Andy Barlow (left) and Lee Craigie (right)
Fort William played host to round four of the Buff SXC series incorporating the Scottish Championships on June 14. Over 200 riders travelled from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand and were treated to a cracking course which used parts of the 2007 World Championship course, sections previously used in World Cups and some new rooty natural singletrack descents. The threatened heavy rain showers never materialised and the sun shone - the only complaint from riders being the abundance of midges!
The Elite men's race saw series leader Andy Barlow (Dirt School) lead from the start to take his first Scottish title. Brendan Sharret from New Zealand finished in second place. Silver medal in the Scottish Championships went to last year's sport series winner Dave Henderson (Pedal Power.org.uk/Endura RT) with his team mate James Fraser-Moodie taking the bronze medal.
Sue Clarke (Scienceinsport.com) won the Elite women's race, with Lee Craigie finishing second and taking the Scottish title. Lesley Ingram (Glentress Riders) took the silver medal and last year's sport series winner, Mona Petrie (HPR UK Ltd) in the bronze medal position.
Sue Clarke - the Elite women's winner
The Juvenile race was a close one with Stuart Wilcox (Inners MTB racing/i-cycles) beating local rider, Ben Miller by eight seconds, with Stuart's brother Ross a further minute down taking the bronze medal. The gold medal in the girls race went to series leader Lucy Grant (Glentress Riders) with Yuka Gallagher (777 MTB Club) taking the silver and Louise Borthwick (Edinburgh RC) the bronze. Grant Ferguson (Dooleys Cycles RT) continued his unbeaten run in the Youth race with Joe Home in second place. In third overall and taking the silver medal in the Scottish Championships was last year's Juvenile champion, Ryan Fenwick (Stewartry Wheelers/MPG cycles) with Lewis Kirkwood (Glentress Riders) finishing in the bronze medal position. Katy Winton won the Youth girl's championships and was lying in third place in the senior women's race at the end of her two laps!
The Junior race was a battle between local rider Jamie Maxwell (Nevis Cycles) and series leader, Ewan Clark (Drumlanrig/Rik's Bike Shed). The third lap saw Maxwell pull away to eventually win by just over a minute. Ian Lee (Derwentside CC) finished in third a further three minutes back.
Junior Scottish Champion Jamie Maxwell
The Veteran's race was a battle between series leader Gary McCrae (Team Leslie Bikeshop- Right Move Windows), last year's winner Kenny Kentley (Velo Ecosse) and former downhiller turned roadie, Paul French (I cycles). McCrae pulled away on the second lap and won by almost a minute with Kentley taking the silver and French the bronze. Anne Murray continued her dominance of the women's Veteran category, winning by seven minutes from last year's Masters series winner, Jo Cardwell, with Julie Nimmo (Walkers CC) finishing third. Gregor Grant took his fourth win in a row in the Grand Veteran category, with last year's champion Billy Matthews (Square Wheels) taking the silver medal and Aussie visitor Geoff Luder (Adelaide MTB Club) third. The Grand Veteran women's race was won by Lesley Yarrow, with Mary Wark in second place taking the Scottish title. Sandy Wallace (Sandy Wallace Cycles) won the Super Veteran championship for the third year in a row with his team mate Sandy Allan taking the silver medal.
In the women's Sport category, series leader Morven Brown (Rockhard Racing MTB) won from Charlotte Blau and Natalie Milne (Team Leslie Bikeshop - Right Move Windows) and then kept going for a fourth lap to finish fourth in the Scottish Championships. The Master's women's race was won by series leader Mari Todd (Sandy Wallace Cycles) from the first ever Scottish women's champion, Elaine Hopley (Stirling Bike Club) with Judi Oates (Square Wheels) in third place.
Iain Haworth (Stirling Bike Club) won the men's Sport race by almost 1 minute from Barry Wilson (Spokes RT) and David Arnott (Peebles RT) In the Masters championships, Paul Newnham (Edinburgh RC) made a successful comeback to take the gold medal from Paul McInally (Rock & Road Cycles) with Gordon Bathgate (Square Wheels) finishing in the bronze medal position).
The series takes a break for the summer, with the next round being held on the 2014 Commonwealth Games course at Cathkin Braes, Glasgow on the August 9.
