Hup Hup

Cowbells at the ready? Come and make some noise for the VCM massive.

Starring VCM's Addy Pope, Chris Duncan, Davie Graham, Gordy Mackenzie, Maddy Robinson, and Simon Muir.

Dirty Kanza 200

I got an entry for the Dirty Kanza 200 !!!

This is my primary goal for 2012 ... the event sold out after opening yesterday in 3.5 hours !!!

200 miles of Kansas gravel await me ... time to increase training miles, build a bike, book flights etc.

Gonna be a great year.

No Fuss Winter Duathlon

With a couple of triathlons in my sights this year, what better way to spice up training than with a wee early-on duathlon fittingly called 'The Appetiser'.

After taking part in my first ever triathlon in September, the No Fuss Half Big Ben Triathlon, I knew that this off-road duathlon would be right up my street.

So I packed my VCM kit, running shoes and bike gear and headed up to Fort William on Saturday morning.

Sign-on and the race start, finish and transition area took place the picturesque Lower Falls at the far end of Glen Nevis. It was the ideal setting for the event with stunning views of the Ben, very little traffic and a pleasant feeling of remoteness.

The race format was a 4km trail & road run, a 12.5km road & off-road bike, followed by the same run again. 

I did a bit of a warm up jog and some self-conscious lunges, then No Fuss Fraser gathered us round for a pre-race briefing. 

Then it was 12noon and we were off! Heading up the road I tried to settle into a rhythm and not panic about how quickly my heart rate was rising! After a short distance we were off the road and onto a gravel path which follows the Water of Nevis. I had been trying to keep pace with the guy in front by watching his heels, and when I looked up, I saw the front runners winding their way a bit of a sharp hill. Telling myself it's not Ben Nevis, I vowed not to slow to a walk and I made my way up with short strides. The trail wound on a bit farther and eventually came to a road which we blasted back down to transition area.

I lost some places in transition while I seemed to take ages getting myself ready. Well, it wouldn't be a Sunday bike ride without some pre-ride faffage! I jumped on my bike and beasted it (well, 'my' version of beasting it) down the road to try and make some time up. Luckily the winding road was quiet and I was able to overtake quite a few folk. I only got overtaken by a guy on a road bike with slick tyres on, but by the time we got to the turn off to the fireroad I'd caught him again. I've no idea how he got on on the rough fireroad with those tyres but good luck to him!
I peddled as hard as I could along the fireroad & a female came into view in the distance. I tried my hardest but could not get any closer to her before we dismounted and went back into transition again. 
Helmet & bike ditched and soggy trainers back on, I was back on the road trying to work out why I had swapped legs with Charlie Chaplin. I soon settled back into a rhythm and vowed once again not to walk at any point - even on the dreaded Ben Nevis Junior!
Soon enough the No Fuss flags came back into view and I even had enough energy for a sprint finish with a couple of guys.

I hadn't a clue where I'd finished and was so chuffed to find out at the prize ceremony that I'd finished 2nd Senior Female. A No Fuss medal and well cool Big Bobble Hat was dished out as prizes (not to mention the free Endura socks we got at registration). 

The Appetiser was the first in a series of 3 winter duathlons put on by No Fuss. Looking forward to the 'Main Course' in February.

Tod cross

Lovely little video of the Tod cross race:

Todcross from Benjamin Haworth on Vimeo.

It was the 4th edition of the race, puts on by Chipps and co at Singletrack, 9th round of the Yorkshire Points Series and the first time i've been able to make it along.

Super course, muddy lower half, just rideable cobbled climb and fast swoopy trails higher up in the woods, brilliant atmosphere, cheers and heckling, brass band, friendly folk at sign on/coffee van/food wagon. Oh and a Duval beer at the finish for each rider!

Quite a euro style course, taped nice and wide for hassle free passing and line choosing but deceptively technical in terms of the number of dismounts and remounts required per lap and deciding how much of the muddy sections it was quicker to run.

I wasn't doing much passing, didn't have much zing, but thoroughly enjoyed the race. Will definitely be back next year, in better shape and with more running in my legs. Finished up 16th with a slight name change, Ag came in 25th, maybe suffering a mechanical (?) as he was catching me rapidly early in the race. Jack Clarkson won and was flying, Lewis Craven in 2nd is possibly the most polite cross race i've ever been passed by.

