Douglas F Shearer

SXC 2011 Round 1 - Kirroughtree

Arriving on the Saturday to pre-ride the course, we were met with dry and pleasant conditions. The course was bone dry, with the majority being man-made trails or forestry roads, with some natural linking sections. I found it pretty dull, and was not-so secretly hoping for rain overnight to spice things up a bit.

I got my wish, it bucketed it down overnight, so much so the first singletrack climb was now a run, around 250m per lap. I missed my pedal at the start, but managed to get on the back of the pain train, AKA Gareth Montgomerie, Dave Henderson and Kenta Gallagher. I only held them for about the first kilometer, and out of the top of the running section they shot off. Rob Friel came past about halfway through the lap, using his power on the forestry road sections after a slow start. I settled in for a long one.

On the second lap I slid-out as I rejoined the forestry road after the running section, there was a lot of mud dragged out onto it, but only lost time and kept the impact on my side to a minimum. I dropped my bottle a bit further up, this lap was not going well. I was then with James Fraser-Moodie for the rest of the lap, before getting dropped by him the next time up the run on the third lap.

By the time I got to the fifth and final lap I managed to pick things up a bit, cutting a minute off my previous lap time, even though I stopped to pick up my earlier dropped bottle. I rolled in for fifth, not bad considering my knee issues in February.

Gareth took the win in an exciting sprint with Dave. James had overhauled Rob to take third. Full results on the SXC site.

SXC 2010 Round 1 - Kirroughtree

The SXC kicked off at Kirroughtree for the second year running. Given my poor result at Kirroughtree last year, I wasn’t expecting anything great from it this year, especially as it was to be my first race of the season. The course had been greatly improved, with the long fire road sections broken up with challenging natural singletrack, and some of the fine rocky trails that were missed out on the last visit. There was even a few super steep loamy climbs to contend with, just my cup of tea.

The field was just as glittering as the year before, with Paul Oldham making the trip up for some early season action. At the start I knew Paul was right behind me, so I took it easy till he came past then jumped on his wheel. I couldn’t hold him for long, but got into the first singletrack in about fifth place. By the end of the first lap I was in sixth, and would remain so for the remainder of the race. I could see Giles Drake of MSC up ahead almost all the time, and closed within fifteen seconds of him going into the last lap, but was unable to catch him as little hydration meant I was suffering cramp pretty bad on the steep climbs. Luckily I had enough in the tank to hold off Alex Glasgow who had punctured earlier in the race.

I’m pretty chuffed with sixth place in the first race of the season, the preparation and training is definitely starting to pay off. Thanks to Steve and Linda at the Cairnholy Old Farmhouse for the fantastic accommodation for the weekend.

SXC 2009 Round 1 - Kirroughtree

Kirroughtree was a new venue for the SXC, and given my previous racing experience on the trails, I was looking forward to it. The course was a mixture of some of the red-graded manmade trails, some natural sections, and a whole pile of forestry-road. There was little climbing or technical content, so it was never going to be my thing, but it still made for good racing.

The field in Expert/Elite was pretty top-notch, with Paul Oldham making the trip north to give us all a kicking. I got a pretty good start, and was settling in nicely. On a short rooty climb my chain dropped over the back of the cassette, despite not having done this on a ride a few days earlier. I pulled the chain back onto the cassette, and ran up the rest of the climb. While remounting I ripped the scab from my knee on the gear lever, which required me to stand at the side of the trail and think for a few moments. Jack (Richards) told me to get back on the bike, so I did.

On the second lap the chain dropped again, losing me more time. After this I used the granny ring on the same climb so I could stay in the middle of the cassette. I did go slightly wild chasing people back after these two bad laps, a bad idea in hindsight as I suffered for it in my last lap, losing about 2 minutes compared to my previous lap times. The last two laps were contended with a deflating front tyre, control under braking was almost non-existent on the last lap.

I finished 13th, not what I expected given my performances in previous weeks. Hopefully the next SXC round at Aberfoyle will go better for me.

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.