Douglas F Shearer

Scottish MTB XC Championships 2011

Unlike previous years where the Championships were run as part of the SXC series, this year they were run as a stand-alone event. It was the first time since 2002 this has happened, and it’s good to see the Champs get to be their own headline. Having no series to contend for, means that everyone between 18 and 30 (and above if they choose) gets to race for the senior championship. So sport riders got to join expert and elite riders to see how they stack up. This results in quite a healthy field, unlike the last two rounds.

I managed to sort out my knee niggles about a week and a half before this event, and with only one interval session in three months, I wasn’t expecting much. Even though I normally make the trip down to Drumlanrig, the venue, on the Saturday for a pre-ride, I didn’t feel my fitness warrantied the extra effort involved in the preparation. I didn’t even bother with a proper pre-ride on the day, riding only the first and last kilometer or so of the course. This wasn’t a worry as I know the ins and outs of Drumlanrig pretty well after racing there for ten years.

The gridding was a bit lacking, the commissaries just left us in whatever order we turned up in. This meant that Rab Wardell was back on the third row. Luckily things got off pretty cleanly, and Rab was back up the front where he was supposed to be. I totally overcooked it on the first half lap, with a mega-high heart rate on the descents as well as the climbs. I told myself to settle down and lose a few places.

The race was pretty uneventful, I was cruising the climbs and railing the descents with lots of confidence. After a few bad months it was nice just to be able to ride fast without pain. I was so chilled I even turned down Gary Macrae’s offer to get past him on a descent after he caught me on the way to the vets win (thanks Gary).

I eventually finished in 7th, in what turned out to be my longest XC race of the year at 2:19. Roll on next year!

Dave Henderson defended his title from last year, Grant Ferguson took the silver, and Rab the bronze.

Full results are on the SXC website.

Drumlanrig Tearfund Challenge 2009

The Drumlanrig Tearfund Challenge is a road sportive based at the wonderful Drumlanrig Castle. The entry is very limited, and unlike other sportives, you don’t pay to enter, you make a donation to Tearfund. With an entry of 300 the event feels very low key and friendly, and everyone seemed to be keen to chat and swap stories before, during and after.

A unique feature of this sportive is the un-timed rest-stop in the middle. Here you can eat cakes to your hearts content, or at least until the final departure time, without this affecting your overall time.

As per Team Macchiato directives, I was there with Vo, resplendent in our matching (well, not so much these days) Bianchis. I was also wearing an Innerleithen MTB Racing top, just so people would know what to expect when we came to the climbs.

The first half was expected to be the hardest, with a big climb up to the UK’s highest village, Wanlockhead, followed by a section back into a headwind. Up the climb I left the group Vo and I had started with behind, and chatted to the Team Colnago team manager, who was wearing a peaked helmet in an effort to show off his roots. Up over the top of the climb I was on my own down the first descent to Elvanfoot. On this descent I was caught by Vo who unfortunately punctured as soon as we turned into the headwind.

The headwind was a bit of a nightmare for me, as I couldn’t see any groups coming up behind, and all the small fragmented groups of riders I caught up with were going slower than me, so much so they couldn’t hold my wheel when I went to the front. After another descent a fast group came past, mostly made up of Ayrodynamic members. I latched onto this group and we chainganged it back to the castle. I was surprised by some of the big guys missing turns at the front, but maybe they were saving themselves for the second half. Vo appeared about 10 minutes later, having been lucky enough to meet a fast group just as he finished fixing his puncture.

After the cake stop, Vo and I set off again. Two of the riders in our group were riding rather pimped-out Storck bikes, carbon spokes, the works. Both guys evidently were aware of the fragility of their steeds, as rough sections were approached at a far slower pace than what I would call normal. At one cattle grid I almost became a human suppository, as both riders on the front failed to warn those behind, and braked rather suddenly and excessively. On the first climb I was glad to leave them behind, with the sound of crumpling carbon and swearing as poor gear adjustment on one of said bikes left the rider to walk back with broken spokes, mech hanger and seatstay.

The second half was a different beast to the first. Wind played little part, and steep climbs (one was 25% for some considerable distance, and resulted in lots of people walking) were followed by rough gravelly descents. Just my cup of tea. I was on my own for the first twenty miles or so, but in the second half I joined up with a lad of similar age and build to myself who superbly fast on the flats. We worked together for the remaining twenty miles, taking turns on the front on the flatter sections, and me driving the pace on the front up the climbs. Having someone to work with made the pain of pushing so hard a lot easier.

I rolled in at four hours and eighteen minutes, I thought comfortably within the ‘gold standard’ time. Unfortunately the event was slightly shorter than last week, and the correction the the times was not made until after the event. I missed out by a minute, but that’s always something to go for next year.

Without a doubt the Tearfund Challenge is an awesome event, and to make it even better you receive a ‘virtual goody bag’ at the end, being a record of all the things your donation will provide for those in need. I was most glad to see that they will be receiving t-shirts with the image of Che Guevara as a badger, definitely something everyone needs. I wonder how early I can enter next year…

Whyte Enduro 2008 Round 2 - Drumlanrig

After three weeks off the bike with a(nother) knee injury, I decided to take my return to racing easy. The 50km Whyte Enduro at Drumlanrig was a superb choice; terrain I love, no pressure to do well, and a chilled-out atmosphere.

I decided I was definitely going to take it easy, so took the start easy, spinning away at my gears while others stomped on the pedals up the first fire-road. This payed off pretty quickly, as people started going backwards as soon as the gradient kicked up. After the initial climb it was a short fire-road descent to the middle section of fast rooty descents.

