OWEN Pattinson, owner of Owens Cycles at Four Marks and Petersfield, lined up alongside 36 other hopefuls in round one of the HSBC UK National Mountain Bike Cross Country Series, competing in the grand veterans section (50-59 yrs).

Well known to local riders as sponsor of Alton Cycling Club, as well as a fount of all bicycle knowledge and advice, he is also a fierce competitor in the world of mountain bike cross country and has set his sights on making his mark on the national (or even international) stage in his age category this year.

The UK Series kicked off on an almost new circuit in Pembrey Country Park, near Llanelli in South Wales. On a 7.6-km circuit with technical sections and over 100 metres of climb per lap, this course would prove a worthy test for any competitor.

Pattinson found himself joint third after the first lap of the three-lap race alongside unattached rider Jimmy Piper. Both were chasing second-placed Rick Fetherston of WDMBC/Specialized Ruislip and Mark Chadbourne of Weber Creative Interiors, who was 11 seconds in front.

And it was Pattinson who proved the strongest on the second and third laps, holding off the rest of the field and overtaking his rivals before finally beating Chadbourne to the finish line by just over 40 seconds. He had recorded an average speed of over 14.5mph.

Owen Pattinson gained 150 national ranking points and was looking forward with some optimism to the next round. He plans to ride all of the 2017 events and then hopefully compete in the World Masters event in Andorra in June.

* Alton CC/Owens Cycles ran their first evening time trial of the summer last Thursday. Sixteen riders set off, five of them wearing Alton jerseys.

Quickest on the night was Drag2Zero’s Alan Murchison who recorded a very respectable early-season time of 20mins 29secs for the 10-mile A31 course.

Epsom riders Paul Thompson (21-31) and Paul Hoyland (21-42) took second and fourth placings.

Dom Brooks (21-40) was third and fellow Farnham Triathlon Club member James Long (21-59) came fifth.

New Alton member Iain Cotton was best of the home riders with 24-09, followed by Clive Brown (24-32), Charlie Williams (25-02) and Gary Hodgson (29-25).