April 2011

Having missed the entire year in 2010 due to injury it was nice to finally get back into the swing of things in Aberfoyle for the SXC round 2. The course in Aberfoyle can best be described as challenging but also the best natural single track on the SXC calendar. Being an old get I am now competing in the masters category, which has traditionally been a hard contested category – even more so in this round as the powers that be decided that masters should do 5 laps, with Elite completing 6. I have no sympathy for those race whippets in elite having to do 6 laps, as they deserve the pain, but as an old bloke being told you will have to do 5 laps two minutes prior to the race it’s a bit demoralizing.

However, once the race started it was all forgotten as the course contained possibly the steepest ride able hill I have ever raced on – so much so that people walking up it were almost as fast as those that chose to ride it. Once at the top of the hill it was all downhill with dry sweet natural singletrack, I had a race long dual with a guy from Glasgow Wheelers, eventually out sprinting him in the home straight to finish 7th. The last lap was my worst and I lost two places, so a bit of work needed on stamina to make the top 5.

Steve Liddle