Pedal Power mountain bike race, Dave Henderson, reports from his latest race at Fort William.

The 4^th round of the Dale’s Cycles Scottish XC Series which also incorporated the Scottish Championships took place on Sunday 13^th June. The course was held on the slopes of Anoch Mor, just outside Fort William.

A pre-ride with Jamie Maxwell (Edinburgh University Cycling Club/ Off beat bikes) confirmed a great course with maximum climbing and super fast and technical descents. To be honest I think it’s difficult to have anything but an awesome course in this part of the country! Last year, I managed 3^rd overall and silver in the champs. My aim this year was the gold! We stayed with the Maxwell`s for the weekend so the preparation was good with a pasta feast the night before and just chilling out watching the football.

Race day and the midges were out in force!

There was heavy rain over night changing the conditions – perfect for midges but perhaps not so perfect for the Racing Ralph as a front tyre. An hour before the race, I re-sealed a Nobby Nick on the front and thankfully it sealed no problem!

 

Judging by the last round of the SXC and more recently the British Mountain Bike Series, I was aware that my main competition would most likely be Rab Wardell (Kinesis Morvelo Project).

The start was fairly steady, which was no surprise really as it was a long way to the top, as it took us up the fire road rather than the single track for the first lap. Gradually Rab and I began to pull away from the rest of the field. Descending on the first lap was a bit sketchy as I tried to pick my line. We came through for the second lap together and made our way back up the long climb. Descending for the second time my bike was making a strange noise as I realised my front skewer had come loose and the brake disc was roasting hot! I stopped to sort the problem and pushed hard to catch Rab. I managed to bridge the gap by the time we got to the lower section of the descent. Again we headed through the arena together for the third lap and yet another long climb. This time on the descent I came off getting a little too confident but again managed to catch up again on the descent. Still together we headed out to start our fourth lap. Rab applied the pressure and opened up a 10 second gap by the end of the lap. He continued to apply the pressure on the climb during the fifth lap. I stayed calm and continued to push up the climb, keeping Rab in sight. Going into the final lap, I was still trying to bridge the gap. I dug as deep as I could and attempted to chase Rab down. He was still ahead of me going into the descent. On the lower section of the descent I saw Rab had stopped to sort something on his bike. I couldn`t make out what the problem was as I passed him not quite believing my luck.

I had no idea if he was right behind me as I pushed on to take the win and the Scottish Champ 2010 title! I was well chuffed! It was a tough race and Rab was on excellent form. I know how gutting it is to get a mechanical when you are going well so admittedly I felt bad for Rab who had to settle for silver with Paul Newham (Team Leslie Bikshop - Right Move Windows) taking bronze.

 

Full results and more can be found HERE.

I am enjoying riding the anthem more and more which was fantastic on this course. I had to work that little bit harder on the climbs than with my hardtail but I would make up time on the descents, especially on the “ridge run” which was so much fun. Becs and I stayed an extra night at the Maxwell house so we could get an extra day riding in the area. Thanks to Jamie for guided ride of his local loops on the Monday and his Mum and Dad and of course Pickles for their support and fantastic hospitality over the weekend.

Thanks to Colin Robinson for kindly supplying the photos.

Next race will be the 4^th round of the British Mountain Bike Series held at Dalby where I`ll get another chance to race the course which has just won their bid to host the World Cup XCO again in 2011.