The Big Finale!

Its gone . . . its over . . . . 2009 sxc done!

The last round this year was at Drumlanrig Castle, and as always it was a great end to the season. The course was pretty slippy on Saturday, probably the worst I have ever ridden it . . . . . at some points I felt like I was in a ping pong machine with my little hardtail, loose as a goose! The course was great, some of the roots are now super exposed and its just a real hard core race out there, not much opportunity to let off the gas! The new section of the course was fabby, really flowing but you had to be careful not to lose your front wheel in some of the loose corners! By the time Sunday had arrived the sun was shinning and most of the course had dried out- it was just the perfect end.

The race was a UCI cat 2 so our start was delayed until 2 o'clock, I would be telling fibs if I said I didn't enjoy the lazy start to the day! Melaine Spath (DU Cycling club) won the elite females, with Lee Craigie (Square Wheels) having a great race finishing in 2nd spot and Lily Mathews (100% Me) in 3rd spot. I finished in 4th and was chuffed to bits with that! That result also secured my 2nd place overall in the series - sweet!

The rest of the Glentress Riders were lapping up the technical course too with Lucy Grant taking the win the the girls juvenile field. Katy Winton won the youth females closely followed by Hannah Ferguson. Lewis Kirkwood also had a good race finishing 4th in the youth males with Sam Waterston in a great 6th place. Jake Law sat this one out spending some quality time with his newly born daughter - aawwww! Graeme Short had to deal with a tough Irish invasion finishing in 13th in the male vets.

Another season gone - that is such a mad feeling!

I have loads of shout outs that's for sure!

To my sister Kerry for traipsing the whole country with me, putting up with my bad moods (normally because she cant read a map - he he) and with out fail always being there on race day feeding me and trying to give me encouragement, even though I look like death sometimes!

The G man for his time and dedication to my training. Without his support I would not be where I am now!

The hub and everyone there for looking after my bike, giving me great advice and support, and putting up with my banter all year :)

Squirt / Luvians / Bloc / Tunnocks / Polar and Baillie Gifford for all the support during the season.

The Wednesday night gang! Training is always an easier thing to do with you guys around. Cheers G, Gary, Graeme and Rue!

A big thanks to the SXC for another great year and everyone else involved that makes the season run so smoothly.

And anyone else that I have missed - thanks!

Time for a bit of feet up before winter training starts . . . I'm excited already

Yee ha

Les

Aviemore at it's best!

Round 6 can you believe it? In some ways I can . . . . . . my body feels pretty tired but I'm just not really sure where the summer has gone, but it certainly has gone that I'm certain of! The nights are drawing in, night lights have been rescued from the back of the cupboard and dusted off - eek its all a bit mad!

Aviemore what a course! . . . . its gruelling, technical and tough and everybody loves it! Seriously I have never heard anyone say a bad word about Aviemore. It has been puzzling me why the course is loved so much, especially when it is pretty technical at sections, but my conclusion is that somewhere down that descent no matter what your skill level is you cannot help but smile because it is great fun, sure there are some pretty challenging bits but that's what we all need to make sure we get out on our bikes out of the shed and practice. The firetrack road is tough and it exposed every rider without enough miles in their legs, the natural climbing was great and slippy, the descents were awesome ranging from varied sweeping single track to rock drops and that great section at the end of the course that was just uber fast . . . . .love it! But I think the course at Aviemore sends out a really strong message about the mountain biking community, they like to be challenged so lets not shy away from some of the great tracks Scotland has to offer and race on them more! A big shout out has to go to everyone involved in the course design at the weekend, those guys got up super early on Sunday morning and pre-rode the course just to make sure everything was ok for the race . . . . cheers guys!

The race for me personally was a shock to the system, in August I picked up a viral illness which resulted in me being off the bike for a month and boys could I feel that, I actually felt like I was going backwards on the firetrack climb but it was all made worth while every time I got to the top for the descent - yaaaoooo! Ciara Macmanus made the trip over from Northern Ireland and took the win in the Elite females, followed by Lee Craigie (Square Wheels) and Ruth Fraser-Moodie (Pedal Power) in 3rd, eventually I finished in 4th spot but was pushed all they way to the end by Mona Petrie who subsequently finished in 5th! Gid racing.

Fellow Glentress riders were doing a great job out there too: Lucy Grant took the win in the Juvenile category. Katy Winton won the youth. Lewis Kirkwood finished in 5th in the male youths and Sam Waterston in 11th. Finally Graeme Short finished 11th in the vets.

Hopefully I can find some climbing legs for Drummy

Yee ha

Les