SXC Round 4

SXC Round 4 Gleniffer Braes – The Scottish Champs

It is now June and it looks certain that we have had our summer as the rain clouds gathered over Paisley. So this years Scottish Champs returned to Gleniffer Braes for a second year running. I was most impressed as we rolled up to the race venue on Sunday to find that road closures had been put in place for the race and Rock Steady security were there to make sure everyone behaved! There was a buzz around the race venue maybe this was amplified by the fact that it was the champs, sponsorship flags took heavy presence around the start/finish zone and the organisation of the race seemed to be perfect. A bit thank you has to go out to the Rock Hard racing group who had evidently put a lot of time in to the race organisation. Furthermore to the marshals who stood out in the pouring rain supporting every rider that passed, they are stronger people than I am!

So to the race…..well there was a bit of a dilemma at the start as riders assembled at two different points on the hill, a few marshals were late in getting to position so the riders were left penned in and rather cold on the start line, in true Scottish tradition the rain started to get a little heavier at that point. Before long we were set on our ways and the games started. It was not possible for the course to be marked out on the Saturday prior to the race so I was left to ride my first lap of the race blind. The course in general was not my cup of tea, too flat and no real descent in there. Hence I struggled from start to finish. I actually preferred the course that was used the previous year as it incorporated the hill of gleniffer Braes. Ruth Fraser-Moodie continued her domination of the women’s field and won the race, followed by Vicki Barclay in 2nd and Katrina Brown in 3rd. I finished in 4th spot, slightly disappointed but that type of course just does not suit my type of riding. Sadly Lee Cragie had to sit this one out due to a bad knee injury.

So I now have a few weekends off before the next round at Fort Bill. I will be spending that time enjoying my biking again and heading out on some of the trails I just haven’t had a chance to over the past few months. Happy days.

Lesley Ingram