Report and Results

Chapeau to all involved in organising the race.

Spot the VCMer

Nice little video from one of the recent North West League rounds (if you can stomach the license free music).

Auchentoshan by Shand Cycles

A great wee film by Shand Cycles.


Scottish Cycling Cyclocross Championships 2011 from Shand Cycles on Vimeo.

back cross racin' (about time lad)

It's been 4 weeks (4 flippin' weeks) since I last pinned a number on my back at Mugdock and that was a disaster which had me just about ready to give up 'cross racing afterwards...sorry Simon, Gordy and Maddy for my post race grumpiness! What I learnt from that was if you wake up on the morning of a race and are questioning whether to even bother packing the car and feel knackered/run down/mojo less, listen to your body and give yourself a break..

Fast forward to Sunday morning in Crosby, Liverpool at Ros's folks house and the good fortune of visiting on the very weekend the NW League have a race on a mere 25mins drive away at Stadt Moers Country Park.

A 2am turn in and slightly fuzzy alcohol induced head is perhaps not the best pre race prep, but coffee seemed to fix that. Signed on and kitted up, I spotted fellow VCMer and NW League regular Alex who has been ripping it up this season. Randomly both of us managed to ride through fresh 'brick orange' dog turd... pre riding the course. Non plussed.

Still the course was a good 'un, with a healthy mix of grass, tarmac, brick paving (!), rougher paths, trails and short, steep ups. All rideable in the big ring with no dismounts needed.

The start was a bit wild with Vets, Juniors, Women and Seniors all off together. Alex was off like a scalded cat near the front, my start was 'um rubbish. Never mind, the first few laps were fun working my way up the field a little. At race pace the whole course flowed really well with plenty of zip, a little slick and sticky in places but far from a mud fest.

Passing through the finish with what I thought was around 15 mins to go the laps to go board said FIVE! Cue (wry) smile and curse at the same time. Time to dig in princess! Dig I did, albeit with rapidly tying up legs.

Update: I finished up 13th, ~1hr 14 of racing! Happy with that given 4 weeks of hit and (mostly) miss training, poor start and rubbing rear brake...(oh the excuses)...but it was ace to get back racing again.

Report & Results

BUCS CX

I did a cross race at the weekend and it was a lot of fun, made me wonder what I have been doing messing around riding on the road! It's been a while since I got on my cross bike, and a very long while since I did a cross race, but the Uni cross champs were a great reminder of how much I enjoy it. Riding my bike around the practice lap I felt as though the 'race' was going to be a bit of a joke, as I could barely ride around the corners without feeling as though I was going to fall off...pretty sure I didn't look all that pro. A friendly spectator saw me stopped looking down the off camber descent trying to decide whether to ride down or not, and told me which line to ride. I kind of had to ride down after that, as he was stood there watching, I was thankful for the push as it wasn't actually that bad!

I think there were around 20 women racing, which is a good sized field for a women's race. Despite protestations, the organiser decided to set the women off with the men, so it was difficult to tell where you were in the women's field when the race got going, with girls getting mixed up among the men's field. I had a lot of laughs while actually racing, with people wiping out on corners as the course got more and more slippery throughout the race, and just generally laughing at my own lack of bike handling skills. The broad north east accented commentary was also a point of amusement - hearing 'OOoooo, Ross Creber's come a cropper!' made me feel slightly better about my granny like cornering.

Anyway, I've got the bug and am now looking for more (un-technical) cross races to do! Oh dear...not sure the student loan can stretch to this!

new rider

Welcome our latest recruit Addy Pope, who has recently moved back to Scotland after 10 years in exile (lets not ask, it sounds mysterious). A bit of an all rounder, this is his first proper season of cross so lets make him welcome, he plans to do as many of the SCX races as he can and head to the odd cross race in N England, beyond that, more road races, some mtb enduros and a couple of triathlons. 

Addy above the Skipton Alps

In his own words.

