Fort William Fat Tyre Weekend

10 Under The Ben

First up on Saturday was 10 Under The Ben.  I was approached a long time ago to ride in the mixed pairs with a work colleague so this one had been a target for me all year.  The competition was pretty strong in the mixed pairs with fellow VCM team mates Addy & Maddy riding too.

It was up to the boys to start as Me and Addy faced the long out lap before getting into the course proper.  The usual carnage ensued during the hectic scramble off the start but during our lap and a half we made good progress working together and we steadily moved up through the field.
The placing's settled in quite quick and remained pretty static throughout most of the race but Addy & Maddy overhauled the 4th place team to move into and finish a fantastic 3rd mixed pair (Well Done).  Myself and Cherie from Highland Fire-fighters Cycling team kept it steady throughout and finished 5th mixed pair with 9 laps in 10hours 6minutes.  Altogether I was delighted with our placing considering the competition that was present.


Enduro Enduro!
Sunday dawned reasonably bright and so we decided to try and loosen the legs at the Enduro Enduro at Nevis range.  The relatively short route was just under ten miles long with four timed special stages.  The stages were varied giving something for everyone.  I had decided to ride the enduro on my hardtail so I wouldn't get carried away and damage myself as there are a few cycling things coming up that I want to be 100% for.  My thoughts were that if I stayed on I wouldn't finish last. There were a few sketchy moments just to keep me on my toes and I had a few words with myself to not be so stupid and get a grip.  It must have worked as I emerged unscathed to finish 38th out of 111 riders.  Now how much would I have made up on the full sus?
As it was I turned out to be the sole VCM rider for the enduro in which I had to rock the white kit after using the black the previous day!

On reflection it was a great weekend of racing, Catching up with folks I hadn't seen in ages and meeting new faces.  10 Under was as tough as ever and the Enduro was nice and chilled.  Good times.

Now it's onto Haughcross and then the mighty 3 Peaks.  Keep the wheels rolling!

10 Under the Ben 2011

Better late than never, I suppose!
My rose-tinted specs are well and truly back on now, so I thought I'd better do a wee write-up on Maddy & I's race at 10 Under the Ben.

With last year's 3rd place female pairs prize sitting proudly in our trophy cabinets, we didn't want to settle for less this year. After all, the No Fuss prizes are just too good to miss out on! ;o)

So, in bright sunshine Maddy lined up with all the other first lappers for the usual Le Mans style start. No Fuss Frazer kept them all waiting quite a while though ......

Shortly after lap 1 the rain came on - and it didnae stop!

No Fuss had added a couple of singletrack sections to spice up the race route and these were riding lovely for the first few laps. Rooty and slidy with some new boardwalk. Unfortunately with the newness of the trail and the hundreds of bikers battering through it in the pouring rain, it got pretty beat up and soon turned into gloopy mud soup. No Fuss then rightfully diverted the course onto the harder packed World Champs course. Which was welcomed!

Maddy & I decided to stick to last years race tactic of single laps each, proabably the fastest way for us. But with the rain and the cold, I soon found that my off laps were cold and miserable and I couldn't wait to get back out and warmed up again - albeit soaked to the skin.
All in all, the course was enjoyable and tough enough in places as the laps wore on. I thought that it balanced out well, with the hard going stuff at the start of the lap and then the fun, swoopy reward in the second half.

In the end we managed 10 laps between us and, riding towards the finish line to Maddy's fantastic encouragement (SCX-ers will be aware of this!), I was delight that we'd maintained our 2nd place right through to the finish.

A Benromach miniature and a handshake from Frazer was dished out to every finisher.

No Fuss did another grand job and did really well to keep everyones spirits up in what was pretty unfavourable conditions. As miserable as I felt at times, looking back.....I actually loved it!