POC Scottish Enduro Series Round 6 - Kinlochleven November 2014

Kinlochleven is no stranger to me and I know how changeable and diverse the terrain and weather can be. It’s a hard area to ride, not just due to the ruts, river crossings and muddy bogs amongst drainage ditches and rocks that ricochet even the strongest of riders off course, it’s also an area of mechanical mayhem. Rear mechs can be swallowed up and punctures can envelop at the sight of some of the rocks.  I spent nearly a whole week stressing about tyre choice, knowing that I would need a tyre to ride massive rocks fast but also cut through the slop of Sooks Pipe. There was only one tyre for it – the good old Maxis Minion, and a few days before heading off for my MBL assessment with Jules Fincham I had Dave at Singletrack Bikes fit the tyres himself. Thanks Dave!!

The view of Kinlochleven from the top of Stage one, Gray Mares Tale

In the week leading up to the Dudes of Hazzard Enduro the West of Scotland had had a severe weather warning for high rainfall, but I was pleased to hear from Olga, my hitchhiker buddy, that the weather was looking peachy for the weekend.

The village of Kinlochleven lives in a hidden mine of secret nuggets of mountain biking gold. Stumbling across this over five years ago after living there for nearly three years, raising my daughter and being a mother, I fell back in love with the sport and that is is in no small part what led me to here.  Kinlcohleven was my harsh training ground and tough conditioning for re-entry into the scene. Sharing its spectacular gnar and epicness with some 400 – 500 riders is a real privilege. Not only this, but to see and hear the village busy in the off-season is a real credit to how the industry can boast biking tourism to the remote areas of Scotland.

It is also a real credit to The Dudes of Hazzard and No Fuss Events that they have created this opportunity for Kinlochleven.  This event is possibly one of the most popular Enduro races on this Island and definitely in the Highlands with competitors coming from far and wide.

Some Riders opting for the push on one of the big climbs.

The three stages have been creatively developed over the last three years encompassing some classic local trails. The transitional route included the glorious climb up to Mamore lodge, a 300m ascent up a steep road that I eagerly climbed in order to heat up from the shadow of Garbh Bheinn that Kinlochleven sits in for half the year.

The sun rays on the climb up to Mamore Lodge defrosted our frozen tootsies fairly quickly,

For the last race in the season I had to maintain my focus, wits and composure, especially as I had to win to gain championship status.  Yes I had the advantage of local knowledge but as mentioned, Kinlochleven is a mechanical nightmare catalyst and when it comes to racing – anything can happen.  With this in mind I tried my hardest to stay positive to avoid any chat of negativity, mechanics, the course and conditions, and to find solutions for what could be possible obstacles or barriers to my overall time. 

My first stage on race day was Stage Three, Sooks Pipe and the muddiest of the day, which definitely came with an essential eyewear merit, especially to model the current Enduro trend of mud beards. I set off to a great cheering crowd and almost instantly ended up off course, but managed to bring it together and remember the small defining points of line choices. Just as I was thinking it wasn’t really that bad, the course flattened out but I managed to keep my wheels rolling even with my hubs deep in mud – thank goodness for Sram 1x11!

The black line of Sooks pipe and the Blackwater Dam pipe line

The sight of the pipe line came like light at the end of the tunnel and I was relieved to make it out the slop and onto the pedalling section of the puggy line, but not for long as this ended up becoming quite a lung buster.  I even sat down for the fast straight descent before turning back into the forest – I was loving the 1x11 aiding the pedal spinning on those steep up right banks.

I was so happy to make it down without any major mishaps apart from the inevitable dabbing and carrying a few additional pounds of muddy undercarriage.  I headed straight to the bike wash and then home to get changed before heading to stages one and two.

When I arrived at the start of Stage One, Gray Mares Tale, the whole race was preparing to stand down for two minutes to remember those who had fallen for our freedom. I stood amongst the eager riders with the beautiful and tranquil view of Lochleven and the Pap of Glencoe to remember in silence.

The Sun about to sitting above Garbh Bheinn,but the village sits in shadow. 

This was my favourite stage in practice and a trail that has always crossed the border of delight and dismay. For many people, riding this in practice might have seemed like a perilous challenge that only the daring and gallant could tackle with swift haste, but to be honest there is very little elegance to this stage and the easiest way to ride it is with less braking, keeping the wheels spinning at a rapid pace to limit the arm pump.  It’s a very physically demanding stage, with loose rocks and ruts at the top and a fairly pedally section with steep and tight switchbacks and this is where I knew a mechanical could very well happen.

I definitely wasn’t feeling as smooth as I had been in practice, especially when the sidewalls of my wheels were shaving the banks of the corners, it’s a tough stage to ride clean. I was ecstatic upon clearing the river crossing and steep climb up the riverside cleanly for the first year ever - I love my Pivot and Sram 1 x 11, on top of this I managed to catch up with four riders in front who all let me past without any trouble– thanks guys.