"Hi everyone, i nearly joined the VCM ranks a couple of years back but lost sight of what was important and fun.  But I have refocused and got myself sorted.  I met Andy W at uni many moons ago and marvelled at how clean his bike always was, this hasn't changed.  I rode with the EUCC boys while at uni and then moved south to South Wales to pursue my other love, Glaciers.  However, there don't seem to be any glaciers in Wales so I did a stint in the high Arctic.  Since then I have been working my way back to Scotland having lived in Skipton for a few years.  Somehow I never managed to get round to doing the 3 Peaks race, although I did support for a few people. 

I have biked pretty much my whole life, mainly mountain bikes but dabbled with the dark side of road bikes while in Yorkshire.  In a normal year I will try to get a couple of road sportives in, either the Fred Whitton or the Etap Du Dales and a few mtb marathons.  I also really enjoy 24hr races, but have yet to "go solo". Teams seem more fun and less painful. I try to head to the alps each year to ride, usually with Sam at BikeVillage and rode the TransProvence last year, an epic event but a bit prices (note - I was setting the course so saw none of the gourmet food and survived off pasta and sauce for a week sleeping in unheated caravans and carrying all our kit rather than having a cook, mechanic and porterage of all your clean clothes).  Arriving in Monaco in clothes that you had been riding in for 7 days was a bit of a shock for the locals..... Apparently we were not the kind of people they wanted lounging in the Casino gardens.

I have a wee blog(building it at present) and flickr site "

October in the North West

Time to ramble...

It's been a busy month of racing round these parts with 5 rounds of the North West CX League crammed into October. I'd missed the two opening rounds through being away in the equally exotic climes of Italy & Leeds, so rolling up to the start line at round 3 in Bolton I was shoe-ed towards the back of grid having amassed a sum total of bugger all series points. A reasonable start & a mass pile up meant I squeezed my way up into the top 30 by the first corner. It was absolutely lobbing it down making the going fully wet & slippery but not boggy. For a few laps I had a good tussle with Velocake's Tim 'tubs & turbo trainer' Kershaw, chasing each other down & picking our way through the field. Tim finally got a gap on one of the descents that I couldn't reel back in, staying just out of reach until the end. I just scraped my way into the top 20 (that'd be 19th) & got my first league points of the season on the board. Not overly blown away with my performance, but then it was my first cross race for a few weeks & having been doing loads of long steady rides I was expecting it to take a couple of weeks to get up to speed again.

Next stop was up to Winderemere for round 4, incorporated into the Rapha Super Cross. Good to see Rapha making a bit of positive input, giving people who aren't the begrudging other halves a reason to take a look at what was going on. A Superprestige it wasn't, but with hundreds of free cow bells handed out, Duvel being served by the pits & a commentator that seemed aware of what was going on in the race, it was certainly substantially more spectator friendly that usual.

On pre-riding I rather liked the course; there was a stiff little climb in there & some relatively techy bits. The one thing that did stand out was how short the lap was. That caused a bit of an issue at the start - impressively over 150 were on the line but with just 50metres of open field before a hairpin it got a bit sticky. I like a bit of good humored argy-bargy at the start of these things, but that many people manically trying to find a line just causes some to get a bit panicked & others get a bit too aggressive, shitty & plain rude. I can do without that, so decided to calmly pick my way through when the opportunities presented themselves.

All was going pretty well with that tactic for a few laps, eventually getting a pretty clear run at the course. Then two things went wrong.

1: It got claggy. It had been wet, then it was warm & dry. All those wheels churned the mud up pretty bad. As a one bike competitor I felt the effects. Wheels didn't go round very well. Then not at all. I ended up having to stop twice a lap to pull handfuls of clag out of my frame & forks, loosing places every time to those that were able to grab a clean bike from the pits.

2: My gears went all clunky. Just out of alignment enough that whenever I stood on the pedals the chain chunked about over two cogs. It was then that I realised that blundered into a schoolboy error, having built my one & only race bike without any barrel adjusters on the gears. I felt like a tit for that. Quite grumpily I finished a lowly 40th on the day.

