So round it came again, the Scottish Champs!! I have had the title for a while now although I haven’t scheduled in many regionals this season, the Champs was a dead cert and something not to be overlooked because of commitments to work!!I landed up on Sunday night and spent the night camping about 5 miles from the race site at Glen Etive, it was amazing, it is one of the most accessible but untouched areas of Scotland, not far of the main road. The camping laws in Scotland are fairly relaxed in that I think you are allowed to pitch a tent anywhere, as long as it is not within 100 yards of a dwelling. I camped with a few guys from the village right next to the Glen itself.
So, the course, for ya'll internationals reading this, is the only other course in Scotland which has chairlift access, and it is about 17 miles from Fort William and it is GNAR!! Steep and rocky and scary as hell!! I didn’t walk, but took the Angel (Trek Session 88) straight up for a big ole blast, I couldn’t wait to ride it! My first run was a mess, I was hitting the rocks blind but got through it all okay, the next few runs were great, as long as you could thread the needle on that course, you were fine. As the volume of riders on course increased, the track started to degrade and it did so pretty rapidly! The moisture from the various streams got dragged over the once dry rocks and soil which resulted in the course becoming greasy and increasingly more brutal. 
I had a few really bad crashes in my first run and took some sore knocks, but nothing could prepare me for the bashes in my second run. As I was navigating off the back of the bike through some rocks, I suddenly came to a standstill, before I knew it, I had wacked the saddle so hard and got pitched over the bars. I don’t know what got me to the bottom apart from sheer adrenaline, but I got to the hot seat and the guys from GOFAST handed me a chilled can which I shoved into my pants to numb the pain!! Needs must I suppose!! 
I had a few really bad crashes in my first run and took some sore knocks, but nothing could prepare me for the bashes in my second run. As I was navigating off the back of the bike through some rocks, I suddenly came to a standstill, before I knew it, I had wacked the saddle so hard and got pitched over the bars. I don’t know what got me to the bottom apart from sheer adrenaline, but I got to the hot seat and the guys from GOFAST handed me a chilled can which I shoved into my pants to numb the pain!! Needs must I suppose!! 
Anyway, Helen Gaskell took the actual race win, but because she isn’t eligible for the title, I lifted the cup. In the past, when I first moved to Scotland, there have been a few years that I wasn’t eligible for the title and won the actual race, since that point, I have always lifted the cup with a victorious race win, but this was the first year that didn’t happen, I was a little gutted that I didn’t take both victories, but I guess I am safe in the knowledge that Gas is one fast Eddie!! 
The journey home was pretty gruesome too, about 30 miles from the race site the guy I travelled with’s dog had the worst dose of the Gary Glitters (shitters) on the seat in the van right next to me….by the time I realised what was going down it was too late, the stuff was frikking everywhere……including my seatbelt buckle. I screamed for the dude to pull over and when he did, I flung the door open, but I couldn’t get out! There was DOOOOOO on my belt buckle and there was no way on hells earth I was touching it. I started dry heaving and crying and didn’t stop until long after the dude had unleashed my seatbelt! Completely grossed out, I sat in the back the rest of the way home!!
So there you have it, one random weekend!!
Ciao fer the noo! Jme. XX
The journey home was pretty gruesome too, about 30 miles from the race site the guy I travelled with’s dog had the worst dose of the Gary Glitters (shitters) on the seat in the van right next to me….by the time I realised what was going down it was too late, the stuff was frikking everywhere……including my seatbelt buckle. I screamed for the dude to pull over and when he did, I flung the door open, but I couldn’t get out! There was DOOOOOO on my belt buckle and there was no way on hells earth I was touching it. I started dry heaving and crying and didn’t stop until long after the dude had unleashed my seatbelt! Completely grossed out, I sat in the back the rest of the way home!!So there you have it, one random weekend!!
Ciao fer the noo! Jme. XX
1 comment:
Oh my gracious goodness! Do I really, really want to know about the du,de du,de, du du du, just before my breakfast! TMI! Lordie, lordie!
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