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

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

Rapha SuperCross - Ally Pally

Yesterday I undertook my second cyclocross race (the first one being exactly a year ago!) I'm a little slow on the development of my cyclocross riding so I am to up the anti this year and fly the VCM flag a little more in the South whilst doing so. 

On arrival, the normal 'walk the route' was undertaken with Phil Moore and Dan Treby. There was no time to ride before the hoards of juniors started their race - there were about 30-40 of them, Islabikes occupying over 70% of the bikes ridden. Inspiring to see.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that a lot of the last two years heavily climbing routes had been replaced with a lot more grassy sections and a dizzy-spell inducing spiral section. There was a nice downhill through the woods but other than that there was a lot of long grass with a couple of gravel sections, most of which was into a headwind.

There were approx 11 Vet Women on the start line and I was honoured to be gridded, albeit last before the other ladies joined us. 

I started well but soon over taken by 3 of the more experienced ladies, I was then over taken by the 28 year old I was chatting to on the start line (who confessed to being crap at riding off road - good to know) so I managed to whip her butt on the downhill section and didn't see her again. I overtook one other girl on the last lap which brought me in 6th overall. Not too shabby I guess but annoyingly I'd only just managed to warm up on the last lap. 

My plan is to find more local races and up my game a little. I'm just waiting for my new Condor Bivio-x to be built which will be ready for Sam Alison's annual Chilli Cross mid November, oh and my skinsuit of course!

Update: sadly, having checked the results I wasn't sixth but 7th, not happy but hey, that's bike racing for you. 

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

Bring the Pain

The season is now properly underway, with round 2 at Callender Park behind us and round 3 looming on the horizon. But what of Callendar Park in Falkirk, pretty much the perfect venue, central, plenty of parking and more importantly huge potential for a very good course. Our hosts Franco Porco and Davie Lines laid out a course that is set to become the one by which all others are measured. Virtually all on grass, with corners of every description, (did anybody count how many corners?) an abundance of off camber, slippy and slimy and slippy again. Add to that the biggest field ever seen at a Scottish Cyclocross event and everything was in place for a great day racing.

Maddy in control

The new format with women, V50+ and Juniors racing first is certainly proving to be a good one, I am pretty certain it has helped encourage more women and V50 men into the scene and if these numbers hold for the season it will have been a great decision. In the womens race round 1 winner Maddy and round 1 sign on queen Ainsley were representing. With 30 women lined up this was going to be a new experience for both, unfortunately I missed most of this race due to getting myself ready for my own race but from what I can gather it was pretty fast and furious, Eileen Roe (Ronde) back for this round and looking lean held on for the victory with Maddy taking a great second not too far behind, these two seem to be rising above the rest of the field and it looks like they will be picking up the pieces of last years battles for the rest of the season.

Gavin working the wide line

Veteran 40+ next up and the bggest news was the return of the mighty Martin Steele alongside Simon Muir, Fraser Waters, Gavin May and myself. Apparently 95 signed on for this race, which made for a pretty heady start but more importantly made for superb racing right through the field. Again credit to the course design as it easily soaked up the riders and there was never any problems overtaking providing you had the legs. After the disaster start at Auchentoshan I was determined to play safe and try to get into a reasonable group and take it from there, happily the start was problem free and I found myself in with some new faces and we were off. Simon and Gavin went off like the proverbial two bob rockets and that would be the last I saw of them until the end where they finished healthily in 9^th and 13^th respectfully. I had great fun in with a mixed bunch of guys including John McComisky stuck to my back wheel like shit on a blanket, to be fair he pushed hard and kept me entertained with some top shelf banter and language. Tragically my strategy was foiled when race winner Gary McCrae (Leslie Bikes) shot past us like we were made of stone on the home straight and denied us another lap of battle, all in all it was superb to actually feel like I was racing with a relentless stream of racers ahead and behind there was no room for mistakes.

the Gazelle like Ian Dunlop

The senior field up next and VCM hopes were on Steve Halsall, Brendan Milliken, Addy Pope, Simon Fairfull, Gordy Mackenzie and Ian Dunlop. Another huge field nearly 90 riders took to the now very greasy course, the race was won very early by Grant Ferguson, who showed what a difference being on a World Cup XC team can make to your performance, behind him though there was fierce battling going on, this wide course really did encourage good open racing. Our guys were led by round 1 podium boy Steve Halsall, who put in another strong ride for 6^th place, which will stand him good in the league placings. Brendan Milliken opend his season with a 19^th, Addy a couple of places behind in 21^st, Simon in 23^rd, Ian 25^th and Gordy 34th. Again truly awesome results in a field as packed as this one, keep it coming. 

Applied Pressure™

Phew, it was an exhausting day and one that folks have been talking about since, again a huge thankyou to the organisers and their army of helpers.

Lots of racing over the next week with Lomond Shores Sunday 27^th, Hallocross Thursday 31^st and Round 3 at KnocXburn on Nov 3^rd.

Bring it on. 

all photos by Anthony Robson 

how we doing
Maddy Robinson 2nd

Ainsley Turbitt 13th

Simon Muir 9th

Gavin May 13th

Fraser Waters 39th

Chrisd 48th

Martin Steele 63rd

Steve Halsall 6th

Brendan Milliken 19th

Addy Pope 21st
Simon Fairfull 23rd

Ian Dunlop 25^th
Gordy Mackenzie 34th