Driving out of a wee Midlothian suburb toward Dumfries and Galloway I had the epiphany that I may have to turn on my sat nav. Like many other people venturing to Ae for the fourth round of the Scottish Enduro Series I was visiting it for the first time ever.
I had heard many stories
of the Ae trails, notoriously the 18-foot jump/drop on the downhill route and the muddy
trails in the dense dark forest teaming with roots. I had assumed that
the current dry spell had made all UK trail centers a dusty network of brown
sand and dust however on arrival I met with Emma Guy and she
quickly filled me in that "Ae never really dries up".
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| Looking pretty lush and seasonal |
Ae is part of the
7Stanes network and I have always been eager to venture to the Western centers
within the network, but have never had the incentive to be lured to make the journey. This is
the champion of the SES, with more riders experiencing and acquainting their
knowledge of other trails and centers building an awareness of
Scotland's mountain biking infrastructure.
The course consisted of a
36Km loop with 5 timed stages including 3 long and grueling slow inclines
up to the top on forestry road. On heading out to practice I met up with
Junior Female leader and very talented Elena Melton. Elena is a speedy
lass whom I attempted to keep up with whilst practicing stage 1 and 2 at
Laggan, this was a fairly scary ordeal, almost turning my knuckles white.
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| The best view of the weekend - the top of the forest road climb. |
The first stage started at the top of Shredder, a fast and flowing trail, with drops, jumps and big berms. Unfortunately I had a pretty bad crash on the first berm, the ground was so loose I just washed out on the corner and gave my recurring dodgy elbow another whack adding to the hairline fracture that seems to be working into a crack. A bit shook up and feeling funny I caught up with the rest of my practice crew – to chill out and recover – but not for long as the midges were relentless and unforgiving. Thank goodness I had the “groovy chick” elbow pad in the car, to keep my elbow under sufficient protection.
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| Loving my 'groovy chick' elbow pad. |
The trails were
consistently hard packed and trickled with a loose layer of skittish dust and
stones for an extra topping of sweetness. It was very easy to slide off
side ways and on stage 1 and 3 a puncture could be on the cards if care and
tact weren't applied. Under the tree canopy, any newly cut additions were dry, dusty and loamy but with the potential to become a slimy mud bath at the slightest hint of moisture. Stage 4 and the Downhill trail, like Emma
mentioned was wet, and very dark, like entering a tunnel with only sporadic holes in the ceiling for illumination. It was
so hard to define a decent line with so many off camber roots, rooty
bumps, more roots, and tree stumps. It appeared that the trail was the decider of the day who made
it out with the least mishaps and after hitting some nice jumps we were back up the long fire road for the final stage of the
day. The heat of the road seemed to be easing as some grey and dark clouds moved in and the wind picked up. The ominous smell before rain
started to set in and as we reached the exposed hill top and wind farm view it
was pouring down. This stage was great fun and had multiple line choices, and
to get them right could make the difference for a podium spot.
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| It got a bit damp. |
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| I forgot all about mud, for a while. |
Race day
Awaking to bright
sunshine I was aware remembered that upon stirring at 3am the consistent heavy downpour
outside was what had woke me. I knew that today was going to be somewhat
different. I had been seeded into the first group and set off with
Elenor Melton and Lesley Ingram and the seeded senior males.
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| Scenic Dumfriesshire. |
Stage 1
I knew that this stage had
the pedaling potential to make a good impact on my time but I was still apprehensive of washing out like the previous day and hurting myself and or
losing time. I had a bit of confusion about my tyre pressure as I was still getting used to running tubeless, but
decided to keep it pretty high for the hard packed jump section.
It ran really well though
and I managed to remember some of my lines, the steep and greasy shoot to the
fire road exit attracted a few spectators that were cheering and 'oohing' and 'ahhing' as people threw all sorts of shapes trying to remain upright.
A crowd of eager and
happy racers congregated at the end of the stage to witness approximately 1 in
every 2 riders exit with a puncture. Good choice with the PSI!
Stage 2
We
were definitely a lot muddier as we headed to the start of stage 2.
