Borderline Events - Kill The Bill 2009

It has to be said, Fort William in September has never had a history of bringing glorious sunshine and record temperatures. But that didn’t dampen the spirit of Mike at Borderline events who, in an effort to bring a slightly different feel to racing down the slopes of Aonoch Mhor, chose to run an end of season race on the first weekend of September. And it is an event that many of the entrants won’t forget in a hurry.

Read on for what happened over the course of the weekend. Yes, weather was certainly the theme this weekend and not in a good way! Still, the enthusiasm of a racer knows no bounds and so we got down to the task in hand; riding and racing on the longest and most prestigious downhill course in the UK.


This is a track which has been raced on so many times and described by so many that we need hardly describe it but still, subtle changes are always on the go and the weather over the past few months has done it's very best to reduce the track to a mess of rubble and bog. The four races held on it already this year probably didn't help matters either. The biggest change was seen at the end of pinball, the section of track between the last piece of boardwalk and the big left handed berm at the bottom. This has seen a fair amount of abuse over the years and, despite us having big travel bikes to soak it up, a new and slightly more mellow section has now been built to replace it, taking you around the rock that used to have a massive crash mat on it that could be seen from the road below, and onto a boggy and bouldery drop into the berm from less of an oblique angle. On Friday this looked horrendous but, with a fair amount of effort on the part of the trail builders, this was improved by the time practice started on Saturday morning and actually flowed quite well although many missed the speed and slightly out of control nature of the original section.


If you'd managed to hold on past the deer gate then you would find the majority of the World Cup woods had been taped in which caused a fair few riders grief over the weekend as they started to rut up and get very greasy over the roots. Also modified was Hip Replacement at the start of the motorway. The take off has now been moved further back towards the end of the berm running into it and as a result, a fair number of riders were caught out. Also catching riders out throughout the weekend were the number of rocks littering the course which lay in wait to puncture those who dared run their tyres anything other than rock hard.


Heavy rain, lots of riders and racers hitting it up and the end of the season. All combined to create a track which was running noticeably slower than it had been earlier in the year and many riders were really struggling with the conditions having become used to a dusty surface for most of this year. With such a varied entry list, from World Cup riders and NPS winners to first time racers, there was a massive spread of ability but, with such atrocious weather at the start of Saturday, many of the faster riders opted to leave their practice until later in the day once the track had emptied a bit. Unfortunately, this plan didn't quite work as thanks to increasingly powerful gusts of wind, the decision was taken to end practice significantly earlier than the intended 4.30pm. Many as a result only managed a couple of runs at most so it was off to the pub to watch Scotland and England both miraculously win their World Cup qualifier games over a beer or three (after all, you've got to find something to do when the weather's foul outside!).


Come Sunday and, with a lot of the top boys in each category missing, there were some new faces on the podium for a change. In the Juvenile category, Joe Paterson took third with his second run time, less than a second behind Descend-Hamsterley who took home the silverware. However, with the win and a huge margin was Perth City Cycles' Sam Herd who currently sits second overall in the SDA series results.


Moving onto the Youths and times took a tumble. Allan Findlay was third with a 5:32 for Team Cycle Jersey with Mark Scott of All Terrain Cycles moving into second with a 5:25. After narrowly missing the win at the SDA here earlier in the year and then crashing heavily at the NPS, Sam Flockhart seized the opportunity to take the win with a 5:22, good enough for 7th fastest time of the day.


In Junior, the Nevis Range course builder Liam Moynihan made full use of his home advantage by crossing the line with a 5:32, just behind the Vibe's Craig Munro on a 5:30 whilst Joe Flanagan took another All Terrain Cycles win with a 5:23.


Seniors was tight with less than four seconds separating the top seven riders of the seventy rider field. Nikki Marsh took third with a 5:44.3, whilst ex-Clan rider Thomas Pollock marked his return with a 5:44.0 to just sneak into second place. Sam Flanagan kept up the winning ways of his brother and took the top spot with a 5:42.6.


In Masters, Stephen Russell of Bad Ass Bikes was third with a 6:01.7, just behind Martin Byers who improved on his first run time with a 5:59.7 to take second place and winner Russ Harland on a 5:57.7 from his first run down the hill.


With local rider Alastair MacLennan still drunk on the champagne from winning the Masters World Champs the previous weekend, there was definitely going to be a new face on the top step at Fort William for the first time this season. Paddy Whitehead got a late entry and used his first run to full advantage for third place. Kem Avis fell neatly into second place with an improved second run whilst Stevie 'Factory Intense' Boyd took the win with a clear eleven second lead over the rest of the field.


With only one of the women having raced before, all eyes were out to see if any of them would be able to usurp the veteran. In the end, Jennifer Cross took third, with Rosie Smith in second whilst SDA and NPS regular Angela Coates took the win onboard her new Cove Shocker.


Expert and Elite were the exceptions over the weekend. All regular racers and all capable of doing well, the competition was as tight as ever. In Experts, Tom Lamb put in two clean runs for third with matching 5:26's. Scott Laughland won the NPS here in June but second was all he could manage on this occasion with a 5:18. Taking the win was Ross Anderson for MSC Bikes UK with a time of 5:13 which would almost have got him a podium in Elite.


And in Elite? Despite needing to get himself a new watch, Fergus Lamb took third with a 5:13 dead, having made everyone wait at the side of the course for an extra fifteen minutes while he got himself to the top of the long after every other rider. Pete Williams, having not had the best of seasons for his first year in Elite, took second for MSC Bikes UK with a 5:11 with Ben Cathro, having barely done a practice run all weekend, stormed down the hill with a time just three tenths shy of breaking the five minute barrier from his first run.


So how did it all go down? Despite the weathers best efforts, everyone remained pretty upbeat. Partly because for a lot of the riders who weren't regular racers it was just good to be racing and partly because Fort William at least has some of the better facilities on the circuit (even if heavy wind can stop play). The keener riders still managed plenty of action on Saturday morning before the weather closed in whilst those who left it later weren't overly enthusiastic about riding anyway given the conditions so opted for the pub instead. With Sundays weather having improved so dramatically, by the time the second runs came around the wind was virtually gone and moods visibly brightened.


With less than a handful of races to his name, Mike belies the lack of past organizational history and, whilst things aren't always necessarily perfect, he is learning fast and puts on some very good events to which this was no exception. At a time when the established regional series fill up within days if not hours, grass roots races like these and the Northern Downhill series are something the British racing scene has been crying out for, for years. By giving first time racers somewhere to cut their teeth without feeling like they'll be out of place like at an NPS or regional, races which themselves are just as tight at the thick end of it all, the race scene can only continue to prosper.


Two weeks time sees the SDA final which, after the unfortunate cancellation of the Killin round, means things go down to the wire at Innerleithen. The following weekend has the NPS back at Rheola after many years absence for the final round. A new track should help redress the balance against those who are regulars at the venue. And then, on the second weekend in October, Mike at Borderline has another event at Moelfre, having been pushed back from it's original date of 12/13th September. Check out www.borderline-events.co.uk for more details and entry.

www.borderline-events.co.uk
www.descent-gear.com
More pics from the event.

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