Calendar
EUCC Events
Reports:
2010
2008
2007
Here is the EUCC racing and social calendar, all the links take you to the forum discussion on the event. If there isn't a link and your interested then go to the forum and set one up.
January 2010
| 21st | - EUSU Sports Union Ball, Murrayfield |
| 24th | - Glentress Duathlon (Short) |
| - BUCS Cyclocross Championships, Wolverhampton |
| 30-31st | - Alpine Bikes Winter Series Rd1, Innerleithen |
February 2010
March 2010
| 6th | - Super Six RR, Gifford |
| 13-14th | - Alpine Bikes Winter Series Rd3, Innerleithen |
| 19th-21st | - BUCS Mountain Bike Championships, TBC |
| 21st | - SXC Rd1, TBC |
| 25th | - EUCC AGM, TBC |
April 2010
| 8th | - Ingliston Criterium Series Rd1 |
| 11th | - Duncan MacGregor Memorial Super Six RR, TBC |
| 15th | - Ingliston Criterium Series Rd2 |
| 17th | - BUCS 3 up Team Time Trial, Buckinghamshire |
| 17-18th | - SDA Rd1, TBC |
| 22nd | - Ingliston Criterium Series Rd3 |
| 24th | - BUCS 10 Mile Time Trial, Cambridge (TBC) |
| 25th | - SXC Rd2, Contin |
| 29th | - Ingliston Criterium Series Rd4 |
May 2010
| 1st | - BUCS 25 Mile Time Trial, Oxford |
| 8th | - Ingliston Criterium Series Rd5 |
| 15th | - Ten Under the Ben, Fort William |
| 15-16th | - SDA Rd2, TBC |
| 23rd | - SXC Rd3, Aberfoyle |
June 2010
| 12-13th | - SDA Rd3, TBC |
| 13th | - SXC Rd4 (Scottish Champs), TBC |
July 2010
| 10th | - Ten at Kirroughtree, Kirroughtree |
| 10-11th | - SDA (Scottish Champs), TBC |
| 24th | - Endurance Downhill, Fort William |
August 2010
| 1st | - Selkirk Merida |
| 8th | - SXC Rd5, TBC |
| 14-15th | - SDA Rd4, TBC |
| 21st | - Ten More in Moray, Moray |
| 29th | - SXC Rd6, TBC |
September 2010
October 2010
| 9-10th | - Relentless 24hr, Fort William |
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Events promoted by EUCC:
24/01/2010 BUCS Cyclocross Championships
A strong performance by some of Edinburgh University's cyclists saw them come away with two podium finishes at the recent BUCS Cyclocross Championships in Wolverhampton. Anne Ewing taking 3rd placed female with Charlie Billington, Peter Sammon and Owen Jeffries securing 3rd placed male team.
Cyclocross is the road and mountain bike rider?s winter activity, where we race around a short circuit littered with obstacles such as steep climbs, stairs and hurdles which require us to hop off our bikes and shoulder them before running through the section. Thanks to the weather the courses tend to be muddy, icy or snow covered presenting many different challenges. Races last about one hour for senior men making them in cycling terms short and very intense.
This is the first time EUCC have entered a team to the BUCS Cyclocross Championships after a good season in the Scottish Cyclocross Series for Owen, Peter and Charlie. Unlike the Scottish courses the Wolverhampton course was flatter and less technical, meaning strength and fitness where going to be important factors. The course featured a succession of twisty singletrack sections, followed by some short steep decents and climbs. A long grassy slog brought you to challenging carry up a steep bank, before you hurtled back down and through the muddy field and back to the singletrack.
To help split the field the start was a sprint across the soft playing fields before the singletrack. As the BUCS Championship was combined with another senior race, the start was viscous as everyone jostled for position. Owen and Peter managed to start strongly, holding positions near the front with Charlie and Allan Love caught up behind. The field quickly spread out over the next few laps with Allan and Charlie taking back positions. Peter and Owen started to pay for there excursion off the start, with Charlie moving ahead of them to take 11th palce. It finished, Charlie 11th, Peter 12th, Owen 16th and Allan 25th. Enough to secure 3rd placed team. Anne started strongly and held onto 3rd place throughout her race to get on the women?s podium, a terrific result considering this was only here second cyclocross race.
An excellent result for the team. The next big event is the BUCS Mountain Bike Championships at Ae Forest in March where EUCC hope to secure more podium finishes.
Allan Love
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12/10/2008 Relentless 24
21/09/2008 SXC Rd7, Glentress
14/09/2008 SDA Rd6, Innerleithen
07/09/2008 Endurance Downhill, Fort William
31/08/2008 SXC Rd6, Drumlandrig
03/08/2008 Selkirk Merida
28/06/2008 The Dawn Raid, Golspie
22/06/2008 SXC Rd4, Glennifer ft. Scottish Champs
15/06/2008 SDA Rd 3, Aberfeldy
31/05/2008 10 Under the Ben
26/05/2008 SXC Rd3, Fyrish and SDA Rd2, Fort William
18/05/2008 Wild Boar 24
10/05/2008 NPS XC and Marathon Rd2, Drumlandrig
04/05/2008 SXC Rd2, Dalbeattie
26/04/2008 BUSA 10 Mile Time Trial
13/04/2008 NPS XC and Marathon Rd1 and SDA Rd1
06/04/2008 SXC Rd1, Laggan
23/03/2008 Alpine Bikes Winter Series Rd 3 and Irelands K-Capital Cup Rd 2
09/03/2008 BUSA Mountain Bike Championships
25/02/2008 Alpine Bikes Winter Series Rd 2
21/02/2008 EUCC's New Race Kit
16/02/2008 EUCC Lakes Trip
10/02/2008 EUCC presents Pentlands Trailquest
Once again EUCC travelled to the Nevis Range just north of Fort William for the annual Relentless 24; a 24 hour mountain bike cross country race where teams of four, three, two or one race in relay format to see who can cover the most laps of a 7.5km course in the 24 hours. The EUCC team brought together Allan Love, Mathew Howard, Stuart Gilfillan and Michael Boyd to take on the challenge and the other teams. All four of these riders featured in the EUCC teams which performed well at the Wild Boar 24 in May at Grizedale Forest and went into this event better prepared than precious 24s.
Mike took the first lap and put in a stunning show to come home in 4th place just 30 seconds down on the leader. Stu then went out and secured EUCC second place behind the Glencroft Rabble (featuring EUCC alumni Gavin Shirley and Geoff Martin). Strong efforts by all the EUCC riders throughout the Saturday saw us just hold onto the Rabble, albeit it arms length, and keep a gap on the Nevis Cycles/Off Beat Bikes four, featuring fresher Jamie Maxwell, who were trying hard to catch us.
