SDA 2009 | Dunkeld

Just a month ago rumors were abound of Dunkeld being flattened and us not being able to race there this year. Whilst it’s not to say that there won’t be issues in the future, riders were certainly thankful that the SDA had managed to circumvent them on this occasion to keep it all running smoothly in the style to which we’ve become accustomed over the years.

Read on for more on the weekends happenings:Words: Alasdair MacLennan, Pics: Oliver Coats


With Dunkeld being eight years on the calendar already, and with us still in essence racing on the same course each and every year, the boys laying the tapes have a job on their hands to keep it all feeling fresh but somehow they manage it each year. Keeping the feel of the track whilst changing the lines so that those who ride there frequently aren’t too advantaged over those who do not. Last year it was all change with the use of the new muddy chute between the two road crossings and the removal of the flattish but fast switchback shortly before the finish. This year the top took the route that it has in previous years, unfortunately missing out one of the now legendary rocky chutes, now looking more brutal than ever after the ravages of several winters and many years riding.


The upper, open section, with its combination of steep chutes, tight lines and fast but narrow rock gardens is all about precision and control, without which you were either off the side of the track or losing time on a bad line. Cross the road and there were a few new corners to keep you on your toes; perhaps a little tight and flat on the entry but you were soon back up to speed and it certainly favored the riders who were able to balance the bike on the greasy roots with ease. Rock garden, turn, rock garden, avoid the tree, rock garden, roots, and pinball it down towards the bridleway prior to the greasier lower portion of the trail. New lines were abound here, with big rock slabs, tight turns and difficult boulders linking together and providing no let up to the riders, especially given the grease caused by the overnight rain both days. Spitting you out into the finish area, a sub 2:40 would put most riders into the top 10 for their category whilst a sub 2:30 was definitely on it and a virtual guarantee of a podium.


Over the years the SDA have put on some brilliant events, all helped by the commitment that it’s members have shown, from searching out new venues, to fighting red tape so that we can all keep racing and of course all the effort that actually goes into running the events themselves. One of the problems they have to contend with are the lack of new courses coming on stream over the last few years, although not for lack of trying, so they spend a lot of time taping out courses to create more challenge. Unfortunately it would appear that certain riders don’t like the added challenge and elected to change things. Now we’ve all been to races and found sections we didn’t like, thinking perhaps that it would have been better to be taped differently, but thankfully most riders don’t start moving things to suit themselves. Yet over the past few years we’ve seen more and more occasions where the pixies have been at work and the tapes have been magically moving from run to run. From time to time this is unavoidable when tape is innocently put back incorrectly when a rider has crashed through it but this is not the major issue, it’s the deliberate alterations. After speaking to a number of riders over the weekend, from the serious racers to those there for just a bit of fun, all had the same opinion; that it’s cheating and should be treated as such. The only way to prevent this from getting worse is to rat out those who mess with the tapes by reporting them to the commissaires.


Anyway, enough of the doom and gloom, it was still the usual awesome weekend, even if the course wasn’t necessarily suited to all and the fastest riders still got to the bottom first.


As always, things kicked off with the Juveniles on the first of their two runs on Sunday. Starting from the half way mark due to the top section, the times therefore look significantly faster than the big boys. Is it time to give them the opportunity to race the upper half of the course? Regardless, with the Wilcox brothers away podiuming at the Scottish XC Champs, Drew Carters took third spot with a 1:44 whilst Sam Herd of Perth City Cycles took second. With a lead of nearly eight seconds to take the win, i-Cycles’ George Gannicott continued his run of form to extend his lead in the series.


Youths up next on the full track with Alpine Bikes’ Joe Connell in third with a 2:27, just down on the 2:26 of All Terrain’s Mark Scott. With Sam Flockhart absent from proceedings it was an easy win for Empire’s Lewis Buchanan on a 2:19.


Moving onto the Juniors, High Line Racing’s Ronan Taylor was third with a 2:26 . This left Arran Gannicott and James Scott to fight it out for the win. With James getting the upper hand after run one it was all for Arran to do in the final run but, despite James not going faster, Arran similarly failed to improve. In the end, 2:20 vs 2:21 was enough for James to secure the win whilst Arran slotted into second and Ronan confirmed his spot at the top of the overall table.