I love these descents, especially when I can use the smooth lines to hold speed. Unfortunately traffic was a bit of a problem, with me nearly crashing twice taking risks to get past people. It never ceases to amaze me how many riders obviously don’t ride technical trails with roots outside of racing. None of these guys were Scottish, so maybe they need to visit the north more often!

On the second lap I didn’t take a bottle. Mistake! I stopped for a few minutes to give a guy a pump, and pulled in to let Nick Craig and Will Bjergfelt past.

Third lap I was starting to feel the heat a bit, did I mention it was 25C plus? Lovely! I caught Vo who was doing the 75km on this lap, and sat just off his wheel for the rest of the lap.

As soon as I started the final lap I could feel the dehydration hitting me. I emptied the bottle I had just taken, but needed more. Luckily Iain and Janet (Nimmo) were having a wander round the track, and gave me some more water, total stars! I had dropped Vo, but later on I had really bad cramps, so he passed me again while I was on the ground stretching the cramp out of my legs. The rest of the lap was a bit of a struggle, and I was pretty shaky at the finish.

16th, not to bad after time off the bike, at least I was happy with it. Hopefully I’ll get more riding in over the next few weeks.

Cheers to Vo for driving.

SXC 2007 Round 6 - Drumlanrig Castle

Gonna be a short one this, really should have written this ages ago.

The Course

It had been four years since I had last ridden Drumlanrig, as a junior. The course was almost exactly the same as the courses back then, although not continuing around route no.7 for quite so far.

The course basically follows route no.7 for the majority of it’s distance. The amazing rooty descents and steep climbs make it a properly fun course to ride lap after lap.

How’d I do?

Off the startline I felt good, quickly gaining places on the first steep climb. On the next climb I passed Iain Nimmo and went into 4th position. Down the second descent I passed Andy Barlow who had slid out on one of the corners. I did the same a few corners later, and was passed by Andy, Iain and Andrew Cockburn.

James FM went past at warp 9 on the final fireroad section, way too fast for me to get on his wheel. For the next few laps I sat with Cockburn while Barlow pulled out a gap on us. On lap 2 I hit my knee on my stem, apologies to the man and his kid standing at that corner for my cursing out loud.

Lap 4 saw me fall again, this time sliding out on some gravel as I came onto a fireroad. It took me the whole way down the long rooty descent to catch Cockburn. Back onto the fireroad I downed what remained of my coke, and put the hammer down. It was the only time I used my big-ring for the whole race. On the next steep singletrack climb I locked out my forks, and gave it death round the switchbacks to get a decent gap going.

Going into the final lap I had about 10s, definitely not comfortable in case of accidents. I kept the hammer down and caught and passed Barlow on the first climb.

The last lap seemed to go super fast, with me only looking back when the trail doubled back. Luckily I had no trouble, and finished 5th, my best XC result of the year so far.

Hopefully Glentress will be as good.

Borders Trail Trip

Three days of 30C heat, tents, and some bikes. What else do three lads need for a short biking trip? Steven, Murray and myself packed our bikes and our bikes, and headed to the borders for a few days.

Day 1 – Drumlanrig Red

First up was Drumlanrig. I’d raced here before, so had a good idea what t expect. The Premier Series races the weekend before had left the trails a ittle cut up, but they were still super fun. Tight and rooty, it’s a lot like riding at home back in Stirling. the only complaint I had was that the signs weren’t the most obvious, and were often quite a distance away from the previous piece of trail and obscured by long grass. ALl good fun though.

Kirroughtree Red

Want to ride something challenging and amazingly good fun? This is for you! The red route at Kirroughtree makes other red routes look like a 4 lane Sustrans route with jumps (You all know which one I’m talking about!). Lots and lots of fast twisty, technical singletrack, all linked by very little fireroad. A few challenges along the way, but overall just super fun, definitely making it worth the drive down. One middle section and the last section are a blast, and you’ll find it hard not to smile all the way down them.

Day 2 – Kirroughtree Black

Following much of the red on the way out and the way back, the black route has had lots of press in the last year or so. McMoab is good fun, but is possibly over-hyped by the press and general chatter. I rode it with my saddle up on a 80mm travel hardtail, and my only fall was on a flat section where you loop back on yourself, landing on my hip and my elbow as the front wheel rolled backwards while turning tightly. The rest of the trail is good fun, although somewhat tiring on a hardtail.

Ae Line

Ae Line was definitely the most hyped trail of 2005, perhaps this is why I was left somewhat disappointed. Some parts are great fun, but any time the trail gets more than 500M away from a fireroad it was as if the trail builders could no longer be bothered.

The section named ‘The Face’ was particularly bad. The berms before the bridge were no more than a steep, twisting, rocky chute as though it had been damaged by water and riders skidding down rather than using the berms (I won’t go off on a rant about the no-skills weekend riders on 2k+ 6inch travel bikes, many of whom frequent STW and talk-the-talk but don’t walk-the-walk). After that you have the climb, which wasn’t just steep, but was covered in loose rocks that ranged in size from tennis balls to bricks, making it very hard to climb, I almost thought about using my granny ring! To be fair a trail is always going to weather and maybe they just don’t have the resources and manpower to repair these bits.

Day 3 – Ae Line: Take 2

After riding Ae Line in the evening in 1hr 40min (Including riding too and from the campsite) I decided to give it ago in the 30C+ heat of midday. No surprises it took exactly the same amount of time, although I did enjoy it a bit more as I could let go on the descents and time my efforts on the climbs knowing what was coming up.

All in all it was a top few fays on the bike, and I certainly enjoyed riding on new trails. I’m sure lots of you will disagree with what I’ve said, so feel free to leave some comments.