24s are won or lost during the night, were fatigue starts to set in and riders take a crash or bikes and lights fail. EUCC got it right with this event and only suffer two minor crashes throughout the night. But as dawn started to close in and the efforts of Saturday started to have their effect, the Rabble came round to lap us, quickly followed by a rider from Nevis Cycles who had closed the gap and moved his team through into second.
Day break and we were happy with our position, 3rd overall and 2nd Male Quad, with an almost insurmountable lead over the 4th placed team. However, we battle on with Mat, Stu ad Mike putting in some strong laps which allowed us to catch Nevis Cycles again. Unfortunately we had no answer for the speed and stamina of Bossard and co and they took 2nd place back from us in next to no time. It finished Glencroft Rabble with 36 laps, Nevis Cycles Mixed Quad 34 and EUCC 34 laps just 15 minutes behind (over 250 miles in 24 hours). EUCC took 2nd Male Quad by 2 laps a terrific result.
EUCC would like to thank all the other riders and support who made it such a great event, the weather and No Fuss for finishing off the year with another terrific event.
Finally, we were granted some glorious sunshine for a race this summer. The final round of the Scottish Cross Country Series was held at the hub of the UK's mountain biking, Glentress Forest. EUCC Alumnus Andy Wardman had once again created a fine course, which featured the ridiculously muddy Ho Chi Ming trail, followed by a fantastic freshly cut descent, plus the usual challenging mix of steep and switchback climbs. The Tweed Valley is the closest thing we have to a home race and EUCC were out with some force: nine of our current members were competing throughout the day.
In addition, the fact this round was a UCI Class 2 meant there were a number of large teams who travelled from down south and overall the turnout was far greater than previous rounds. In the Elite/Expert race Jack was forced to pull out due to illness whereas Dougal's goal was only to finish which he managed comfortably (Alumnus James Fraser Moodie put in a fantastic ride to take 3rd amongst top competition). Lettie Chambers, Expert Women, was slightly disappointed to be moved to the 2 o'clock start with everyone else but she thoroughly enjoyed the race, in awe of her new RS Sids, and finished 6th.
The sport race was once a again a fiercely competitive affair - featuring university riders form St Andrews, Newcastle, Leeds, Dundee, ERC and a couple of past EUCC members riding for the Glencroft Rabble. The usual intense start saw everyone fade towards the spooky wood switchback climb but it was close racing with 6-11th finishing within 2 minutes of each other at the end. Gavin Shirley, formerly of EUCC, took 3rd place, just ahead of ERC(/part time EUCC) member Oli Young. The usual EUCC SXC riders of Michael Boyd, Allan Love and Stuart Gilfillan finished 8th, 10th and 13th respectively. Tom Fenton, Guy Sloan and fresher Richard Teague came home in 16th, 24th and 25th respectively. Fresher Jamie Maxwell also rode an impressive race, fuelled by fresher's week excesses, to take 2nd place in the Junior Category, ahead of Olympic Development rider Ewan Clark.
A terrific race to round of another well organised season of SXCs. There lots of talk of training and EUCC domination before next season so count on us coming back stronger than ever. Once again thanks to the SXC Committee and the other racers for the challenging and enjoyable events.
Photo by Allan Boyd
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We can't expect anything but rain for races recently and that's exactly what Drumlandrig served up much to our enjoyment actually. Wet, muddy and slimy Drumlandrig roots are fantastic fun in the wet and this years course had plenty of them - great fun.
There were only a few EUCC riders here for this round, Allan, Stu, TomF and Jack. The sport race was well attended with a few riders from down south making the trip up north. A vicious pace was set off the start which was difficult to match but it soon slowed down as we hit the treacherous singletrack. First lap and Allan managed to recover form a bad start to cruise passed stragglers on the roots to reach 4th with Stu and Tom fighting it out closely behind. But a 21st party the night before meant Allan faded as attacks started coming towards the end. Fatigue got to Tom and the mud, which caused problems for everyone's bikes, resulted in Stu's back brake locking up on the final lap.
Final results
Sport
Allan 6th
Stuart 8th
Expert
Jack 5th
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Torrential rain pelted the car as we left Edinburgh with only a faint sighting of blue sky in the general direction of Selkirk for comfort. Regardless we were still excited about the prospect of over 5 hours on the bikes across the UK toughest Merida course.
For a change the start was reversed, thanks to Dougal and Hamish Crebor for pointing this out allowing us to start from the front despite turning up later than everyone else. As soon as the van moved over to let up race up the first climb Dougal was gone, Iain managed to hold Allan's wheel for the first few km but soon fell behind as Allan tried to keep up with Chris Bell ad Terry Davidson.
Thankfully the weather held up for the first 5 hours and the fact that we were all amongst the first through meant the trails were not as bad as we thought - thanks to everyone who told us to beast the start. Iain ran into problems after the first 45km or so, falling victim to horrendous crap which saw him embarrass himself on more than one occasion with spectacular falls off the bike. Lettie eventually passed him after Innerliethen and he didn't look like he was having fun, but still foolishly completed the 100km distance. Allan managed a respectable time of 5hrs 11 mins and Dougal came 9th in 4hrs 35mins. The winner completed it in just under 4 hrs - absolute machine!
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With no Sutherland Raid this year for us to defend out Second place, the great man made trails of Golspie played host to an original endurance event from 8pm to 8am across the shortest night - The Dawn Raid. Stuart Gilfillan and Mathew Howard obviously enjoyed it and had this to say on their return:
Stu - "Well that can only be described as EPIC! We managed second male pair behind St. Andrews pair of Luke and Chris, about 15 mins down after 12 hours and 24 laps (though they just sneaked in a 25th) of an amazing course. Crushed everyone else (we were at least 2 laps up or third place folk and third overall I think - Fryish had a rapid team of 4) Ewan took the solo win, about 2 laps down on us I think.
"As traditional now for any raid event the start was at Dunrobin castle complete with shot gun start courtesy of the Duke! Did a fun wee part of singletrack round the castle and along the forest by the sea front followed by the black climb and descent. Subsequent laps were most of the red climb and some fireroad and the awesome red descent.
"Miraculously we had no major issues (well apart from Mat and Luke being sent mistakenly up some of the black on the second lap!). Mat had a slight issue with lights that cost us 5 mins or so, other than that they were just that wee bit quicker than us - Though I did manage to just beat Chris on the first lap! Hope they organize it next year though I'm knackered and need to recover before committing to anything else silly for a while..."