Will Paul Webster be moved to do some more races this year? After his dominating win at Fort William he would surely be on for more podiums at the very least. In what is always a large category, Tony Tsoumalis took third spot for local shop, Perth City Cycles, on a 2:33 with Peter Walton just ahead on a 2:30 in second and Ryan Chambers took the win for Ae Cycles with a 2:24.


Masters next and it was a tight fight for the last spot on the podium but in the end, Tim Wilcox prevailed over John Young and snatched it by just a quarter of a second for MonsterBike. MonsterBike; the recently opened shop in Inverness by ex-World Cup racer Mark McIver. If you’re in the area, pop in for a look around, you’re sure to get a warm welcome and great service. Second in the Masters category went to Tom Reed with a 2:33 whilst Andrew Buddin took the win with a 2:29, both riding for Descend Hamsterley.


Old boys now with the Veterans and it was all change at the top with Alastair MacLennan away at the European Championships in Slovenia, winning his category, and where Bernard Kerr was also busy winning the Junior title for the UK. Pete Hoggan took third with Stevie Boyd in second and Glentress Riders’ Neil Wilson taking a well deserved win, 23 seconds up.


A slightly diminished women's category here was a shame but good for both Angela Coates and Bex Reilly who, being the only two to make the journey, were guaranteed of a podium. After crashing in her first run, Bex came back strongly in the second run to take a commanding win to make it two rounds out of three at the top of the podium.


Making the trip north after two wins in the winter series, Jack Reading was in the hunt for a win and in doing so break Ben Halls so far monopoly of the top step this year in the Expert category. In the end it was tight with just one second separating first to third. Ben Cortis was third here for Tricky Racing but the fight seemed to be between Huggy and Jack. Having been one of the first off and with a quick but safe run, Jack had a long time to sit in the hot seat drinking Go-Fast whilst he waited for Ben to come into view at the top of the finish arena. On it, this was going to be close and, as he crossed the line, it was, with a time less than six tenths down. And then to the sound of gasps and applause, we realized he had no shoe, having in fact lost it in a big moment somewhere high up on the course. With the marker set, and Jack knowing that he could go quicker, he pushed hard in the second to secure his win but was thwarted by a costly crash within sight of the finish. However, with Ben only managing to go eleven thousandths faster, Jack's earlier run was enough to secure the win for Ellsworth.


In the Elite category, it seemed that it was almost all one team, especially when you saw Ben Cathro wandering round the pits for most of Sunday having elected to rest his still recovering shoulder for the World Cup in Maribor less than a week later. Fergus Lamb, himself coming back from shoulder injury, posted a 2:21 for third whilst MSC/i-Cycles Pete Williams posted a 2:16 for second. However, most impressive and certainly deserving of a rider of the day award was Joe Barnes for MTBCut.tv/Orange with his 2:11, despite nearly dropping it in the run in over the boulder to the last corner. That was good enough for the win but unfortunately, having tried to go faster in his second run on the now greasier track, he crashed up top hard and injured his hand not far from where Junior Joe Young had gone down hard earlier in the day.


So Dunkeld over for another year, a track and venue which has attracted some big names over the year, all drawn in by the promise of a technically demanding track and this year was no exception on the challenge front. Next up on the SDA calendar is the arguably greater challenge in a month's time of Glencoe for the Scottish Champs. Now this really can be described as Marmite. Some love, some hate and others like to ride but not race. No matter which way you swing on that it’ll still be a seriously challenging weekend, made all the more difficult by the nightmarish midges which lie in wait for the wind to drop with their sharpened teeth, ready to take a bite out of any exposed skin! Also the same weekend is the legendary Megavalanche in the mountains surrounding Alpe d’Huez. Pinkbike will be in attendance so expect full coverage over the course of the week. In two weeks, the NPS series also makes its second visit to Scotland to race the World Cup course at Fort William. Bring your Skin So Soft!


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