this aint no picnic

Oh sandy

With two feel good rounds under our chamois, it was time to head to Irvine Beach for Joksijde. The Walkers Cycling race is now part of SCX folklore, it’s a course like no other and one that always delivers. I shouldn’t need to tell anyone reading this about the course but in case you need to, please refer to last years review of this race here or alternatively here. And like last year, I would reiterate the point, “yep, I could race that course every week”

Stevo in full flight and smiling (pic by the Press Room) 

After the balmy heat of the first two rounds we could be forgiven for speculating a lovely sunny day beside the seaside. Mother nature had other plans though and as the weekend got ever closer the weather warnings got ever more severe. Wind and cyclists have a peculiar relationship, it is very much like that slightly creepy, heavily fragranced aunty who demands a kiss at Christmas but then slips you a tenner when your mum isn’t looking. Today the wind was demanding a lot of kissing and in fact some heavy petting in a strictly one way relationship.

I’m getting into the earlier start of the V50 race, it gets it out the way and the courses are generally in better shape because they haven’t been hammered by all those fat V40’s. I did however get myself into a bit of a flap and it all became a mad rush for the line in the end. Now as we all know the start is a pretty crucial element of cross racing, you certainly don’t win from the start but you can very easily lose. Bizarrely it was announced that we would all start together (J/50/W) and if that wasn’t odd enough the gridded women were put in behind the gridded V50, this added another layer to getting a decent start and was a real blow for the un-gridded women more than the old blokes as they had to hustle for position amidst grumpy old men. The resulting start was messy, we all charged into the switchbacks and farcically attempted to find our place. I may have swore here and said some unpleasant things, I’m sorry if I offended anyone.

Ainsley, calm collecting some more points (pic by the Press Room) 

I love this course as I think I have mentioned on numerous occasions. The off camber sections, the big dipper, the sand, the bumpy lumpy singletrack, its got it all. Today it also had a brutal wind that tore away any rest you might have got on the descents and pummeled you with sand and sea at every opportunity. I tried to get into a rhythm but it was so fucking hard to keep momentum going at times that my head went up and down like a demented yoyo. After a couple of laps out on the furthest of the off camber section I thought I felt my rear tub roll, I pedaled on and looked down it seemed to be rolling fine, I then forgot all about it. A wee group had got together and it was hard to shake riders off with the weather, Billy McCord snuck past and pulled one of the Angus Bike Chain guys with him but they were still within clear sight for the duration of the race as I did battle with another couple of dudes, whose names I haven’t worked out yet.

Last lap and at that same place I got the squirm from the rear tub only this time it wrapped itself around the wheel and I ground to a halt, fuck fuck, fuckity fuck. I floundered around attempting to pry it back onto the rim, this was a big mistake as I wasted way too much time, I attempted to run it back but by now my legs were fried and my run resembled a death march, slowly riders of every age and shape passed me as I hauled myself to the pits, grabbed a bike and finished the last couple of hundred metres. I was disappointed I wont pretend.  In other news, first time crosser Campbell Hall managed to get round one of the toughest rounds in one piece which is mighty impressive, I think he may have got the bug. .

Steady does it for Addy (pic by the Press Room) 

A quick change and reloading of the car and I was out to watch the V40 cavalry charge, damn there are so many of them, I missed the start but can only imagine what it was like. Our guys seem to be doing battle mostly with each other in this category; we were missing Gavin May and Simon Muir who are usually the fastest of our 40’s so it was up to the rest. Everyone finished (except another first timer Bikelove Carl) and speculated the glory of the mid pack hustle.

No sooner had they finished than the seniors were off, another packed field and they were blessed with probably the worst of the weather.  Our seniors are having a great run this year and this race was no different, Stevo, Graeme, Ian, Addy, Simon, Steven and Gareth all turned up for this one and made there presence felt. Meanwhile at the front Rab Wardell was wondering what he was going to do to shake off Grant Fergusson who made a rare appearance. The answer was nothing, a season of racing at world level has certainly put a gap between Grant and his domestic rivals. He stepped up a gear and cruised his way around never looking particularly phased by the weather or the effort, a different class. By the end of the race Grant had lapped the entire field right up to 3^rd place! That third place was held by our own Steve Halsall who is having another great season as is Graeme Warren with another top ten finish, in fact all of our seniors are riding themselves inside out, mucho respect, 7 riders in this category, possibly the best represented club out there.

Irvine was over for another year and despite the weather I am already missing it. It goes without say, well done to Walkers Cycling.

How we doing.