Pairs
1. St. Andrews Uni 25laps
2. EUCC 24 laps
Photo by Niel Hodgins
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What can you say about Glennifer Braes which hasn't been said already? For the Scottish Champs it is in no ones opinion a fair representation of what Scotland has to offer - we are the IMBA Mountain Bike Capital of the world. In my opion the course was an improvement on last year but can only be described as technical by those wanting to justify riding round a muddy field - different yes, but so is a cross race.
For the big boys races in the afternoon, the rain stopped and it got quite humid, which was first welcomed as you fought to keep the bike upright in a straight line. After a quick start (or so I'm told) I ended up slidding out a couple of times trying to make up every place I could - succeeding only in allowing Stu to open up a gap which I never closed. Early casualties were Mike and Richard MacDonald who were having tyre difficulties (even though we ride in mud all semester very few of us have every bothered to purchse mud tyres). The mud only became worse as it started to dry out and many were praying for rain towards the end, as 27 speed bikes became single speeds.
Off the front Dave Hendersonw as the only one who could open up a gap, coming home 1st sport and 6th in the championship. 3 minutes seperated third to seventh, with two EUCC riders; Stuart Gilfillan and myself in 5th and 7th respectively. Mike ended up a further 3 mins down in 8th. Myself and Stu were surprisingly not lapped by Gareth Montgomerie and so would have qualified for the Champs race had we wanted to subject ourselves to another lap of sticky mud.
To be honest it was a fun race, on an easy course, with much banter which was undoubtably helped by the close racing.
Sport Men
1. Dave Henderson, Pedal Power RT
5. Stuart Gilfillan, EUCC
7. Allan Love, EUCC
8. Michael Boyd, EUCC
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SXC Rd3
The third round of the Scottish Cross Country series was held for the first time in Fyrish, with the course designed by EUCC legend Ewan Thorburn. A round so far north at a time of petrol strikes was never going to produce the biggest turnout but EUCC was represented by Stu Gilfillan in the sport category. He had this to say:
"Rocked up to Fryish start on Sunday morning and went for a quick spin round. Long fireroad to start didin't bode well, followed by an aptly named steep 'killer climb', met Andy B towards the top and he reassured me the downhill was worth the effort. He was right, the first bit of singletrack called 'old skool' was simply made by taking a strimmer through the forest so it was pretty natural to say the least! This was followed by a further climb, fast fireroad downhill then another hard climb and a cracking descent - 'oil drum run' which basically followed a deer track and was superbly rooty and techy. Then another stupidly fast sketchy gravelly fireroad downhill into more natural singletrack complete with a couple of steep chutes, several low branches and a tree trunk hop at the end... Was long (9km) but the best course so far I reckon.
"Onto the racing... No gridding this time for some reason so cheekily moved onto the right side of the front line. Managed to follow Ewan Thorburn and Dave Henderson for the first 500m up to the feed zone and then started going backwards as we hit the flatter fireroad and I dropped back to 11th/12th behind Luke Bradley below the killer climb. It was obvious the pace was too fast so I was happy to bide my time. Out sprinted Luke at the top and got into the singletrack first, though he caught me again on the next climb. Next bit of singletrack was brilliant, there were bodies everywhere as any mistake in line choice was punished by a trip over the bars. I managed to stay on and passed Luke and a few others and narrowly avoided a tree on the last bit of singletrack. Then proceeded to real folk in over the next couple of laps. Passed Terry Davidson halfway round the second lap, as he was suffering due to a lack of a granny ring, then caught and passed David Wilby only for him to catch me on the killer climb on the 3rd lap. Raced him for the rest of the lap and went into the final lap on his wheel but couldn't keep his pace on the steep climbs. Caught sight of Chris Bell on a couple of the climbs as he slowed towards the end but wasn't able to make up enough on the descents to catch either in the end, so ended up 6th, 16 secs behind Dave and 30 secs behind Chris Bell. Ex EUCC and course designer Ewan took the win, 4 and half minutes ahead of Dave Henderson, with Kyle Gordon in third.
Jack Richards came in 8th in the elite/expert race with Ross Creber showing everyone how its done by taking the win by over 7 minutes and managing a sub 26 minute lap! Thanks to Julz for doing bottles and keeping me amused on the drive up and down."
Sport Men
1. Ewan Thorburn
6. Stuart Gilfillan
Expert/Elite Men
1. Ross Creber
8. Jack Richards
SDA Rd2
On only the second weekend that the Nevis Range course has been open the second round of the Scottish Downhill Series was held on a very dry and not quite bedded in course. Chris Hutchens, riding for Mojo Orange managed a 4th place in Elite and Ed Bolam took a respectable 28th in Senior.
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End of exams and birthday celebrations found some of EUCC down in the Lake District near Grizedale Forest for the inaugural Wild Boar 24. The course, a 10 mile slog, came under critiscism over the weekend as it simply had too much fireroad. However, two classic lakes descents kept us vaguely interested and the dry fireroad was pretty sketchy with much drifting to be had. But when you find yourself talking about the exciting bits of fireroad on the course the next day, you know the course wasn't worthy of a mountain bike race. Anyway onto the racing which was exciting regardless.
The first lap featured a 1 mile run up a steep rocky Lakes bridle way to the start. It was up to myself, Tom and Stu to reluctantly get our teams underway. Tom dropped us off the line eager to get the physclogical advantage over the other soloists, I snuck in behind Stu until the climb flattened out and sprinted past in order to get to the transition first. We all were in the leading group and after I got my shoes changed I moved in behind Stu on the bike as we started and watched Tom disappear up the climb. I broke away from Stu on the second siginificant climb and as he tryed to pull me back, his head down, he cycled past the track we were ment to take and got lost. With that first lap Tom was directly racing one of the other soloists and I transferred to Mike did what he does best and pulled EUCC HH into second overall. Iain suffered a puncture which further disadvantage EUCC WH but they were to come back.
As night fell everyone was going well and EUCC were taking up more than our fair share of positions on the fastest lap sheet. Tom had smashed past the other soloists and was setting a blistering pace which most quads couldn't match and the other soloists were, jokingly or not, asking for him to slow down. With EUCC HH still challenging for top 3 overall, Mike's pedal decided to unscrew and Jamie's hub lock up which cost us over an hour and the lead over EUCC WH. Consistant laps by EUCC WH saw them come into contention for top 3 in Sport men and people were starting to appreciate the banter we were bringing, with lots of cheery chat out on course.
After much protest, broken sleep and some fantastic cake/chilli from Ruth we all found ourselves heading out on our day break laps. Thankfully the bike riding made it better, but I lost count of the times I said I would never do another 24 again. Meanwhile, Tom "even more extreme" Owen was comfortably holding onto, a 30 minute lead over Iron Horse Extreme's soloist. EUCC WH could now sniff a podium finish and formulated a plan to get them there, while EUCC HH fought back into the top 10 overall but couldn't really find the motivation to stage a comeback.
