RR10 2026: Itchen Valley

It was a sparklingly sunny evening aftter da grey ere ay.  Thwas a big turnout at Itchen Valley Country Park and I was keen to clock a good position on my last RR10 of the season.

An assorted OS bunch at the start

We set off on the wide open grassland and I got off at a good pace.  After the first tight turn I slipped on the edge of a rabbit hole and just managed to avoid twisting my ankle.  A fast downhill run into the sun and then into the sepulchral darkness of the woods, all full of twisty turns.  I love the varied technical nature of the course here - it's got a bit of everything.  I was watching Chris Chhambers from Eastleigh - we've been quite evenly matched this year, but I struggled to keep close to him this evening.

I worked hard and felt I was doing OK.  I blasted up to the finish, lay fish-like on the ground and opened the sweaty ticket in my hand... 30?  I was bemused.  I really couldn't tell how my run hasd differed from the earlier ones when I clocked up 13 and 14.  Still, it had been great fun.

I won't be able to make the last race at Hursley, so this is the season end for me. I'm currently in 18th place, only 6 points ahead of Mr Chambers.  If he can pull off a good one at Hursley then he's got me.