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