Women

Maddy Robinson 3rd

Ainsley Turbitt 10th

V50

Colin Shearer 10th

Chris Duncan 18th

Campbell Hall 30th

V40

Martin Steele 45th

Davie Graham 46th

Russell Stout 48th

Fraser Waters 52nd

Chris Marquis 59th

Carl Lottering-Geeson dnf

Senior

Steve Halsall 3^rd

Graeme Warren 7^th

Gareth Jones 8^th

Addy Pope  16^th

Stevie Turbitt 18th

Ian Dunlop 19th

Simon Fairful 24th

What the Fox?

Scottish Cross Championships can be a bit of a let down, numbers are generally down, everyone seems a little more focused, the enforcing agents want some attention and the race is more often than not a bit of an anti climax.   Now the champs is a bit of a weird one as it is technically a regional championship but up here we have always viewed it as a national championship even though it is not recognized as such (ie. there is no Scottish Cyclocross Champions jersey) but treat it as such we do. It is a fiercely fought race and always has been.

This year the champs were hosted by The Tri Centre at the Foxlake wakeboard centre near Dunbar. I had never ridden here though had heard good reports form last years series race. The days leading up to the event had delivered some monumental rain and the drive there was a low visibility horizontal rain affair. But by the time I had passed Edinburgh the roads were drying up, maybe just maybe.

Arriving to an already filling up car park I met up with Mr Steele and Mr Graham and we decided to head down to see if sign on was possible and have a wee gander around the course, this was all achieved as smooth as butter, all praise the pre-entry system. The walk around the course coincided with the U16 race so it gave us a good idea on lines and what was ride-able as those kids don’t hang around. The course looked good, a mixture of loamy forest trails with hard packed forest road and some wet but firm grassy hillocks to negotiate. Nothing too challenging it appeared although the U16s seemed to be suffering mechanicals and punctures in particular. Maybe there was something in the ground that we couldn’t  see?

Time ticked on and after the obligatory banter and catching up it was time to suit up and attempt to warm up. Nice feature was the course skirting the car park which meant from the ‘comfort’ of my turbo trainer I could see the V50/W/J race as it progressed. And of course give shouts for Maddy and Ainsley as well as torrents of abuse to those deserving it (mostly Ali Dow, who it was good to see back on Scottish soil) Unfortunately I was just too far away to really see what was happening in the race but this is what was, Maddy was having a battle royale with Kerry McPhee (Rock and Road) again but what I wasn't aware of was that Isla Short (Thomson Cycles) was already in front of them and holding a good gap. Kerry unluckily crashed somewhere mid race which is a shame as it has been good watching her progress this season, a great new addition to the womens field and Maddy was left stranded trying to chase down Isla and here is where the confusion starts.

top of the vixens

The women’s race contained 3 categories, J/S/V as it has all season. But the champs is a different beast, the winner does indeed take it all, its an interesting scenario. The senior women are racing against three categories for the title but the V and J are racing against only one for their title. It is possible for a V or J to win their own race and the overall, somewhat loaded against the seniors but thems the rules. And that is indeed what happened, awkwardly for Maddy this wasn’t relayed to Jammie who announced Maddy as the senior champion as she crossed the line obviously to much elation, short lived however. The rules were laid down and Maddy was denied her medal by the very talented Isla who picked up both Junior and Senior titles with a convincing ride. Rough, but its not the first time its happened. See here. 

All of that was unfolding as we lined up for our race, a quick but thorough talking to by commissaire, Guto Williams and we were off, well not quite, Tom Forbes (heid commissaire) stepped in and removed a rider from the pack, some kind of license issue we deduced, the pack were restless, I felt sorry for the guys on the front row who must have been just about to pull that hair trigger. Eventually the rider was allowed back in and we got started, all a bit of a drama as we have come to expect from Tom. But finally we were off.

sly old fox

As you may well expect the pace was pretty frisky, I struggled to find the right gear, hit the big puddle and panicked as we entered the woods, went for a rash line that saw me ride straight over a sizable tree stump, airborn and landed minus chain which was pissing itself with laughter wrapped around the BB. Fuck it’s such a frustrating sport, so there I was trailing the whole field towards the first climb. I wont lie, my head went down, right there. I stuck at it for a couple of laps and got through some of the back end of the field but then the fizz started to run out, my only consolation was I could still see McComisky so if I could at least catch him some banter would be guaranteed, every lap when I tried to catch his eye, he wouldn’t make contact, shit, the blinkers were on, I better get my finger out, the gap was dropping but not fast enough and then there he was walking the first climb on the last lap, I caught him and discovered he had punctured, lady luck was full of tricks today. And before long it was a flurry over the hurdles and over the line. Not exactly the dream race but I had got into it and really enjoyed the course, especially the hideously hard hillock into the arena, I swear it was getting bigger every lap.

