© Paul Robinson

Riding round huge man made berms, through streams, around lakes, woods and big hills. You could be in Wales or Scotland, but it’s actually The Pippingford Estate, the venue for round 3 of the SouthernXC series which took place last weekend.

A completely new venue to the world of MTBing, located just outside the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, Pippingford surprised a few riders who were expecting another days riding around a flat pine wood. The course left the arena, located at the top of the hill next to the large stately home before dropping on to a descent of well over 1 mile, which included berms, jumps, drops, more berms, more drops and some insanely fast straight sections.

Yelps of “whoopee” and “wayhay” could be heard from the woods as riders relished the awesome descent. Later in the lap riders found themselves snaking around fishing lakes and past waterfalls, then the real challenge started, a whole lot of climbing. Mainly in the form of two sharp, steep climbs and then a long gradual climb that took riders back to the arena. Possibly the most fun, most challenging 4.2 miles of XC racing yet this year.

Despite the awful weather the day before and trepidation of new venues over 300 riders were taking part. The first categories around the course, youth, juvenile and under 12’s were greeted by a damp course. But that didn’t stop Hugo Humphreys putting in an impressive 2 laps in 48 minutes to win the youth category. Hugo’s lap time remained the fastest of the day well in to the afternoon. Harry Franklin and Gretel Warner took wins in the juvenile races.

In the open category it was Dave Ragan, riding for 1st Gear Cycles who took the win and the Dirtworker portable bike washer for his efforts. Tim Kemp and Anja Brickell also took wins in the open and fun categories.

Moving in to the afternoon, the hotly contested junior and veteran categories set off. Steve James showed his continued strong form in the junior race, taking the win from Nat Jarvis by over 6 minutes. A very strong finish from Max Filleul saw him place a solid third. Nicky Hughes and Mark Chadbourne took the veteran category win. Ray Crosthwaite and Debbie Burton took the wins in the grand vets.

Later in the afternoon the Sport, Expert, Masters and Elite categories set off. Typically the most exciting racing came from the masters, where Paul Hopkins (Off Camber) and Scott Forbes (Pedalon.co.uk) were battling right to the line, before collapsing in to an exhausted heap in the arena.

Ade Landsley continued his domination of the series, taking the win from team-mate Chris Minter in the elite category. Spectators witnessed a rising star in the form of Luke Grey take an impressive third in Elite – even though he’s only a first year junior.

The Sport race was once again dominated by Martin Delves who stomped round the course in his super aggressive yet smooth style. In the Expert category Mateusz Weilgos and Maxine Filby took the wins. A lone but impressive ride from Gemma Collins (Activ/Titus) saw a win in the Female Elite race.

The organisers SMBC have asked people to stay off the Pippingford Estate other than on race days. It’s a private estate, so any trespassers will put racing there in future in jeopardy.

The SouthernXC Series is proving increasingly popular with riders. The next round of the series is on 12 July at Erlestoke, near Devizes, Wiltshire. Full event info and online entry can be found at www.pedalon.co.uk.