Three Races of Significance

Long overdue bloggerage but these three races really deserve some recognition.

Dig in at the Dock 2015.

There has has been plenty said about this event, be it about the cheeky chaps that organise it, the blustering wind that cuts in in two every year or the blessed drum troop that kept the beat for the entire race, so I will concentrate on what I saw of the racing. The race usually the last day of winter holidays before we all head back to the grind of our respective employment, is a great way to kick off the year and blow any remnants of the previous year right out yer skinsuit. It fills a category that previously hadn’t existed in that it is a mass start, every rider for themselves, battle charge for the line, this is good and bad but they get away with it.

To win you need to be at the front as within minutes a race with 140(ish) riders committing for the holeshot only ever ends one way, for us great unwashed mid packers this means accepting you will loose sight of the race very early on, getting your head down and seeing what materialises. This year I left all my warming up to the turbo trainer and checked out the bikes of those who were ‘hot-lapping’ to determine what the race may or may not be like. It was looking from the bikes like it might get a bit mucky, it was also cold, the sun dropped minutes before the start and never returned.

once the gun fires, fuck the team

It’s easy to forget how social the Scottish cyclocross scene is, in fact very easy to forget, with the swell in numbers over the past couple of years and the amount of new faces around it can sometimes all seem a bit alien but within the belly of the beast lies a passionate group of folk with one common goal. But anyway I digress, my warm up consisted of half an hour turning cranks on the turbo and my preparation consisted of two weeks of winter holidays eating more cheese than one person should and generally being a bit lazy. It felt a bit uneasy squeezing into lycra, that’s all we need to say on this subject. So despite this warming period I managed to be very late getting to the start line by which point approximately 120 folk had already established their place and dug their little tight shoes in to not let a chancer like me sneak in, thems the breaks.

solid season for Ainsley, though she needs a better cap

Soon enough the race was underway and then some time later we moved such is the effect, I charged as best I could to get further up the field and then settled in. I love this course, it really does have a bit of everything only missing gradient but as someone not renowned for their climbing prowess I don’t mind that. Very quickly I was in a group containing riders I didn’t know (one of the goods or bads of a mass start race) wondering if they were going to explode or charge, I hung on. As it transpired I ended up for most of the race with a couple of guys from Pedal Power RT exchanging places and generally keeping each other going. By the end it had got really rather cold, in fact fucking freezing, the coldest I have been at a race this season.

this dude dared to pass me, so I threw down a hex and out he went

Thanks to the amazing electronic timing, results were available pretty much as you crossed the line, I will only mention this once but this alone has the ability to make or break a race, gone are the days of waiting till the next race to see how you did in the previous one, possibly the biggest advance in our races over the last couple of years.

So how did we all do?

30-39

6^th Simon Fairful

9^th Ian Dunlop

11^th Steven Turbitt

13^th Addy Pope

45-49

9^th Davie Graham

40-44

9^th Fraser Waters

13^th Martin Steele

50-54

4^th Chris Duncan

Women

3^rd Maddy Robinson

8^th Ainsley Turbitt

All in all not such a bad day out but by fuck was it cold.

SCX 6. Cross At the Castle 2014

Cross at the Castle hopefully shouldn’t need any introduction to anyone familiar with Scottish Cyclocross. It is as legendary as it is opinion splitting, “a cross race on the edge of the world” is a fair starting point when trying to describe it. For those of you who haven’t been, you’re selling yourself short, yes it is a ball ache to get to, yes it is always blowing a hoolie, yes it does involve at least one ferry but what do get in return? Well a gut wrenchingly beautiful venue, a gut wrenchingly torturous course and gut wrenching good time. There are opponents to this race as part of the series and I have in the past made my feeling known on this too. But a return to the race this year reminded me of just how important this race is, both for Scottish Cyclocross and for the culture, heritage and friendships that our humble little scene has nurtured. Celebrate the old school.

The course takes place on a bucolic outcrop jutting out into the Atlantic on a piece of land that could have been landscaped specifically for the purpose of holding a cross race but alas this is nature, raw and unforgiving. This years lap was a shortened one from the last time I was there, a cavalry charge had us careering into the sloppy descent that led to all the fun grassy cambers and corners before sloggin our way back to the café and into the ‘jungle’ portage and back into the wet stuff.