Then a change of fortune :-) The following day was round 5 at the fantastically named Boggart Hole. It's properly ace there, one of my favourite courses with loads of off-camber rooty bits (for a cx course), singletrack & a long climb. I rode well there last year, so I was hoping to finally get the season up & running. Another big field started, but thankfully starting around a suitably big field before dropping into the woods. Still un-gridded I managed to razz my way round the inside corners to get into the first singletrack section towards the front of the pack. Stomping on nicely I had time to look up & gauge roughly where I was in the race - further up than I was expecting. Pushing on I was waiting for a stream of riders to come passed, but whenever I caught a glimpse behind no one seemed to be closing. Perhaps I was on for a good one. Eventually Roy 'still amazingly quick for an old fella' Hunt crept through, but that was it. I stayed strong & picked up 10th on the day. It was yet another strong turnout, so I was really chuffed with that particularly after the previous day's frustrations.

Roll on another week & it was back oop north to the home of Hope Technology, Barnoldswick for round 6. A new course to the league & one that rode ok, but when hit at race pace became great fun. A kind of classic British cross course with 5 dismounts a lap: 2 sets of boards, 1 set of steps & 2 slimey banks to run up. Plus a sandpit. And a barbecue, although that wasn't actually on the course.

Once again, missing those two opening rounds meant I was hidden in the bulk of riders on the start. Thankfully I was catching up with my old compadre Ian Wilkinson before the gun went & managed to jump on his wheel for the first couple of hundred metres, getting dragged passed many riders, escaping the inevitable bottleneck at the first corner. Needless to say that was the last I saw of Wilks' wheel as he buggered off to the front of the race. Once again I felt I was riding strongly, right in the mix with a few of the handy NW league riders, jostling for positions, putting in little digs where possible & picking up positions. I struggled a bit on one long off-camber bank, trying to ride it & failing, then trying to work out the best way to run it & failing. Yet I seemed to edge out the others on most other sections of the course managing to stay away & finish 13th. Another good result for the likes of me.

End of the month was racing at a classic NW venue, Otterspool Park. Another course I enjoyed last season, usually really fast going with a good amount of woodland tracks, plus a cobbled climb that is permanently wet. Pre-ride went well & I was looking forward to getting stuck in after the performances I pulled out in the last two rounds. Then.... NIGHTMARE!... In the mad dash of the start loop a rider somehow managed to clip my rear QR. The wheel now loose in the dropouts was forced into the non-driveside chainstay where it wedged & stopped me from going anywhere fast. By the time I'd got off & sorted it all out the whole field of over 110 riders was in front of me. That wasn't the plan. For a moment I pondered sacking it off for the day, by instead I decided to HTFU & get on with it. I spent the next hour riding out of my skin. I ripped through the back makers now thinking that any league points were better than none. After a few laps I started spotting some of the usual suspect I end up racing with. That gave an extra bit of impetus to keep on top of the gears for the last few laps. I wound up moving from DFL to 13th rider home, just missing out on 12th in a sprint for the line. Mathematically not my best result, but definitely my best ride turning round a crappy bit of luck. I feel like I have now earned the right to don the new VCM skinsuit.

It's comforting to know that I didn't have the worst luck of the day... One guy forgot to charge the battery for his fancy-dan Di2 gears!

zonhoven

Irvine doesn't look so hard anymore.

Zonhoven

Indian Summer in the city

This weekend had been ear-marked for a while. Two very different cyclocross events, both individually very exciting and both in London. It was also to be my first cross racing of the year.

First up was Muddy Hell in Herne Hill on Saturday night. Sponsored by Knog and run by the Rollapaluzza guys, this event already has a big reputation for being fun, tough and entertaining. Racing begins around dusk with a flood lit section in the middle of the track and riders wearing lights. It's runs on a unique course that featured a sand-trap, steep drop-ins and steep ups (one very dusty one requiring bike-shouldering) a little tarmac, the ubiquitous barrier, quite a lot of twisting singletrack, a hosed muddy corner (required what with London basking in hot and dry conditions and the course mostly throwing dust up into the riders lights). The most unusual features were a wooden wall-ride and a steep-sided bridge that led straight into a tabletop that the more skilled riders could get some impressive air from (step up friend of VCM, Phil Moore).