The finish saw Tom take the solo win comfortably after 24 hours and 221 country miles with much admiration from everyone and EUCC WH steal 3rd in Sport Men with EUCC HH down in 5th. The reputation EUCC had around the campsite for speed was very flattering too. That night we all enjoyed a well earned dose while watching the Seasons Premier in Ambleside, and if it hadn't been for the complaints in our legs we would have built an awesome freeride course in Tim's woods.
Despite the course the event organisation was top notch, so thank you Wild Boar Team. Big thanks also to Tom's Dad, Lettie, Ruth and Anna-Marie for support and food. Also Tim and family, who's hospitality was once again second to none. If the course is improved I imagine we will be back next year with bigger ambitions, but there is plenty more racing to be done before that.
| Overall | Team | Category | Laps | Time | Cat Pos. |
| 6th | EUCC Wild Hoars | Sport Men | 24 | 24:39:43 | 3rd |
| 8th | EUCC Hoar Hunters | Sport Men | 23 | 24:10:29 | 5th |
| 15th | Tom Owen | Solo Men | 22 | 23:53:18 | 1st |
Allan Love
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XC
The course was amazing, with loads of rooty stuff and some fun little drops and climbs, knackering though! The start was ridiculously fast and I got dropped well down the field before we hit the singletrack, where I started to claw back places. Some well timed fire road sprinting and a bit of aggressive climbing got me to 17th (out of 29), and could have easily been higher if there was another lap. Lettie came in 4th (out of 9 I think) and was quite amazed as she'd been suffering with the heat and had a couple of mechanicals. Richard also suffered but survived the 5 laps to come 19th (out of 31). Jack dropped out on 4th lap I think due to feeling crap, was running in top 10 though.
Sport Men
1 Dave Henderson 01:15:10
7 Stuart Gilfillan 01:25:43
Expert Women
1 Abi Greenaway 01:28:27
4 Lettie Chambers 01:41:29
Marathon
The course was an extended 12.5km lap with more (rocky) fireroad and easier, more flowing singletrack (including some of the new stuff built this winter which was nice...) I was doing fine for 3 laps despite sweating most of my body weight, 4th lap I bonked majorly and dropped about 10-15 mins on the previous laps. Stopped for food and felt a bit better, so headed off again but only got half way round due to onset of heat stroke I think. Had to sit in the hedge for 15mins to stop the world spinning, then took a short cut back. Only 9 folk managed the whole 100km and Nick Craig took 5hrs 15mins to win it (an hour an half longer than Thetford's wining time to give you some idea of how hard it was...) Doug managed 16th in the 50km just behind Rik Allsop (course designer) though also had issues on the last lap due to cramp...
All in all an awesome weekend, think I underestimated how much hard work a lapped enduro is tho! Next up is the Wild Boar 24.
100 Km
1 Nick Craig 05:13:42
28 Stuart Gilfillan 03:21:07
50 Km
1 Peter Buggle 02:37:21
15 Douglas Shearer 03:16:44
Words by Stuart Gilfillan
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A few quick and reasonably dry practice laps on the Saturday evening got us all excited. The course featured steep techniquely climbs and descents spaced by short sections of fire road, but the rain that was to follow that night resulted in the climbs becoming a muddy rooty mess which were faster off your bike and the descents just flung alot of people of their bikes. This course is why we love SXC.
Lettie was first up to brave the downhill fireroad start into singletrack, but all the women were quite polite about it. She came through to take 4th in Expert Women, ahead of all the sport girls.
The afternoon brought more rain and the mens races. EUCC had a good start into the singletrack with Stu, Allan and Mike sitting 4-6th. Mike then dropped the hammer on the climb moving up behind the leaders before the first descent. Things all got a bit bunched up in the following singletrack sections, bodies littering the floor of the descent, with Stu and Myself making up lots of places by cleaning the steep grassy (now muddy) climb first time round. Thats why EUCC like to climb the steepest gradients in the Pentlands. The race saw many people drop out with injuries and mechanicals but we all managed to finish in respectable positions. Mike just off the podium in 4th.
We're glad to see the SXC are back to superbly organised events with courses which are challenging and awesome fun. The next course is being designed by the Fyrish so we know it will be awesome.
E/E Women
1 Ruth Fraser Moodie Pedal Power RT
4 Lettie Chambers EUCC
Sport Men
1 Dave Henderson Pedal Power RT
4 Michael Boyd EUCC
8 Stuart Gilfillan EUCC
10 Allan Love EUCC
Allan Love, photo by Colin Robinson
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EUCC's two finest time trialists made the trip down to Cambridge for the 2008 BUSA 10 mile TT. Awesome results by both deomonstrated how strong EUCC's road cyclists are, taking it to the might of Oxford and Leeds.
Results
1 Ashey Brown 21.05
12 Silas Goldsworthy 21.55
35 Tom Dyson 23.44
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NPS XC and Marathon Rd 1
The first round of the NAtional Points Cross Country Series was held on a fabulous weekend down in Thetford Forest. The course is reknowned for flat and fast singletrack which this year even featured a root (Tom - "this was quickly taped off by the marshals!").
XC Results
Expert Men
1 ANDREW BARLOW 01:58:50
7 JACK RICHARDS 02:03:37
35 TOM OWEN 02:15:53
Junior Men
1 BEN ROACH 01:35:32
8 OLIVER YOUNG 01:43:44
MARATHON
100km
1 DUNCAN JAMIESON 03:43:33
12 OLIVER YOUNG 04:14:30
22 TOM OWEN 04:26:48
50km
1 ROSS CREBER 01:47:43
9 JACK RICHARDS 01:57:43
SDA Rd 1
The weekend also saw the first round of the Socttish Downhill Association Series at the mighty Dunkeld. Dunkeld is famous for rocks, rocks and a couple of particulary large rocks as well as literally being bloody hard to ride. However, the SDA moved to keep things fresh ad threw a curve ball at all the EUCC riders who had been practicing the course for weeks before. The altered Dunkeld course was even more dangerous, technical and scary than previous incarnations. So much so that everyone has said they have never seen so many crashes over a race weekend before.
A few new steep sections and root sections which made riding over a pit of venomous cobras look easy saw many riders go down with injuries. Notably Dan Stanbridge (BUSA Champ here last year) went down hard after colliding with Weeman's rock but came back in the second run to take the elite win. Chris Hutchens put in two clean runs to take the third step on the Elite poium. EUCC rider Iain Wallace was taken out with a knee injury in Saturday practice, but Ed Bolam recovered from a few crashes to take a very respect 34th and Pete gave it death to take 67th.
