Owen, on a borrowed bike after his was stolen, lined up for their three laps hoping for a top five finish.

The start was a long uphill drag and spread the riders out before they hit the woods. After the dust had settled Osborn and Burtenshaw were up in sixth and seventh positions, with Owen ninth.

The positions were to remain the same going into the final lap, with Burtenshaw and Osborn locked together, and Owen slightly further back.

Approaching the final climb up to the finish, Osborn made his move past Burtenshaw, then held the racing line all the way to the finish taking sixth spot in 1hr 14min. 04sec., clocking 24-16, 25-07 and 24-41 for his three laps.

Burtenshaw came home just five seconds later in 1-14-09 to claim seventh spot, his laps taking 24-17, 25-07 and 24-45 respectively.

Owen came home a creditable eighth overall after picking up one spot on the final lap.

Next to race were Rob Smart and Jon Osborn in the rather depleted elite category.

Smart was unable to maintain the pace of the lead group of four riders on lap one and set about finding a good rhythm of his own.

He did that to good effect as he spent most of the race on his own with only lapped riders for company. On reaching the finish after five laps, Smart placed fifth in a time of 1-54-01, his laps taking 22-17, 22-58, 22-59, 22-55 and 22-52 respectively.

Meanwhile Osborn was having back problems over the later stages of the race, but nevertheless stuck to the task in hand to come home in sixth in 2-16-25.

Nick Mann and Pete Miller rode the four-lap combined super-master/expert category. Both gained a good start and were right in the thick of the action.

Mann had a brief stop to adjust his rear wheel on lap one which cost him several places.

The pair rode strongly throughout the race, battling their way to the finish.

Mann was consistent on all four laps to come home in 12th spot in 1-38-37.

Miller came home in 17th spot in 1-47-26.

Richard Setters was the last rider to start, in the three-lap sport category, and a much-improved performance from the previous round saw him right in the middle of the pack throughout the race.

One final push on his last lap saw him move further up the field to finish a very creditable 13th, his three laps taking 26-20, 27-17 and 26-54 to complete.