Keep on knockin

SCX Round 3

Round three of the SCX already, how time flies when you are having fun.  Knockburn Loch near Banchory is the furthest north that SCX takes its jolly little cavalcade and what a setting as glorious as it is daunting. After a smooth signing on (gotta love the pre-entry) it was straight into a team walk around the course which revealed a pretty tough little loop with a chunky slice of everything and mostly on that gritty, granite, sandy, soft but grippy soil unique to eastern highlands. It was going to be a tough day, a biting wind blasting in from the North Sea wasn’t going to help.

Very quickly it was time for action and the women, juniors and V50+ men set about it, great to report no real surprises here, Maddy is showing great form this season and looked pretty comfortable leading the womens race from start to finish, keep up the good work sister. Behind her Kerry MacPhee (Rock and Road) was having a real good race and looks like one to watch for the future. I must give a special mention for Brendan Roe, who is totally bossing the V50+ and again was looking smooth and in control. 

two wheels on my wagon. . temprorarily 

Another good turnout for the V40, with 76 finishers, these starts are pretty daunting as the cavalry charge for the holeshot takes place.  Fortunately I got through the start unscathed and popped out the singletrack in a relatively good place. Trying not to get too excited by this I did my best to settle into the race despite the frenzy of riders that the first laps bring. This was a pretty challenging course with very little let up or time to let your mind wander, you had to be ‘on it’ 100% as there was plenty of room to lose big time, and so it was I set into battle. In a small group containing Russell (VCM),Frazer (VCM), Neil Raitt and Graeme Short (I think) we ploughed on exchanging places for most of the race. Russ seemed to be slowly creeping away but then near to the end he was real close again, Frazer nipped past me on the 7th lap and I was hell bent on reclaiming that spot so on a rash line up the gritty riser into the wooded singletrack I made a pass, awesome I thought and shite I then thought as my tub popped off the rim. I floundered around trying to get it back on to not much avail, eventually running it home after the leaders had lapped me. Arse. Good riding from Russell(31^st), Frazer(32^nd), and Martin Steele who was gaining every lap and finished a very respectable 35^th. Despite the tub roll, I managed to run it in ahead of McComisky, which at least readdressed the balance after Callander Park. Ahead of us the usual suspect took the lead and for VCM, Simon Muir came in a good 13^th with Gavin May 14^th, respectable all round.

newcomer, Ian Dunlop, how high can he go?

Seniors next and by now the course was definitely a different beast, lines were slower and the loose gritty stuff had became much looser, the faces at the end of this race told the story. We had another good turnout with Stevo, Gordy, Ian, Simon F, Addy and first appearance of the year for Chris Marquis. From the gun this was fast, Stevo quickly finding himself at the sharp end in with his arch nemesis Colin May (Velo Club Edinburgh), these two have been bursting each other at every race so far this year, ahead of them a welcome return for Davie Lines(MG-Maxifuel) who powered ahead and stayed there for the rest of the race. Further down the ranks the VCM collective were knocking seven shades of shit out of each other and all who were around them, new boy Ian Dunlop in only his 3^rd proper cross race had taken up the mantle and was powering to what looked like a possible top ten finish, behind Addy Pope seemed to struggle to find his pace but quickly did and was with Ian for most of the race afterwards. Simon failing to make the jump always seemed to be a couple of places behind. Meanwhile up front Stevo and Colin May had finally shaken Sean Clark and Dan Whitehead to battle out the remaining podium spots. But the hard finishing May once more stepped up to the mark and took second in front of Steve, still our second podium of the day, so we really mustn’t grumble.

Simon F, charging

Addy, also charging

Organising club Deeside Thistle, you deserve an almighty pat on the back, great support and marshaling and everything running like clockwork, I love this venue, hopefully it will become a regular fixture. Next stop the notorious Strathclyde Park, traditionally a pretty savage encounter and usually similar conditions, bring it on and also first showings this year for sly old fox Davie Graham and new signing Teri Wishart. Boom

How we doin

Women

Maddy Robinson 1^st

Seniors

Steve Halsall 3^rd

Iain Dunlop 13^th

Addy Pope 15^th

Simon Fairfull 17^th

Gordy Mackenzie 26^th

Chris Marquis 38^th

Veteran 40+

Simon Muir 13th

Gavin May 14th

Russell Stout 31st

Frazer Waters 32nd

Martin Steele 35th

Chris Duncan 45th

On the bonnie, bonnie banks...

A new venue for the Scottish cyclocross this week with a trip to Balloch, on the banks of Loch Lomond - organised by those stalwarts of the Scottish scene, Glasgow United CC, and based in and around the Loch Lomond Shores visitor attraction.

The course was largely nu-skool, with a definite old skool flavour. If you like Auchentoshan, then you'd have loved this one. An engaging mix of surfaces, with a wee bit of fast singletrack thrown in.

After last week's start at the back strategy paid off in exactly the way you'd expect, I opted for a position in mid-pack which seemed to work a wee bit better. As is pointed out in #SVENNESS 2.3 the sprint in a 'cross race is at the start and not the finish, so it was elbows out and off across the field.

One of the joys of SCX these days is that there's racing for everyone through the field - it might not be a battle for the podium, but there's always someone ahead to be chasing and someone behind to try to keep ahead of.  My race legs are still a long way off (not sure I've ever had them to be honest), but relatively happy with 33rd (and third) - happier still to be racing cross again after a three season lay off...

Of the other VCMers out today, I only spotted Davie briefly as he came backwards through the bunch following a first lap puncture and then tub roll, after a brief go on the spare bike he again punctured and it was to be a DNF. In the Women's race, Teri Wishart finished in 6th whilst elsewhere in the Vets, Simon Muir came home in 12th. In the Senior race, Ian Dunlop had a strong result and hit the top ten for the first time.

Two races to look forward to this week, Hallocross on Thursday and KnoCXburn Loch on Sunday in the next round of the Ridley Scottish Cyclocross Series.


Photo by Joolze Dymond - check out the rest of her photos from today here - joolzedymond.com