Elite Men
3rd Chris Hutchens 02:20.672
Senior Men
34 Ed Bolam 03:02.309
67 Peter Scullion 03:56.442
Iain Wallace Injured
Allan Love -Photo by Joolze
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EUCC showed up in force for the first round of the Scottish Cross Country Series at Laggan Wolftrax. The traditional course, consisting of most of the Red route, was used and snow the day before blanketed the forest. Never the less some of us manage to get a few practice laps in on the Saturday during the odd blizzard before heading to the bunkhouse for a good nights sleep.
The next morning was horrendously cold but thankfully the snow had stopped and the course was running with melt water, much to the relief of some of the junior men. Lettie was first off in the morning, riding her first race in expert after comfortably winning every round in sport last year. She put together a good 5 laps to take 5th at the back of the field but still comfortably ahead of all the sport girls. Oliver Young was also riding in Juniors in the morning, a dissappointing result for him as he could only managed 3rd.
The majority of us were riding in the afternoon, alongside the always large Masters field for the first time. First off the line were the Elite/Expert riders, with Andy Barlow and Hamish Crebor powering into an early lead. EUCC memebers Jack, Dougal and Tom continued with little problems, with Tom only just getting lapped by Barlow. The Sport race then chased the Masters up the fireroad climb before hitting the bottle neck that was the single track descent. All the EUCC riders stuck close together over the first lap before Micheal dropped the hammer on the climb for lap 2. He came home in 7th place, followed by all the other EUCC riders who battled it out amongst each other over the four laps. Predictibly EUCC alumnus Ewan Thorburn comfortably came first.
Dispite the element of disorganisation brought about by a new timing system, the first SXC race of the year was fantastic fun. Dalbeattie next month should be awesome and provide us with an excuse not to revise for a day (probably two, once we recover).
Results
Elite/Expert Men
1. Andy Barlow 2:08:07
9. Jack Richards 2:18:41
12. Douglas Shearer 2:23:57
17. Tom Owen 2:09:57 (-1 lap)
Sport Men
1. Ewan Thorburn Fat Tread Bikes 1:14:59
7. Micheal Boyd EUCC 1:24:28
14. Stuart Gilfillan EUCC 1:27:56
16. Mathew Howard EUCC 1:28:50
17. Thomas Fenton EUCC 1:29:22
19. Allan Love EUCC 1:32:09
Elite/Expert Women
1. Lee Craigie 1:53:23
5.Lettie Chambers 2:06:44
Allan Love -Photo by Allan Boyd
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Stevo takes the series
The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of March saw the final race of the Alpine Bikes Winter Series and even though it was the latest round, it saw the weather being the most wintery. Practice on the Saturday went unimpeded by the snow, but a sprinkling of snow that night saw the medics and the uplift vehicles unable to reach the top of the hill. This meant that the course had to be run from the top fire road cutting out the steepest part of the track.
The final round of the series saw many of the best British riders braving the snow for what was for many their first race of the 2008 season.
With the first round being cancelled and Steven Larking winning the second round by a mighty 1 minute and 44 seconds, a decent result would see Steve-O walking away with the overall and more Alpine Bikes vouchers. Steve-O got down the hill in a time of 3 minutes 35 seconds putting him in 3rd and giving him his second podium of two races and the overall series title in the hardtail category. Podiums saw Steve-O braving the freezing temperatures and donning the mystical beater for the prize giving.
In the senior category the rivalry between Pete Scullion and Andrew Hope brought an exciting result with Andrew taking the smugness prize by beating Pete into 33rd of 51 by 0.52 seconds. With the removal of the steeper, more technical top section the playing field was levelled allowing Hope a chance to pedal his one pack to victory; this time.
Attentions now turn to the coming of the SDA races, with the first round at the infamous Dunkeld on the 12th/13th of April.
Pete Scullion
Double win in Ireland
Meanwhile Douglas Shearer and Jack Richards were in Ireland to ride the second round of the K-Capital Cup Series. Dougal, missing an Expert License, destroyed the sport field dropping everyone into the first section of singletrack and coming in 11 minutes ahead of second place after three laps in a little over an hour. Jack put in 5 strong laps to take the top step of the podium in expert, an immense ride. Bring on SXC round 1 and the trails at Laggan.
Allan Love
TOP
Edinburgh University Cycling Club's mountain bikers made the epic trip down to Cwmcarn in South Wales for the 2008 BUSA Mountain Bike Championships on the 7th - 9th of March. The event included both the Cross Country and Downhill Championships with over 600 competitors taking part, making it the largest BUSA cycling championships to date. EUCC had 25 riders competing across the 3 events, making us one of the largest teams there, with high hopes of surpassing last years medal haul.
Downhill Championship
As expected Mynydd Mojo was somewhat different to the tight, technical trails of Innerliethen, EUCC's home tracks, and some would say tame in comparison. The first section of the track was an open, flat out pedal through the trees before some flowing corners lead you into some tricky switchbacks. There was not much in the way of roots or rocks to bother any of the EUCC riders. From here the track dropped down through the first tunnel and into the tight woods section which offered some different line choices. On the exit it was back on the pedals, over some rock steps and round more flowing corners before coming to the second fire road and the sleeper drop into the final bottom section. This was all big lines and bigger jumps, which had unfortunately been taped off due to the wind. An off camber slope lead to a drift around a left hand corner, jump the step up and straight into the right hand berm before descending down into the infamous 12ft high left hand berm. Back on the pedals and you pumped over the remaining jumps before dropping off the bridge into a fierce side wind, then it was flat out over the final big double to the finish. It was not exactly challenging but awesome fun none the less.
Only one shower of rain in the morning and some sun in the afternoon meant that Friday practice was fast and enjoyable for all. The course managed to hold up well to the passing of over 1000 bicycles in a few hours. However, Saturday brought nothing but rain and stronger winds. After the first practice runs in the morning, a number of corners had been washed out by the rain and the track was quickly turning into a river. But this did not discourage the EUCC riders; in fact Chris Hutchens was relishing the challenge after being unable to ride Friday practice (he was away in sunny Italy on a training/testing week with Team Mojo).
The first race runs saw most of our riders take a tumble off their bikes and Pete Scullion was livid after getting held up in the woods by a slower rider but despite this all EUCC riders managed decent positions. Euan Findlay was sitting in 30th place with a little lie down mid run and Ed Bolam not far behind despite loosing his saddle in a crash. Chris Hutchens lived up to the hype and managed to steal 2nd place, in what was his 4th practice run of the weekend.