My claim to fame for the day was I also cleared the climb up the log onto the dibbing station! Yas!! I headed back to Casa ala Roz to change my socks and bumped into Buviliscous who had had a nasty tumble on his first stage and had to pull out. I wouldn’t let him tell me where in order to keep myself focused - I was one stage away from the end of the season.

Stage Two, AKA the Kennels, is also a personal favourite. In practice I claimed a massive moment of self-admiration when I eventually rode the drop off. I have been riding this trail for five years and never thought I would build the courage to do it but I did! This weekend was proving to be a ticklist of challenges.

There was quite a bit of water on this trail and the dirty substance had somehow worked its way underneath my eyewear so upon riding the bottom section I was blinking liking a loon. With raging arm pump I remembered to keep a high line on a corner and cycle round the river to the finish with the sound of Buviliscous cheering me on. I was quickly presented with a freshly chilled can of Strongbow to celebrate the end of a fabulous season.

Riding Stage Two, The Kennels
Photo courtesy to David MacMillan

On the way back to the Ice Factor for my results I had an idea of what overall time would keep me in the winning stakes. I reckoned anything around 18mins 30 secs would be fantastic so I was delighted to see I had beaten my own target time and came in at 18mins 28 secs.

With over a minute and a half lead on the second fastest female and awesome junior talent and Fox Hunt Winner, Elena Melton, Rachel Walker from Hope came in second and my good friend and Wheelers rider Emma Holgate came third. Fellow pinner Nicola Fell landed in 5^th along with claiming 3^rd on stage one, well done Nicola! At prize giving I was over the moon to find I had won a year’s sponsorship deal with Adidas eyewear – thanks Adidas what a fantastic prize.

A great result and of course a fantastic round off to claiming a victory on the Scottish Enduro Championships, which I always considered out of my limits.   

Full results for round 6 can be found here.

The Scottish Enduro Series has been a great race series. I have met so many fantastic riders and Enduro acquaintances have now become friends. I have also introduced a few of my own friends to Enduro and outreached my Enduro family, including the fantastic and immensely supportive Buvilicious who has been behind me 100%. I am very thankful to have such a great support network of friends and family to help me.   Another great thanks would be to my sponsors Dare2B, Flare Clothing, and Singletrack bikes – which without their support would I never be able to accomplish the championship.

Scottish Enduro Champion with her Pivot
Photo Courtesy to James Robertson Photography

In reflection, it’s a funny old feeling sitting here in my NEW living room amidst the old mining tenements in the north of the Scottish Borders.  Gazing my eyes over a small gathering of grand trophies that are placed in amongst unpacked boxes, books and bags, it’s hard to deny that I’ve had a spectacular season. I have won races I always considered out my limits. I have stood shocked on podiums, rode stronger and faster than ever before and faintly began to realise my own potential as a rider not unlike Neo in the Matrix coming to comprehend the idea of his uniqueness. But I ain’t saving the world, I’m just riding my bike.

I don’t feel any different maybe the closest resemblance to this self-declaration of achievement or winning is like Charlie Sheen defining his personal outlook as a ‘winner’ on a US talk show.  I still feel like Roz who rides the big heavy Orange Patriot and that’s who I want to be - I still want to have fun riding my bike and winning well. It’s always comforting to reflect proudly of one’s efforts and realise that it paid off. There is nothing wrong with having a grand sense of achievement.    

And one last acknowledgement of what may have been a massive contribution to my development as a rider this season is the experience and ability to develop methods to remember my line choices and ride cleaner.

So for now its time to rest and wait for the snow to come for the off season and I’ll see you guys next year for what I hope will be a spectacular 2015 season.

Podium with Fiona Beattie, 3rd in The Series, Joe Barnes, Senior Male Winner and Rachel Walker 2nd in Senior women.

A well traveled trophy is this one. 

Scottish Enduro Series Round 5 - Innerleithen 18th & 19th October 2014

You don't have to be a gifted clairvoyant to guess that the October round of the POC Enduro Series may be a bit damper than its summer predecessors.

But then again Scotland’s not exactly known for the flocking tourists who take to the beaches in skimpy thongs, with volley ball nets to display their tans and muscles.  On this occasion the riders who had missed out on their foreign biking trips may have forgotten about the sloppy substance we once called mud as up until two weeks prior to this race, mountain biking in Scotland consisted of bone-dry dusty trails thanks to an exceptionally dry and awesome summer. 

A new addition to this round at Innerleithen was the addition of Caberston or ‘The Golfie’.  A steep and windy technical forest with a copious amount of intertwined trails that have left a permanent impression on both my pinkie fingers and altered my cosiness of mountain biking comforts. Caberston had its world debut in this year’s Enduro World Series and since then has seen a good revenue of bikers amongst its slick forest lines.

Checking the forecast a few days in advance and seeing the stormy weather setting in for the weekend, I got myself a spiky Michelin Wildmud for the front and a nice sleek DHR Minion for the rear in an attempt to shed the claggy crud that the week before had turned my Hans Damps into racing slicks.  Thanks to Alpine Bikes at Innerleithen for their last minute help with my tubeless setup!