This stage had a very sloppy and flat entrance that reminded me of pedalling through
the slush at the Macalvalache. Before dibbing in I
acknowledged a massive amount of respect to the marshalls who showed
their resilience to the midge. Everyone was
squirming.
This was definitely my most frustrating stage as I managed to get my crank stuck on a tree stump on a small knoll and had to get out of the way of a biker wanting past, then the dreaded "I can’t get my feet clipped back in" scenario sprung up and I could not find any flow. I had to usher myself into race mode to get pedalling when I came out of the forest.
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| Marshalls love midges. |
This was definitely my most frustrating stage as I managed to get my crank stuck on a tree stump on a small knoll and had to get out of the way of a biker wanting past, then the dreaded "I can’t get my feet clipped back in" scenario sprung up and I could not find any flow. I had to usher myself into race mode to get pedalling when I came out of the forest.
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| A beautiful scenic and long climb up to stage 3 |
Stage 3
Stupidly I had forgotten
to turn my suspension back on but I quickly realised this at the start and
managed to get some travel out my forks. This was another pedally stage
that had puncturing potential but with a loamy exit. Entering the loam it
all seemed to be going pretty good until I had to take my foot out and yet
again “I can’t get my foot back in’ scenario. It’s so hard to focus on
line and choice whilst fiddling with your foot to clip back in. God damn these tiny feet and lack of available bike shoe choice. I slipped out
sideways on some greasy roots and slimy bits, which induced a race stage rage,
which I vented loud enough for people waiting at the finish to hear. At least I didn’t puncture though!
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| Loamy with the mud that sticks. |
Stage 4
After completing 2 out of
the 3 forest road climbs a group of riders congregated around the refuelling
table while I did a spot of stretching and yoga in the sunshine and pondered about
blaeberry picking the huge amounts of fruit that decorated the hill top. The hissing of the air being released from
tires was ever present and it was obvious that the next stage was indeed going
to be muddy.
Within the forest I was
feeling fairly pleased with myself until I had yet again another “I cant get my
foot back in’ scenario and I came to a complete stop and re shuffle a couple of
times, as this was the closest I had come to riding slop for sometime. Like I mentioned before it was really muddy
and I was happy to come out to near the jump section without any major crashes,
my tires were so caked in mud that there was no traction I was sliding on even
non-sloppy surfaces and actually slipped up hill off track. How does that
happen!? Waiting at the dib out spot it
was crazy to see how many riders exited with eventful mechanicals such as brakes
hanging off and saddles pointing up to the sky.
Stage 5
Undoubtedly my favourite stage of the weekend. The ground had visibly had the sun on it for most of the day and maintained its grip it was pretty hard packed. The trail led you into some nice loamy and flowy switchbacks. I realised in practice the key to this section was to stay high and claimed some kudos from a spectator about my ‘good line choice’. I felt strong although I did do some tripodding through a tree section that I had practised to death the day before, sometimes too much choice is my demise. Coming into the last section I heard someone shout ‘your doing really well’ which I acknowledged and then instantly stacked it, I jumped back on and then headed to the finish another Enduro done and dusted.
Undoubtedly my favourite stage of the weekend. The ground had visibly had the sun on it for most of the day and maintained its grip it was pretty hard packed. The trail led you into some nice loamy and flowy switchbacks. I realised in practice the key to this section was to stay high and claimed some kudos from a spectator about my ‘good line choice’. I felt strong although I did do some tripodding through a tree section that I had practised to death the day before, sometimes too much choice is my demise. Coming into the last section I heard someone shout ‘your doing really well’ which I acknowledged and then instantly stacked it, I jumped back on and then headed to the finish another Enduro done and dusted.
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| 1st Emma Guy, 2nd Rachael Walker and I'm 3rd. |
I was
delighted to come 3rd especially with such a high standard of female
riders present. Elena managed to claim 2 seconds on me too. Emma Guy
demonstrated that her riding is most definitely in a different league with
nearly a 2 minute lead. The drive home in the sunshine was reflective and I
returned to a great BBQ at some friends, Ski Pea and to drink some beer and eat
doughnuts. A great weekend.
Full results can be found here:
Thank you to
Dare2B for all your support and the excellent cycling shirt that kept me very
cool in the hot climb up the fire road.