Even though the track was quickly degrading and EUCC's tents were blowing away in the campsite, most of our riders managed to improve on disappointing first runs. Helen Dixon put together a slightly quicker run to move up to 7th place in the women's category. Ed put in a steady run to take 32nd place, Steven Larking came through on his hardtail (no rear suspension) to take an impressive 68th and Pete was again held up and only managed 78th. Euan Findlay gave it death and ended up getting to the bottom with the aid of the medics after failing to slow down before launching himself over a berm instead of going round it, he stayed 30th. The final 5 runs of the day saw the podium positions constantly changing, but Chris came over the line with a crucial 2 second lead. A class act, especially after such little practice.
After the organisers got their maths right Chris, Euan and Ed also picked up the 3rd place Downhill Team medal. A terrific effort by all involved. Many thanks go to all the EUCC riders who acted as marshals and for providing their own special brand of 'encouragement' throughout the two days.
1st Swansea 10:33.319 (Will Soffe, Alex Roberts, Jack Malone)
2nd Liverpool J M 10:36.979 (Ralph Jones, James Green, Stephen Gormley)
3rd Edinburgh 10:39.640 (Chris Hutchens, Euan Findley, Edward Bolam)
1 Chris Hutchens Edinburgh 1
30 Euan Findley Edinburgh 32
32 Edward Bolam Edinburgh 34
52 Andrew Hope Edinburgh 54
68 Steven Larking Edinburgh 72
78 Peter Scullion Edinburgh 82
156 Allan Love Edinburgh 164
171 Iain Cramston Edinburgh 179
183 Angus Browne Edinburgh 191
228 Jamie Sparkes Edinburgh 238
7 Helen Dixon Edinburgh 00:05:30:310 263
XC Championship
The cross country championships always feature two races; the sport and the championship. The top four riders from each university contest the championship and the rest fight it out in the much less serious sport race. The course was a massive 9 mile loop which took in the majority of the Cwmcarn XC trail, not ideal for a cross country race. The start was a long slog up the road (replaced by the initial technical climb for subsequent laps) before entering the first bit of single track, which lead to a lot more lovely fast flowing singletrack and then the rollercoaster that was the final descent, which was even faster and loved by all the competitors. The Champs race was three laps for the men, two for the women and the sport race only one (Boo!).
Due to my blind faith in my itinerary we failed to notice a timetable change and so the start of the sport race didn't quiet go to plan with most of our riders starting towards the back of a 140 rider field. No matter, as EUCC's top riders enjoyed beasting it past scores of other riders up the first road climb, aided by a healthy rage in order to get into favourable positions before the first singletrack climb. Joe Reed managed to make the front of the grid at the start and made it count staying in 3rd position for the length of the race. Guy Sloan put in a massive effort to take 11th place and Tom Fenton also did well to take 23rd (just over 1 minute behind Guy), both starting near the back of the field. Together these three riders probably made up the second placed Sport team behind Bath.
Pete Scullion once again raised the level of banter coming from the EUCC camp by racing the entire 9 miles of the sport race on a 14" wheeled kids bike. Much to the amusement of everyone he managed to finish comfortably within 2 hours (the timing system had been turned off) and was given an honorary podium for his efforts.
Sport Results
1 Bath
2 Edinburgh (Joe, Guy and Tom)
1 Chris Baddick Bath 1 00:42:39.961
2 James Irvine Bath 1 00:44:12.437
3 Joseph Reed Edinburgh 1 00:45:03.689
11 Guy Sloan Edinburgh 1 00:49:03.573
23 Tom Fenton Edinburgh 1 00:50:22.857
26 Allan Love Edinburgh 1 00:50:27.434
28 Steven Larking Edinburgh 1 00:51:50.389
47 Romesh Palamakumbura Edinburgh 1 00:55:02.625
70 Tim Scott Edinburgh 1 00:58:16.501
82 Iain Wallace Edinburgh 1 00:58:52.697
118 Jamie Sparkes Edinburgh 1 01:05:12.367
? Andrew Hope Edinburgh 1 ?
? Pete Scullion Edinburgh 1 "Comfortably within 2 hours"
Anna Flemming Edinburgh
The afternoon brought the champs race and the EUCC team was 'psyched' (Tom Owen). The range of talent in the EUCC ranks this year is impressive and the team selection resulted in Michael Boyd and Owen Jeffries (last year's team silver medallist) missing out on places. Geoff Martin was the only returning member of last year's team and was joined by some top Scottish XC talent in Jack Richards, Tom Owen and Connor Irving. The team got away well with all the riders managing to work there way into favourable positions after the first road climb. Tom took a nasty tumble on the entrance to the first bit of singletrack, taking out a Leeds rider in the process, which shook him up and damaged his bike.
First through for Edinburgh was Jack who was running solely on his winter base training and maintained a steady pace throughout to take 5th place comfortably. He doesn't yet have the speed to keep up with the fastest riders but this strong result bodes well for his 2008 season. Geoff rode like a machine to come through in an impressive 14th place and Tom harnessed his rage in the final lap to claw back to 21st place. Unfortunately after a really strong start, Connor suffered a broken spoke followed by a bent front derailleur which resulted in him having to withdraw from the race. Top performances by EUCC meant they just missed out on a podium position but it is a young team with a few other riders waiting in the wings so watch out next year.
The girls did us proud as well. Lettie managed to put in one of here usual strong performances to take 6th and Helen managed to sort her broken bike out in time to ride to 15th place. Both girls taking the 5th placed team position.
1st Swansea 6:44.09(Oli Holmes, Euan Adams, Sion O'boyle)
2nd Bath 7:15.13 (John Whittington , Rudy Megevand, Trevor Allen)
3rd Leeds 7:17.53 (Mike Jones, John Richardson, Stephen Adshead)
4th Edinburgh 7:20.50 (Jack Richards, Geoff Martin, Tom Owen)
(over 1 hour ahead of every other team so it was a 4 horse race)
1 Oli Holmes Swansea 3 02:09:15.860
2 John Whittington Bath 3 02:11:26.669
3 Euan Adams Swansea 3 02:14:44.141
5 Jack Richards Edinburgh 3 02:17:56.790
14 Geoff Martin Edinburgh 3 02:27:54.053
21 Tom Owen Edinburgh 3 02:35:00.14
71 Connor Irving Edinburgh 2 02:04:32.279 (Mechanical after lap 1)
6 Lettie Chambers Edinburgh 2 01:58:32.892
15 Helen Dixon Edinburgh 2 02:21:32.992
EUCC would like to thank the van and minibus drivers, all the marshals, the tent providers, anyone who helped out over the weekend when it all went wrong for us, the riders for the banter and 'encouragement' and Extreme Know How and Paddy Hill for putting on a top class event. Bring on BUSA MTB 2009!