out foxed

Not much time for blethering it was back to the car for a quick change and down to the woods to unleash the VCM sonic arsenal on the seniors. The seniors looked like it was going to be a fairly staid affair as a group of 4 riders went through with a smallish gap on the rest of the field but then on lap 3 or maybe 4 it just blew apart, the instigator, Iain Paton (Ben Wyvis Cycle Club) a gap had opened which had forced the chase by Davie Lines (MG-Maxifuel Pro Cycling) the pace was fairly rapid. Over the next few laps Paton stuck more and more time between himself and Lines who didn’t seem to have response to the youngster and that was that. Our guys were being treated to a sonic assault every lap and it seemed to boost them on, Stevie, Addy, Ian and Simon F, all stuck at the job till the bitter end (it felt like a long hour)

fantastic mr fox

And with that my 2013 season was over. Scottish Cyclocross and its associated organizing clubs can all give themselves a pat on the back, this has been an exceptional season, varied, fast, orderly and fun, yes fun. I have thoroughly enjoyed every race (it took a really bad one for me to realize that Strathclyde Park is actually ok, though I would love to see a more varied course there) Hopefully you will have read all about the fun and games at Mull in the previous posts from Simon Fairful (thanks Simon for being so punctual with these) when I have the energy an end of year report will follow, until then, then.

How we do.

Womens

Maddy 2^nd (1^st senior)

Ainsley dnf

V40

Simon M 10^th

Russell 30^th

Davie G 31^st

Fraser 33^rd

Marty 34^th

Me 37^th

Seniors

Steve 9th

Iain 15th

Addy 17th

Simon F 18th

All photos by the Press Room

Peace be with you all.

Beach Bums

Round 5 has been and gone, indeed like the grains of sand falling through the hourglass this years Ridley SCX series is drawing to a close. With only Cross at the Castle and all its seasonal joviality to come, its been emotional.

Irvine Beach is of course a well established feature on the Scottish cross scene and under the careful management of Neil Walker and the Walkers Cycling team it has matured with age into the classic it was last Sunday. There are few weekends that I have heard folks say, “yep I could race that course every week” maybe next year Neil should look to a weekend of racing with double points up for grabs, I for one would certainly be up for that.

“The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears or the sea”

Isak Dinesan

Irvine if you are unfamiliar, lies on the west coast of central Scotland, in the heart of Ayrshire, where it is gently caressed by the Firth of Clyde and the occasionally brisk westerly winds. The beach offers a classic links terrain which drains exceptionally well and for the benefit of us makes for a great race venue whatever the weather.

The day started with one of those fairly brisk winds and some near zero temperatures but it picked up as the sun opened its sleepy eyes briefly around midday.

Of course the racing can't wait on the weather so first up were the women and V50. Maddy Robinson has been on some pretty formidable form of recent and it was expected that today would see here clinch the series title. No one told Isla Short (Thomsons Cycles) and  Kerry MacPhee (Rock and Road) about this however. Isla went on to win proving how capable she is and still a junior, ouch, and a great ride too by Kerry who has been showing promise all season and finally reaped the rewards. Congrats all round.

“Are you tired of sand being kicked in your face? I promise you new muscles in days!!”

Charles Atlas

Old Dudes on Dunes

V40s up next and numbers slightly down for this round which was a surprise. Still it didn’t stop the red mist descending into one of the most terrifying starts of the season. The sound of mature men, carbon fibre, expensive wheels and hard sand dunes colliding is not one I particularly like and fortunately I avoided both of the pile ups within the first 100 metres. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, most of us in this category are racing to perchance sneak into the top half, it sorts itself out, very quickly, be careful young old men! Anyway off we went, with myself, Russell, Simon, Davie and Gavin flying the VCM flag. I got a reasonable start and then got passed by what felt like hundreds of people on the second lap, nuff said, Russell and Davie worked their way strongly up to within a baw hair of the top 30 while Gavin and Simon once more chasing the top ten and finished 14^th and 15^th respectfully. Good riding giving the conditions and the speed of this race.

the candy coloured clowns, they call the sandmen

The course wound its way around the hard sand dunes above the beach, it makes for super fast racing with good traction and no real let up. Added into the mix is the long straight of soft sand which throws up different lines every lap, a new climb had been added which really worked well and was a welcome tweak to the course. Fast and furious.

