Neil de Ste. Croix and Kim McMullen got off to winning starts as the Bermuda Bicycle Association (BBA) mountain biking season got underway last weekend at Hog Bay Park.

With a new format to the season, which will see slightly modified classes and a freshly prepared route set up to add distance to previous races, many riders are harbouring ambitions of championship glory.

Racing got underway with the men's 'A' category and for the first lap a close battle between veteran Neil de Ste. Croix and Bermuda's hill climbing supremo Mark Hatherley raged.

However, shortly after the first technical descent de Ste. Croix opened up a gap that he would build on to take a comfortable win.

The rest of the field was made up of riders who rode in category 'B' last year and it was BBA head honcho Peter Dunne conquering the technical demands of the lung-busting track to scoop third.

Kim McMullen, the 2008 national champion, looks like she will be having some competition in the women's 'A' this year as Sarah Bonnett stepped up to the top category to challenge the champion for top honours.

Although Bonnett rode well, McMullen's vast experience showed and after five laps. Sarah Jordan was the only competitor in female 'B' category, and her call to all women of Bermuda was come and have a go.

The biggest field in the race series as always was the men's 'B' class.

Veteran Winners Edge rider Paulo Medeiros got ahead of former employee Dave Collins who had amazed the crowd by deciding to race the series on a cyclo-cross bike, a road-racing bike modified in gears and tyres only.

After a lap, Medeiros' lack of fitness started to show as Norbert Meyer moved into the lead and Collins pushed to hold second.

Meyer would not be denied and took the win but Collins could not hold off a hard charging Charles Dunstan, who snatched up the runner-up spot. The junior racers excitement at competing in the dirt was plain to see when they got their chance to get on the track.

The boys Under-12s was dominated by the Bicycle Works boys with Daniel and Christian Oatley sandwiching Daniel Hetzel on the podium. Joshua Stephenson suffering some mechanical problems trailed the field with Ryan Day and Mathew Lampit taking fourth and fifth respectively.

The girls Under-13 to16 was a two horse race with Gabriella Arnold holding off Elizabeth Jordan. Mark Godfrey won 13 to 16 boys.

The next race day is set for Fort Scaur Park on Sunday at 8.30 a.m.