Having left entry a bit late, I ended up in the catch-all novice class, but the racing remained hard, hot and fast (especially as I was in a full-body skeleton skinsuit with mask that frequently obscured at least one eye, restricted breathing and kept getting caught on the saddle). Great fun to ride with my good friend Andrew Diprose in his Spidersuit, heckle Mr Blobby and soak up the atmosphere at what is a fantastic event. There was kids' face-painting, roller-racing on mountain bikes and plenty of beer. Make a note for next year. I ended up 18/75.

Sunday was to be treated a little more seriously. The third (and final round) of the Rapha Supercross series held at Alexandra Palace in North London. The weather was highly un-cross-worthy being sunny and very warm with views from the top of the course across all of London and beyond (there's a reason the BBC transmit from here). Ominously this also meant a fiercely climby course. I began to regret bringing the singlespeed as soon as we arrived.

Gareth raced in seniors and I raced vets (my inaugural year among the gnarled and grizzled). Only in Roubaix have I seen a better attended race (I'm sure the weather and views won't have done any harm) and a large group of friends were there to heckle us on our way.

The course was challenging, but fantastic fun, featuring very little flat and a lot of 'interest'; steep tarmac up, loose and fast singletrack, steep and sharp hair-pins, one corner littered with acorns like natures ball-bearings, proper tall barriers, a set of stairs and a looooong grassy climb that left me feeling like I had heat-stroke and T-rex arms.

Despite all of this the course was very compact and with the 'firm going' we did at least 10 laps (I lost count). The hurdle section at one point became almost a tunnel of heckling with friends screaming and cow-bells shaking - I had to smile despite the pain.

The singlespeed worked out for me, I think as the climb remained rideable and there was so little straight that there was little disadvantage to not having a taller gear.

Gareth shot past me first time up the climb and was not seen again, racing whippet that he is and the race passed in that odd way that cross races do feeling both interminably long and over in a flash all at once. Small battles ensued and the camaraderie of the battle-worn was shared at the finish as we saw our own pain reflected in the eyes of others.

Really tough and fantastic fun at the same time. Results aren't in as yet.

Plans are already afoot to do the full series next year.

In the City there's a thousand steps......

A small sample from a great day. I'm sure Gareth and Deano will have some more to say now they're recovered!

We have a Winner.......

Maddy took a commanding win in the mud at Mugdock today, GO GIRL GO!

Plean: 16/10/11

This year's 'Cross racing has started in earnest now: a HUGE field of riders convened in the Country Park at Plean to fight for the win in the second round of the Scottish Cyclocross series. Conditions leading up to the race had been typical of Scotland in October - wet and windy. The clay soil and stretches of grass and roughly trimmed-back fern were always going to test when sprinkled with a dose of precipitation and on the day, despite dry weather, the battle royale was with the course not one's fellow competitors.



Personally, i saw 9 snapped rear hangers/derailleurs and there were surely many i did not see. A costly and frustrating mechanical which caused many riders to pull. For those who had spare bikes, good luck or (like myself) a singlespeed steed the main issues were pulling great wads of mud and vegetation from the wheels and frame several times per lap. At one point i was jettisoned over the bars as both wheels locked simultaneously.



Challenging conditions, yes. Frustrating yes. It might be said that the marshals could have removed the chicane before the timing tent in order to prevent the ignominy of having to repeatedly dismount and trudge over a 10 yard flat section of course needlessly. Yet it still managed to be a rewarding day in the saddle. Good power to weight ratio is always a winning combination and so it proved for Gareth Montgomerie who was head and shoulders from the rest of the senior men's field. Our own Colin May(this is a rumour. ed) and Andy 'huphup' Wardman put in a super solid effort to claim 3rd and 5th respectively and Greig Walker and Gordy Mac put pedal to the metal for 11th and 14th. I managed to huff and puff my way round for 32nd in my first race back after coming out of semi-retirement. Bitten again by the 'cross bug, i'll be hoping for a little more at Mugdock.