Allan Love
TOP
The weekend of the 23rd/24th of March saw the second round of the Alpine Bikes Winter Series take place at Innerleithen, about an hour south of Edinburgh.
Track conditions were wet and muddy, but the EUCC lot (Euan Findlay, Ed Bolam, Steven Larking and Pete Scullion) were confident after having some sneaky practice on their local track in a few inches of snow 3 weeks previously. The course was the same as that proposed for round 1 of the series, that was called off due to unforeseen circumstances. The same course was used for round 2 and it was taken full advantage of.
Some parts of the track were familiar, but some new sections had been cut in for the race which caught people out and were constantly changing throughout the weekend. Most people opted for the wet weather tyres to grip in the muddy conditions, although the course was drying out over the course of the weekend.
With racing underway at 1pm on the Sunday afternoon, Steve-O was the second man down the hill competing in the hardtail category. With only 4 riders in his category a clean run would have guaranteed a podium, however, Steve-O managed to stay on his bike (for once) and took the top step (and 50 pounds courtesy of Alpine bikes) of the podium by a mighty 1 minute and 44 seconds, setting a time of 4:11, and an overall position of 114th out of 185.
Next up was Ed, who managed an impressive 12th place with a crash, setting a time of 3:45 and an overall position of 55th/185. Like Steve-O, Fry has a knack for going very fast and then hitting solid objects like trees. Fry's race run saw another one of his characteristic 'lie downs', losing his bike after sliding down the hill, but still managed 23rd position posting a time of 3:58, and 88th overall. With the riders setting off alphabetically, Pete Scullion was one of the last senior riders to set off, setting a time of 4:06, slotting into 26th place and 104th overall.
Attentions now turn to the BUSA Cycling Championships at Mynudd Mojo in Cwmcarn, south Wales on the 7-9th of March where the EUCC will be chasing the coveted team gold in both cross country and downhill champs. After that is the third and final round of the Alpine Bikes Winter series on the weekend of 22nd/23rd of March.
Pete Scullion
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The new EUCC club kit arrived with time to spare for BUSA 2008. The new design, which will hopefully be with the club for a few years, sees the tops revert back to the original 'feeny green' a decision guaranteed to please the old guard and Alumni. We like the high quality, cheap price and absolutely love the complimentary mascot jersey. Now we just need a badger...
Big thanks to Owen Jeffries for all his hard work and our suppliers Fernando Carvalho Ciclismo.
Allan
TOP
The Lakes Trip is always a highlight of the EUCC calendar and once again provided a fantastic weekend away for those who managed to put down the books. Both mountain bikers and roadies took full advantage of the stunning clear blue skys to tackle some big loops, both putting in a good 7 hours in the saddle on the Saturday.
First the mountain bikers took in a loop one of our Lakes experts Tom calls "Three Passes"; Garburn Pass, Gatescarth Pass and Nan Bield Pass(bikes on the shoulders up this one). This route provided the group with a rock feast that will probably keep them satisified for a long time to come. The climbs on the way out were steep and extremely challenging thanks to all the large loose rocks and the challenge was not how much energy your legs had but who had the balance to hold there bike on line the longest. But if the climbs are this technical the descents have to be amazing. Again the lakes delivered with long, switch back filled descents of sketchy, rocky wonderfullness and just to make it interesting there was a good supply of ice hiding quiet literally in the shadows. Meanwhile the girls and Tim headed off to tackle a slightly less demanding route.
By all accounts the roadies got a bit enthusiastic with the map reading on the Friday night and took in a 80 mile loop full of passes with 30% climbs. Stu summed up the climbs nicely when he said, "You sweat just going up that in a car". However, they all loved the challenge and had an epic ride but were jealous of Christophe and his triple on the front. Like the mountain descents, the roads did not escape the ice either and both Oli and Adain went down before they realised what they were riding over. But they recovered, and managed to beast the remainder of the route arriving back at the hostel exhausted.
Thanks to Mat for organsing and Tom, Tim and Aidan for putting the routes together. Everyone had a memorable weekends and there may be another Lakes weekend in the planning for summer.
Allan Love
TOP
EUCC's mountain bike playground, the Pentland Hills, was the venue for the first ever EUCC Trailquest on Sunday 10th February. Over 40 riders took part in the orienteering but on a bike event which started at the Harlaw ranger centre and covered all the trails from the peak of Allermuir to the tight singletrack of Balerno. Our five teams of two tried their best to get a sneak peak at the map before they ventured to the start. But the organisers were having none of it so had to make do with watching the other riders scramble to their bikes and proceded to take off to the hills.
Tom Owen and Michael Boyd were the first EUCC team to head off and at nothing short of a vicious pace which, according to Michael, Tom did not relenquish from for the next 3 hours. The girls, Alison O'Neil and Emma Bean, were away next but in the opposite direction, route choices were going to be interesting. The final three teams, Allan Love and Guy Sloan, Tim Scott and Mathew Howard, Karsten Meyer and Stuart Gilfillan all left within moments of each other but after a quick look at the map chose to go in competely different directions. The race was on.
The unusual February weather of cloudless sunny days had thankfully allowed the soaked, and eroded Pentlands of January to dry out. This made for a fantastic few hours of riding which all the competitors enjoyed despite on the trail reports of punctures, chain breakages and dodgy map reading skills. The latter allowed EUCC to take advantage, afterall we do ride in these hills 3 times a week and in one particular case knew the man who laid out the control points mind set.
The first team back for EUCC was Tom and Michael who predictably had the most points with 210, putting them in the lead. Next was Tim and Mat, followed closely by Karsten and Stu. After some discussion about the placing of control point 13(unlucky eh?) Karsten and Stu went ahead on time alone, both teams finishing with 145 points. Tim and Mat finished in 8th and Karsten and Stu 7th. Allan and Guy crossed the line to be pushed into 4th with 160 points. Finally, the girls crossed the line after deciding to tackle the Five Peaks control points which unfortunately cost them time and all their hard earned points. The overall winner of the day went to Rob Waller in the veteran category for his massive 227 points, machine!
Many thanks have to go to Jamie Sparkes for organising the whole thing, his little helpers Tom and David and the Sport Ident timing chip guy for his help as well. EUCC hope everyone had a fun days riding and thank you for attending.
Final results and event info can be found here.