Marty gets his lean on

It wasn’t the weather for hanging around and when the pistol fired all the sprightly old blokes gave it their best and charged to be first into the technical section. I’m not so good on the all out cavalry charge starts so seemed to flounder a bit to find my pace but once on the grassy stuff I got into the swing of things. I loved all the tough corners at this one and hard to nail every lap I have to admit though my skills get flattered with the Challenge Limus tyres. As always happens the race quickly settles and you find yourself battling to get the guy in front and keep the guy behind at bay. In the end I got tantalizingly close to Rob Bloor but the laps stopped coming and he pipped me to the line. At the front Colin Shearer and Brendan Roe were having a right old ding dong with both of them being caught out by the unforgiving conditions, great rides from both of these gnarly stalwarts. Alongside us Maddy was having her own Battle Royale with Kerry McPhee, if anyone dares to think there are easy points to be had on Mull this battle for the series very quickly dispelled that theory. To the line the pair gave it everything and once more proved how close and fiercly competitive the womens series has became, brilliant to watch. Unluckily for Maddy, Kerry was the stronger on this day and took the series by just 2 points.

I didn’t follow much of the seniors and V40 as I was trying to stay warm, take photos and heckle hard. Chris Marquis again looked deceptively strong and Addy and Stevie T took advantage of the reduced senior field to get some much overdue top ten time.

Cross At The Castle is ten this year (something that came as a shock to me as someone who was at the first one!), something of a landmark for both the organiser, landowners and hardy racers who make the pilgrimage every year to race. It is looking like it will be the oldest event on the calendar for 2015, may I suggest you embrace it, forget everything you thought you knew, leave your prejudice at home and race/party hard in one of the most stunning parts of the world. You wont regret it.

We did this.

Senior

3^rd Addy Pope

4^th Steven Turbitt

V 40

9^th Chris Marquis

17^th Martin Steele

V 50

2^nd Colin Shearer

8^th Chris Duncan

Women

3^rd Maddy Robinson

9^th Ainsley Turbitt

Knockburn Loch Scottish Cyclocross Championship

 “In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.”

Knockburn Loch was the venue for the 2014 SCX champs, snugly nestled way up north a hefty stonesthrow from Banchory. Organising club Deeside Thistle have had a few races up here now and have proven both the venue and their organising skills to be right up there with the best that the Scottish Cyclocross community has to offer. A good solid mix of surfaces, relentlessly pedally and (god forbid) some singletrack, its fast and torturous.

Having spent the previous night in Aboyne with Mr Steele, we managed to pitch up good and early and got to soak up all the early action.

pic by Marty

I should now go on to talk about Shearer getting the holeshot, Addy messing the holeshot, Maddy missing the podium. I should really go on more about my good start about watching the sun rise and dip behind the mountains and the torturous drive home over Glenshee, I should but events took a bit of a turn for the worse.  Cycling legend and commentator extraordinaire (Jammy) took a bit of a bad turn and panic and confusion ensued while medics attended to him and an ambulance got him to the right place in good time. A sense of community followed as riders from the senior and V40 races held back any sense of frustration they may have had and respectfully did as they were told. Plenty has been written about Jammy and it was great to see him back recently but what it did remind us for a brief moment was, this is only bike racing, nobodies life depends on it, most of us are well fed (and if we aren’t its through choice) we have families, we have lovers, we are alive. Jammy, in a twisted kinda of a way thankyou for reminding us of this.

I’m not sure I mentioned this but I love this course.

No real surprises on the national champion front, which proves at least it works and the right people got the medals.

Senior. Rab Wardell

Senior Women. Isla Short

V 40. Gary McCrae

V 40 Women. Sian Tovey

V 50. Brendan Roe

Junior. Mark McGuire

its over

What we did.

V50

Colin Shearer 4^th

Chris Duncan 10^th

V40

Fraser Waters 27^th

Martin Steele 38^th

Davie Graham 41^st

Women

Maddy Robinson 4^th

Ainsley Turbitt 10^th

Senior

Addy Pope 11^th

Simon Fairfull 13^th

Chris Marquis 22^nd

So there we have it another season bites the mud and yet again it was another good one, controversy, all out war, laughter and tears in abundance. But one thing that we tend to overlook about our little race scene is how each race has a character of its own that gives us a little portal into the environment its taking place and also into the minds of the respective organisers, they say that variety is the spice of life, well, lets go hard on the seasoning then. This year really has had it all.

All that remains is to say that on behalf of Velo Club Moulin, thanks to each and every one of the organisers and your army of helpers. Enjoy the off season and charge your batteries for 2015. Thanks to The Press Room for the Dig In pics

Peace.

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.