SXC: Cathkin Braes

Last weekend the team travelled to Scotland to take part in a round of the Scottish XC Series which was being held at Cathkin Braes which is to be the venue of the Commonwealth Games MTB race in a few months time.

The racetrack itself was the full Commonwealth Games race course and, after a few years in existence, certain lines have started to erode and bed in, work which will be done before the Games. Setting off along the fast, wide start it was a blast along to Propeller Point, a large rocky drop with two large step-downs. Duking through the crossover tunnel and holding on tight for a few more rocky descents, the racers arrived at the highlight of the course: Dual Descent. Two separate lines with berms, step-downs, jumps and rock gardens. Reaching the bottom at Castlemilk, wrists and arms shaking with exertion, it’s time to climb again, all the way up the Clyde climb to the mast point and two extremely technical drops – and the section of the course which saw the most injuries. From there, it’s a rollercoaster of twists and turns through the trees all the way down to the daunting Brig O’Doom, and an uphill sprint to the line to start the next lap.

We had Craig and Drew racing in the U14′s, Lee had travelled to the race but unfortunately fell ill during the night and despite his determination was persuaded not to race. Craig got off to a great start and was making up positions the whole way through the race including taking another place on the line to finsih near the front end of the race in 8th position. Drew started well too but unfortunately punctured half way around the course on the first lap and had to run the other half lap back to the pits and sort the puncture himself, he then continued around the final lap to the finish in what was a very mature ride.

The only other rider we had in the morning race was Claire in the Elite woman’s category. All the woman were set of together and with some very skilled and successful riders it was to be a tough race. After riding the first half lap with previous British Champion Lucy Grant Claire made her move on the three line rock drop section and took the race on from there extending her lead every lap to give the team their first win across the water.

In the afternoon races we had Graham, Chris and Stuart racing in what were awful conditions, the morning sun had turned into high winds and heavy rain. Graham was the first of the team round followed by Stuart and Chris just behind him, by the next lap Graham had settled into racing about the top 5, Chris was just inside the top 10 and Stuart just behind in 11th. In the end Graham finished up in 6th place just being piped for 5th while Chris came home in 10th and Stuart didn’t manage a finish with a mechanical.

Thanks again to our sponsors: Torq, Specialized, Fenwicks, The David McCall Foundation, Tifosi, Bioracer, The Signature Works and McConvey Cycles.