In the vets race, Davie and Simon 'miffae de' Muir slam dunked for 17th and 22nd - not without some incident in the tough conditions - including a catastrophically burping tyre from Simon. The win taken in fine style by Gary McRae by a whisker from John Mccaffery.

In the women's race Anne Murray took the top place despite having Square Wheels, with VC-M's Maddy Robinson taking the 3rd step on the podium and Lyndsey Carson in 10th.

Next stop is Mugdock and let it be known - we are ready to rock.
Thank you to trina for the pictures, and Daisy for not disowning her dad.

What a difference a week can make.

Just about this time last week I was getting home after a long weekend of grade-A awsomeness in the Dolomites. A group of 17 of us popped out to Cortina for 4 days of riding up & down some of the best mountains in the world, in stunning scenery, fueled by fine wine, good food & banter.

Two relatively easy days sandwiched two of the best rides I've ever been on. First of which was the classic Maratona loop, taking in 7 major cols (plus a couple of smaller, yet still substantial ones too) including the Passo Falzarego, Pordoi & the Giau.

We followed that up with a ride out to Ovaro & then straight up Zoncolan. Now that thing is something else. Relentlessly tough & impressive in equal measures. I've never ridden anything like it. Thanks to the cheeky 11-32 cassette I managed to drag my arse up to the summit a good way ahead of the rest of our group to take our KOM competition :-)

This weekend, by stark contrast, I found myself racing around a wet field in Bolton.

...All good stuff mind.

scx irvine

The first race of the season is always a speculative affair, riders get to lay out their cards in front of their peers and old rivalries get the shake down and pick up the pieces from the previous seasons confrontations. Just like the battles, friendships are rekindled and the whole party begins for another couple of months.

Irvine is arguably the best cross course in Scotland added to Walkers Cycling usual high standard of organisation, it provides a win win way to kick off the calendar. If I only rode one race this year it was going to be Irvine. 

Me (thats not a smirk)

The Vets lined up on one of the biggest start lines seen in Scotland, 81 amassed, mostly vets with a few Women and a couple of Juniors. The start was furious and I found myself on a cheeky line up the inside and into a fairly fast group, by the top of the stairs I knew I was outta my depth and quickly shot backwards where I belonged and that is where I stayed for the next couple of laps until I punctured on the 3rd, very far from the pits. I rode and ran the rest of lap and lost a couple of minutes but picked up my trusty old Bontrager (now SS) and rejoined the race. With the pressure off I could really start to enjoy the course and the flow, in the end I finished 38th, pretty much smack in the middle of the race, not unhappy at all in light of the lost time. Next stop top 20. Elsewhere Simon was chasing the top 10 but the Vets field is so deep now he was always chasing, still 12th is a sterling start to the season. Iain Mellis plugged away for 50th, there's better to come, isn't there Iain?

Simon is trying

In the Womens race Maddie and Lyndsay threw down the hammer and Maddie had a good battle with Genevieve Whitson (Ronde) who eventually overcame her to take the win  but a great start for Maddie, a win is imminent. Lyndsay recovering from a cold stretched out her legs for a 6th place being squeezed by the locals from Walkers Cycling.

Maddie is focussed

Lyndsay is cruising

The senior race was an altogether frenzied affair. VCM's sole rep in this race was carried on the shoulders of Andy Wardman (where were you all?) fortunately he delivered, straight into the holeshot, Craig Hardie (Hardie Bikes) had other plans though and obviously had a clear game plan of, put in a massive effort to gap the field then hold them, which he did with great style, nice work. Behind Hardie though all hell was being unleashed, positions were changing fast and in the end there were some awesome rides, Andy finished 5th ahead of Ben Greenwood (Rapha Condor Sharp) for a great start to his season.

Andy is unleashing

 All photos By Steven and Ainsley Turbitt

The season is go.

this is it

Cross racing at the pointy end captured brilliantly in 1min 3secs.

Stoemper Presents Ben Berden from Stoemper on Vimeo.

Am a big fan of Chris Millimans photography. Love this short video - makes me all twitchy and itchy to race!

Link spotted on mudandcowbells where they've also got some pics just up of the new Clement LAS tubulars.

