Team Macchiato hit it up at Kirroughtree this weekend past for 10 At Kirroughtree.

Friday night was pretty wet, it rained constantly, making us a little despondent about the next day’s racing. Luckily it had stopped by saturday morning, and we were soon enjoying the muddy car park at Kirroughtree.

The sun came out almost as soon as the riders had set off on the first lap. Vo was going first, with instructions to give it death. He got us round in a good position, leaving me with an almost clear course to blast round in the 5th (As announced anyway) fastest lap of the day.

The course was amazing, and I do not use that lightly. It was so good everybody seemed to want to go back out, even when they were knackered. 10 miles, and just over 600m of climbing on every lap which used most of the red route, with a section of the blue to make up some distance. There was lots of singletrack on offer, with twisty climbs, and smooth rolling descents broken up by small rock gardens and drop-offs. There were 3 natural descents, which were a bit of a mess, but great for passing those who were re-enacting the human tripod as they attempted to stay upright in the mud. Only very near the end was there a horribly short steep climb, but the rest was pretty sweet.

We hovered around 6th position for most of the day, doing lap about. While I was out on my 5th lap, it was decided that if I did a double-lap, we could get in under 10 hours and Vo could get a 12th lap in. I came in, was told I was going out again, and handed a bottle of coke. I was pretty pumped at this point, so I just went with it, knowing it would be my last lap. I got round with 3 minutes to go, meaning Vo was well rested, and could get a final lap in.

We ended up in 6th place, 12 minutes behind the winners (Dave Preston and Euan Thorburn), so something to be proud of before I head off to Poland next week.

Roll on next year, I’ll definitely be there.