A grey ray of sunshine at Caberston 

The weather had certainly not deterred the thirst for competition and the event was once again sold out.  The event village/bog had a good depth of brown smearing skid marks up to the sign in tent.  It seemed it would only a matter of time before the local farmers and their tractors would be called to assist stranded vehicles....

On arrival at practice I met up with the buff Buviliscous biking boy along with the usual enduro crew including fellow female pinner Nicola Fel and enduro mud virgin Henderson. There were 4 stages with the first two starting at Caberston and then heading over to Innerleithen for stages 3 & 4, including about 30 km of cycling and a heck of a lot of climbing. 

Carrying the mud to the dry bits at the bottom of stage 4 

We set off with the sun and rain in our eyes and a momentary questioning of why didn’t we bring any sunnies with us, but this only lasted for the length of this thought.   Starting back to front at Inners and the dreaded climb, we then descended with various oooh’s and ahh’s as Stages 3 and 4 were a great dolly mixture of all the old Innerleithen classics: Gold Run, Alistair Lee’s, The Tunnel and many more.  A few funny detours at the bottom section had me in a bit of a navigational giddiness, but it only left me with more to chat about on the way to Caberston.  The rumour was spreading that Stage 1 (Lone Wolf) was unrideable but to me it seemed perfectly fine! Yeah a bit slimey in some sections, but I’ve seen a lot worse (nothing will ever come close to stage 2 at Fort William).  Stage 2, the old downhill track was defined by a passing Ozzy as just like stage one but more 'off camberrie and steepa'  and he wasn’t too wrong as this was the stage I thought about most for the drive home.

Heading home with some mud decor.  

Over night the heavens opened and it was a wild guess if this would improve or worsen the mud fest.  I set off with the rest of the ladies early in the morning it was pretty dreech.  Stage 1 was the talk of the race with many people discussing how difficult and unrideable the mud had made it. So at the start, my optimism wasn’t too high and I was also one of the many riders that fell at the entry shoot. I got straight back on and maintained my uprightness for a while until I realised that my forks had managed to turn themselves off, so at that, I jumped off and ran through most of the horrid bits at the top and then jumped back on finding it so hard to actually find my cleats under all that mud.  Not long after Lewis Buchanan flew past with an impressive speed and flow, I barely managed to have two feet on my pedals for most of the bottom section and fell just as Alasdair MaClennan flew by with a ‘you okay?’ acknowledgement.  It was great to have a visual knowledge of what it should look like to ride that stuff. 

Mud that sticks on thick- I'm still cleaning this stuff up. 

Feeling like I’d made a massive hodgepodge of Stage 1 I was sure I had to make some time back. I headed up to Stage 2 in a mental world of self-counselling and reassurance, telling myself over and over again ‘you can do this’.  This seemed to do the trick as I managed to hang on for dear life, the Ozzy lad wasn’t joking about it being off camber too, this was a sideways sliding race, if you could keep your bike pointing forward you were a winner.

Heading over to Innerleithen, the mud banter was non stop, people talked of how it would feel like concrete in comparison to the squidge of Caberston and mud tyre efficiency was definitely the theme of chat for most. 

Innerleithen was great fun, some folk had even brought pedals to change over from flats to clips in between the two varying locations, an interesting tactic.  I was so happy to complete both stages without falling or having too much feet out drifting action.  The trails were on the muddy side, but nothing as wild as Caberston, so what would normally be considered as wet and slippy felt like the traction of a fly on a sticky bun.

At the event village I collected my time to find I was sitting in top spot with a good lead too! I only had to wait for top ladies, Emma Guy and Tracey Brunger to return, but to my complete and utter surprise I managed to remain on the top spot, with stage one as my fastest stage... which was the surprise of the day!  

Podium banter with Tracey Brunger (2nd)  and  Emma Guy (3rd)

Full results can be found here.

And a fantastic write up  by Trevor Worsey from Enduro Mountain Bike Magazine.

  

A much deserved gratitude to Helen Findlay
the heart and soul of Innerleithin Mountain Biking
She will be well and truly missed.
Thank you Helen!  

Scottish Enduro Series Round 4 Ae Forest

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".

Looking pretty lush and seasonal 

Ae are no strangers to hosting race series’ with the down hill route attracting many keen racers for the SDA and BDS, and are no strangers to Enduro either hosting a UK Gravity Enduro round too .   The trail center has some fantastic facilities including an open plan and well equipped bike shop, café (and well looked after toilets) whilst  being located just 20 minutes drive from Dumfries and other facilities such as accommodation.

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.

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.

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.

It got a bit damp.

The Pivot well and truly had her first taste of Scottish dirt and after a swift and non thorough bike wash, I headed of to Chateau de Buwert for some lush nourish, shower and bed.

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.

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.  

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. 

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!

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.

1st Emma Guy, 2nd Rachael Walker and I'm 3rd. 

I was delighted to come 3^rd 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.