A kickass course in the Kingdom

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BY: Katie Carmichael

Published: 10th July, 2015

As is the way, after a week of sunshine, Saturday came and was a veritable sh*t show. Black clouds and heavy rain. I mooched about the house, watching the gutters overflow and wondered if it really was a good idea to head up to Fife for a pre ride of Sunday’s course.

It brightened up in the afternoon and I headed north to see what Meedies bike club had in store for us.

Pulling into the car park I caught a glimpse of the keen young ‘uns rolling in from a lap and setting off to do another. They were filthy, and a couple looked like they’d been rolling about in the mud. I clocked the grand vet who is currently topping the table, coming in from a lap, shaking his head. Things weren’t looking good.

I got myself ready and headed over to find out where the course start was. It transpired that the course was not yet fully taped, so armed with a map and a rubbish sense of direction I set off. I spent a good half hour or so going up and down the bike park at the start of the lap – fun but not really what I was after. Eventually I found my way onto the course proper.

The first part of the course had some little rocky obstacles – nothing too hard, but the sort of thing I make a real meal of on a practice lap. You need a bit of momentum and to keep your head up, looking beyond anything that might catch your wheel. What I tend to do is go at a snail’s pace, assessing any minor crevice that might snatch my wheel. The upshot was that I had a couple of lie downs in the rocks, opened up a few almost healed wounds and gave myself a couple of new bruises.

Then I hit ‘the descent’ a slippery, slidey, off camber, rocky, muddy stretch that I could barely walk, let alone ride. Dirt School were out with a group and, naturally, they were positioned on that part of the course, looking at one of the trickiest parts of the trail. I minced round, off the bike, trying hard to stay on my feet and to pick up any tips on the way. ‘You’ll want to avoid coming in to this too hot’… chance would be a fine thing!

Onwards and upwards. And it was upwards. A steep climb, with a good couple of pounds of mud in my tyres, but I made it, and from there on in the course was really a lot of fun. A long woodland descent, with a multitude of line choices, a fast drop through a field and a twisty, turny, trail to the finish.

Having now sussed the course I headed out for a second lap. The SXC crew were out, taping the course. No mention of pulling the tricky section. Another lie down in the rocks had me contemplating giving up bike racing and sticking to yoga and knitting. I persevered, but again had to walk down ‘the descent’. Near the bottom I met one of the Meedies, busy hammering chicken wire on to the boardwalk crossing. He said the trail had been running great all week, but that everything had changed with the morning’s rain. He was hoping for some dry, warm weather before race start. ‘What’s the alternative’ I asked in the vain hope there was a plan B. ‘Get off and run?’ he said. Bother. What he also said, though, was that they were going to clear the top layer of mud off the trail. It was after 5pm, and the BBQ was in full swing back at race HQ, but here was someone working hard, (shifting slippery mud no less!) to make the course the best it could be. What a guy!

I finished my lap. Despite my offs and my inability to ride some of the trail, my mindset shifted on the way home and I couldn’t wait to get back out on the course. Come Sunday morning I was raring to go.

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