Seniors last and the big guns are starting to flex their muscle. Rab Wardell took the early lead and seemed to have it in his pocket but behind him there was some super aggressive racing going on that ultimately led to Davie Lines getting a sniff of Rabs wheel, the rest as they say is history, well done Davie, that was some strong riding. For VCM we had Steve, Ian and Simon here today. Steve never quite made the jump with the Colin May group but eventually overcame James Fraser Moodie for 6^th place. Behind that, Ian was on another flyer and looked to be claiming some scalps for his collection but inexperience got the better of him and he was Rogered on the line eventually coming in 16^th and Simon a couple of places behind in 18^th. Great racing once more.

Ian on a mission

As usual, lots of praise for the organisers, it is a fairly thankless (and insanely time consuming) task but we all do really appreciate the work that goes into putting on a race. And there we have it, one round left for another year, bah humbug. Scottish Championships up next and looking at the pre-entries its going to be a humdinger.

pics by the sidelined Fraser Waters

“To see a world in a grain of sand

and heaven in a wild flower

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

and eternity in an hour”

William Blake

how we all did

Maddy. 2nd

Simon M. 14th

Gavin. 15th

Russell 32nd

Davie 33rd

Chris 43rd

Steve 6th

Ian 16th

Simon F 18th

lanarkshire rules

I was born in Hamilton, lived in Springwell, High Blantyre and Chapelhall, three real fucking beauty spots, Lanarkshire born and bred, nothing to be ashamed off, yet for most of my adult life I have had a hate (and very occasional love) relationship with the place. Returning regurgitates these feelings of repulsion and belonging that is hard to explain. I am old enough to remember a time before Strathclyde Park, not much but just, it marked the beginning of a hopeful new future for the area. I remember being in awe of the prospect of people racing boats here, needless to say I've never witnessed this, even though it does happen. Its an area born out of heavy industry, mining and steelworks being at the fore, needless to say these are long gone.

Without thinking I reached for a Joy Division cd to listening to on the journey to Strathclyde Park for round 4 of the SCX Cavalcade. Last years Scottish champs at the same venue still an unfond memory of a hard day on the bike. I was under no allusions that a similar day was in store for me, and the hundreds of others who were making this journey. Arriving in glorious winter sunshine was not something I had anticipated, in fact the warmth of the sun is not something I associate with Lanarkshire, maybe my memories of the power cuts still run deep.

Anyway back to the racing, the course was a rerouted version of the previous champs course mostly in reverse and some new bits, having walked it I opted to not ride a practice lap, I was already feeling pretty shite and a practice lap would probably have been enough to send me back up the road.  What the walk revealed was a lap of mostly country park tracks loosely based around an uphill and a downhill, two shitty flat grass sections (the most cross like bits) and the big chucky carpark, conditions permitting it was going to be fast, nothing really technical and hard to pass tracks.

I should have stayed here

The start of V40 can be a little daunting, with around 80-90 strewn across the potholed, iced and puddled road leading straight to a narrow opening into the first shitty grass bit it was never going to be pretty, how we all made it through that opening is as much down to sheer luck as anything else. From here on in it became an exercise in nursing your way around the course, listening to your drivetrain for tell tale sign of the dreaded chainsuck that claimed too many rear mechs. I couldn't hang with the guys I should have been hanging with, that's the way it goes sometimes. I would be lying if I said I enjoyed this, actually not altogether true, by the last couple of laps I was kinda getting into it but not to the point of eagerly awaiting the news of its inclusion in next years series. For the record I ran Challenge Fango clinchers and loved them, even though this probably wasn't ideal conditions for that particular tread.

It is a real shame there isn’t a better course available here as it really is a great venue and the EKRC guys and girls are a bloody good bunch and do put in some serious effort and support for the Scottish Cross scene, come on South Lanarkshire Council, open up some more of the park and allow a bit more of the grass to be used.

So how did we do? Simon Muir got snarled up in a first lap crash that has left him with a super hefty repair bill. Gavin May (12th) was best placed, followed by Russell Stout then possibly Marty and Fraser, then me and Davie Graham, who was coming back strong after an enforced bike change. Maddy won the womens, which is great, what a season she is having, Ainsley Turbitt finished in there too though its unclear from the results exactly where? In the seniors, Ian Dunlop(14^th) was best of the survivors followed by Addy(15^th) then SimonF (19^th)

Simon F on his second bike of the day

I’m struggling to say much more on this round, some great things, like the pre-entry fast track sign on, sheer genius. And the atmosphere, sunshine, chips, good folks, big laughs and did I mention the sunshine. Well done EKRC for putting on a good show, lets hope that sun keeps shining for our visit to round 5 at the seaside.

both pics by Martin Steele