A bumper turnout of 22 OSET riders took part in Round 1 of the Southern OSET Cup at the brilliant Detling Showgrounds venue near Maidstone, Kent. Riders from the South East were joined by competitors from as far afield as the Midlands and Yorkshire.
As always, Andy Hogg orchestrated a brilliant event with the help of his hard-working and enthusiastic crew. Six sections were ridden four times with a lunch break in the middle, and four routes were laid out to cater for all levels of experience.
There were many new faces on the easiest line, and ages ranging from four to nine years old. It was great to see the enthusiasm and improvement in these riders as the day went on and they became more familiar with the sections. Liam Walters went around for a miserly 10 points, with Daniel Dabreo hot on his heals on 11. Next up were 'old mates' Rowan Dean (just 5) and Elliot Smith (almost 5). These two were having a great time and put in some truly impressive rides.
The next line up was largely occupied by riders with a year or two's experience with Stevenage brothers Josh & Joe Dear styling through the course on their lovely custom OSET 20.0's for 1st & 2nd places. Soon to be National competitors Connor Heathfield and Stefan Richardson were close on their heels and will no doubt be challenging for wins as the year goes on.
Two riders took on the very challenging red route- Mason Meadows parked his petrol bike for the weekend and had a cracking ride in his first ever OSET event, losing a mere 26 points on his way to the win, it was a truly impressive performance. Backing him up was Sophie Bailey on her new 20.0-Racing. Sophie was all smiles and surprised herself a few times with some great rides over some pretty big obstacles.
Finally, Oliver Smith rode the hardest route. Andy Hogg is always happy to set an extra hard route for Oliver, but Oliver's almost daily after school OSET practice paid off, and he 'bossed' the course for 17 points and loved every minute.
This was the best Southern OSET Cup Trial yet, which makes the rest of the year very exciting indeed! The next OSET Cup- Southern Series is on the 4th May, the venue is TBC but check our events page for more info: osetbikes.com/gb/event.