Allan Love
TOP
2007
25/11/2007 EUCC Winter Time Trial Series Rd1
13/10/2007 Relentless 24hr
13/10/2007 Edinburgh Urban Downhill - Fat Face Night Series
Despite it's billing as a club-only event, the first round of EUCC's winter time trial series was fraught with focus and apprehension, on a biting November morning that was far more suited to a post-Potterrow lie-in. 15 of Edinburgh's finest cyclists were pitted against each other in a gruelling solo 10 mile sprint. Tranent's A199 was the battleground, self-propelled structures of carbon and alloy were the chariots. With liberal support from both cowbell ringers and cameramen, the scene was set for an apocalyptic showdown between the strongest riders representing both the battle-hardened EUCC and the disciplined EuTri.
From the outset the chilling temperature and deceiving gradients shocked even the most experienced, resulting in weaker riders being overtaken as early as 2 miles in. At the midway point EUCC's Ed Bolam demonstrated fine bike handling to take corners at speeds thought possible only on a motorbike, and was fortunate to emerge with his lycra unscathed. As the early starters began to roll across the line, a healthy lead was established by Eutri's Christophe Demoulin in a very respectable 25m47s, but his gutsy performance was to be eclipsed. The finishing pace was frenetic, the punishing ascent towards the summit decimating the field. In the battle for the podium EUCC dominated, with the victory going to the BUSA hopeful Ollie Young in a time of 24m15s, second and third places being closely contested by Tom Dyson and Silas Goldsworthy, finishing in 24m31s and 24m48s respectively. In victory, Young was despondent, claiming his performance had been negatively affected by a recent lack of form. Little consolation for the stragglers left in his wake.
Despite the headlines being grabbed by the big guns at the top, the dogfight at the foot of the table was where the real action occurred, 5 riders finishing within 46 seconds of each other. Such a show of competitive grit has become the hallmark of Edinburgh's cyclists, and in a field comprising mainly novice racers, all athletes acquitted themselves admirably, displaying true determination through the appalling conditions. Notable performances came from Tracy Ostertag, the fastest female, completing the course in 28m58s and Rachel Boyd, the fastest junior female, finishing in 29m17s
Post-race, event organiser Aidan Farrow was buoyed by the result, commenting that 'the first ever EUCC time trial has been a great success even if I was getting frost bite waiting at the finish line'. Looking to the future, the real positive to be taken from the event was the strong form shown by both teams at such an early stage in the winter training schedule, which bodes well for EUCC's hectic race calendar next semester.
Keen to get involved? EUCC are holding four more events in the series, all to be held on Sunday mornings throughout Semester 2. Places are limited and applications will be accepted on a first come first served basis.
Tom Dyson
TOP
Once again the Nevis Range near Fort William was the venue for the annual Relentless 24 Hour mountain bike endurance race, on the 13th and 14th October. The event involves teams of one -soloists, or two, three or four riders in a relay, covering as many laps of the course as they can in 24 hours. This year the course was excellent, featuring a lot of the World Championship Cross Country course descents which were a real challenge throughout the night.
Edinburgh University Cycling Club had two dedicated teams in attendance, Tom Owen riding solo and Mathew Howard, Allan Love, Stuart Gilfillan and Tim Scott making up a team of four. In addition, Lettie Chambers joined Richard MacDonald to form the Glencroft Rabble Mixed Pair, and Geoff Martin joined former EUCC member Gavin Shirley as part of the Glencroft Rabble Quad.
All teams set off at a relentless pace, with the EUCC teams holding onto respectable positions early on. Going into the night everyone was still feeling good and the weather was holding back the heavy rain promised. In 24 hour races it is essential for riders to maintain consistent lap times during the night, however fatigue and poor lighting mean this is easier said than done. Geoff had a bad crash, injuring his knee and unfortunately had to pull out, meaning the Glencroft Rabble had to defend 2nd place with only 3 men. The logistical nightmare of maintaining lighting bright enough to ride the challenging course at speed caused difficulties for most teams. Solo rider Tom lost 30 minutes as he and his pit crew struggled to find replacement lighting after a battery failure, meaning he dropped back to 4th place. Meanwhile Allan's lights went out half way round the second of a double night lap stint, costing his team 20 minutes and eventually 8th place in the quads.
The morning brought some heavy rain and renewed determination amongst the EUCC teams to take back some of the time lost overnight. The EUCC Quad now had a fight on their hands against the Angus Bike Chain OAPs who had stolen their 8th position and Tom was slowly clawing back into contention for 1st place in the solo category. Unfortunately, the competition for both was just too strong, leaving the Quad in 9th place and Tom to settle for second in the solo category. This was a pretty impressive achievement given that Tom rode solidly for over 24 hours without stopping for sleep, covering almost 200 miles off road!!
The final results:
EUCC Solo: 2nd solo, 41st overall, 24 laps
EUCC Quad: 9th Quad, 12th overall, 29 laps
Glencroft Rabble Quad: 3rd quad, 3rd overall, 34 laps
Glencroft Rabble Mixed Pair: 1st mixed pair, 3rd Pair, 13th overall, 28 laps
Allan Love
TOP
Saturday 6th October saw Edinburgh play host to the inaugural Fat Face Night Series Urban Downhill. This was a downhill mountain bike event where the object is to be the fastest rider down the course. Edinburgh University Cycling Club was out in force as marshals and stewards, alongside members past and present who were competing.
The course started on the castle esplanade and followed the Castle Wynd steps before riders had to struggle up the purpose built bridge over Johnston Terrace. The loudest cheers of the night went to riders who made it onto the bridge still pedaling there bikes. From here the course dropped into the lower section of the Castle Wyn steps which would take them down, through tight turns and out to the Grassmarket for the finish. Practice was held during the day and race runs took place later than night, where a crowd of over 5000 gathered to watch the action.
EUCC rider Steven Larking was first up for his race run in the hardtail category. Seeded 2nd, he went all out to try and take the podium but unfortunately could only manage fourth. Next was the senior category, which was missing Edward Bolan due to a big crash during practice. Former EUCC rider Roger Crawford managed to make 22nd, with Iain Cranston coming in 70th. The final riders Edinburgh University riders were Adam Stanyer and Stuart Nicolson racing in Expert, where they managed 6th and 8th respectively. Fastest rider down the course was Gee Atherton of the Animal Commencial Team in just 47.626 seconds (seven seconds slower than his seeding run in daylight).
Edinburgh University Cycling Club would like to thank it?s members for agreeing to marshal the event and contributing to it?s success.
EUCC Results:
Expert
6 Adam Stanyer 52.269 seconds
8 Stuart Nicolson 52.86 seconds
Senior
22 Roger Crawford 55.257 seconds
70 Iain Cranston 101.7 seconds
Hardtail
4 Steven Larking 57.348 seconds
Allan Love