SXC 2015 Rd 1 Report

Getting off to a flying start

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BY: Katie Carmichael

Published: 29th March, 2015


Cathkin Braes was buzzing last weekend, with the first round of the Scottish Cross Country (SXC) series. Last year the team of volunteers who put on the races did a fantastic job of promoting the events, encouraging first timers, listening to feedback and making improvements. All of their hard work has paid off as was evidenced by the great turnout at the first round and the palpable excitement and enthusiasm at the season ahead. 

Sign on was slick. I arrived to find a long queue, but had my chip and number board within minutes. I just about had long enough in the queue to chat with friends and hear about any course changes. The event village was compact, with parking right next to sign on, catering and loos. Morven was on the mic, keeping everyone right about timings, and there was a band of volunteers around the place with ‘here to help’ t shirts on.

Scottish Cycling and the SXC have worked hard at encouraging first timers and more women into racing. They’ve introduced a ‘taster’ category for men and women, which is two laps of the course. They’ve carried out a survey amongst women mountain bikers to find out what might be the barriers to racing. Cathkin Braes is sometimes considered a ‘non technical’ course, but having been used in the Commonwealth games and for the British Championships, it does have some features which could be pretty intimidating to someone new to racing. To get around this, the organisers created B lines in a couple of places, and removed two of the more technical descents. The changes didn’t detract from the course. There were still plenty of sections to test racers’ skills, and a lot of fun to be had.

It was exciting to line up at the start with 8 other women riding in the expert/elite category, and 5 senior women. I have raced when there have just been two or three of us on the start line so to see so a big, quality field, was great.

My start was good. I got away well, and was with the front runners for at least 10 metres, and then did my usual and eased off a bit. It seems I do this every time and every time I’m surprised as the hoards of junior and youth racers come by me and I see my competitors disappearing into the distance. I need to learn that 10 metres into a race is really too early to take my foot off the gas!

Needless to say the first lap was spent picking off some of the riders who’d gone by me at the start. The long ‘Clyde climb’ was a good opportunity to do this, and where the course snakes round after the climb I could see a couple of my competitors, so knew I wasn’t that far behind. I was sitting in 6th. I was riding well though and enjoying myself. Cathkin Braes is a really fun course with some great flowing sections. First lap completed and I was having a blast.

It all went wrong on lap two. I was descending a rocky section at a decent pace when suddenly I was flying over the handlebars. I landed face first and from there it’s all a bit hazy. I think I must’ve somersaulted as I came to rest on my back, still astride my bike. I was seriously winded and in a lot of pain. What followed was a trip to A&E. The upshot was a bloody chin and mouth, bruised shoulder and a few broken ribs. Not really the start to the season I was looking for. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery and a quick return to the bike. In the meantime, don’t make me laugh!

More on the SXC 2015 Rd 1:
Event Calendar Listing



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This blog post was written by a third party and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of XCRacer.com

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