Cross Racin'

Just got my entry in for the 1st round of the National Trophy at South Shields, Sun 9th Oct. Not too far to travel to get a taste of racin' with the big guns of UK 'cross! Was that racin' or a pastin'?

Any other VCMers fancy it?? Entries available online until this Thursday, 29th Sep.

Don't think i'll make it to any of the other Trophy rounds, maybe the National Champs at Ipswich on 8th Jan if all goes well and still feeling frisky.

Also going to head down to the Windermere round of the Rapha Supacross Series on Sat 15th Oct.

Right looking forward to SCX Rd 1 at Irvine this Sun, catch you there. Oh and just spotted The Tri Centre are putting on Hallocross at Craigmillar Park on Mon 31st Oct. Night time cross race on awesome course! Ace!

Tour de Ben Nevis

A composite team headed to NW Scotland last weekend for the Tour de Ben Nevis, a 72 km race round Scotland's most depressing mountain (oh, c'mon it is...).

1 x VCM (Me)
1 x Innerleithen MTB Racing (Dougie)
4 x McDougall's Dream Team (Colin, Dave, Dave & Niall)

Well, when I say team, any semblance of team work went out of the window as soon as Frazer from No Fuss sounded the hooter and we took off in pursuit of the pipe band along Fort William's High Street.

After the pipe band peeled off, it was up, up and up again out of town to meet the West Highland Way. As far as warm ups go, it was a bit of a brute and a number of athletes looked fair peched before we hit the rough stuff.





Although I'd ridden the old military road through the glen a number of times before, I'd forgotten how rough it was and it took a while to start to pick up some places after an early, er comfort, break. Elbows in on the fast, wide descents brought me to the first of the special stages, a plunge down into Kinlochleven. 250m or so of vertical loss down a waterbar filled, technical(ish) trail. Got a bit carried away at one point and took a wee dive into the bushes, but made it down to the tarmac safely without flatting  a tyre. Given that this was a timed stage, I was slightly surprised to see people fixing  punctures trailside within the stage as for most of them it'd have been quicker to tumble down the hill on foot and to fix the blowouts after dibbing out of the stage. See notes to self...


After a very brief respite on tarmac, it was up, up and up again on the tarmac climb past Mamore Lodge, the next special stage of the day. Having ridden up this recently, I knew it was a bit of a stinker and with the dibbing out point a fair way ahead and a long way up, it was time to grind it out. A quick stop to refuel and two stops to de-water (note to self: in the timed section, y'idiot) before dibbing out, and then it was another well kent trail along to the crossing of the Abhainn Rath by Luibeilt.

This was where the Real Scottish Mountain Biking© started - a 45 minute+ hike-a-bike section up and over the Lairaig Leachach on a largely an unrideable trail to the north. Push, carry, push, swear, push, carry, swear, repeat...


After a while it was back on an increasingly unhappy sounding bike for a super fast forest road descent before taking a left turn into Leanachan Forest. The next few km of trails and forest road saw me sink four Mule Bar Kicks in an effort to stave off an impending bonk (another note to self: eat early) as fatigue set in. Suitably fuelled, I finally hit the Ten under the Ben course and I knew I was on the home straight. With rabbits to chase, it was on to the Blue Crane trail and following a brief readjustment after the dibbing station (note to self: FFS!) it was a crampy carry down the tricky bit and back on the bike. Caught a dude that had been 100m in front or 100m behind all day and the impetus of not wanting to be caught carried me through pretty quickly to the penultimate dibbing point.


Little more trail (and Nessie) and it was onto the cycle path back into Fort William. With places meaning points it was worth the slightly dirty feeling of some late overtaking to finally dib out with the superfriendly marshals at the Ben Nevis Distillery.


After the final checkpoint, competitors had 20 minutes to make it along the cylepaths into town past the Jason McIntyre Memorial and one last comical drop (i.e. carry down) into the back of the High Street in 5 hrs 44,mins, 16 minutes up on my target.


A quick change and a gnawing hunger led us back into town for chips and a quick pint once Dave and Colin popped up.

My finish led to 58th place on the big lap and only dropped a couple of places on the times stages to finish 60th overall, which I was pretty pleased with. Improvement next year fo sho.