SXC Round 5; Perth

The Wheelers race up the club rankings into 4th position.

The latest round of the Scottish Cross Country Series (SXC) was held at Kinnoul Hill, Perth. Kinnoul Hill is a dramatic cliff overlooking the River Tay and the M90. An award winning woodland, the site is also an infamous suicide spot.

On 8th August 2010, Stewartry Wheelers sent a small band of young men and women, together with a quartet of 'grizzled veterans' to compete in round 5.

The course started with a long climb past Kinnoul tower to the summit, before descending along the "cliff-run". This section of the course is so steep that cyclists cannot stop even if they want to. At race speed, conventional steering becomes ineffective, forcing riders to swerve the trees by throwing their body weight around their bikes. To regain height, the riders then have to climb a series of brutally steep ascents over slippery tree roots, interspersed with swooping single track.

Morning races

First up were the youth men, who race two laps of the course. Experienced riders Ross Green and Ryan Fenwick were joined by Ben Sinden in his first season.

The riders shot across the starting line, fighting for position along the long hill climb. The descents were dramatically fast and the spectators held their breath as rider after rider successfully completed them. The skill of the riders in this category showed however, with no major incidents; a striking contrast to some of the less competitive categories where high speed collisions led to major pile-ups.

Ryan showed his mettle, finishing just seconds behind the winner and in 4th place, followed by Ross in 6th and Ben in 15th.

Next up were the Juvenile Women, who race a single lap of the course. Jenna Fenwick showed how to do it, finishing in 2nd place for the Wheelers.

Lunchtime races

At lunchtime, the primary school races are held on a separate course.

Polly Henderson kept up her form by winning her race in the Primary 4-5 girls.

Afternoon races

The longer races start in the afternoon and Paul Crotty, Sam Sherwin, Jason Sinden and Neil McConnell had a four lap race. These are the "grizzled veterans" of the club. A right "pick and mix" in terms of size and appearance, they are all fast.

Evenly matched, the quartet soon found themselves riding together, on the long climb as they fought their way up the pack. They didn't stay together for long though. Neil failed to make a tight turn and crashed through a thorn bush, losing a number of places. Sam, Paul and Jason continued to fight for position.

The veterans rode the cliff descents at speed, using their body weight to swerve around the trees and relying on their considerable velocity to carry them up the first sections of the up-slope. As the hills got steeper, rootier and more slippery, Jason overtook his fellow wheelers, demonstrating once again his technical hill-climbing techniques.

Paul and Sam fought each other for position and pursued Jason. Paul knew that Jason might be faster, but that he was more consistent. It is said that atomic clocks use Paul's lap times as calibration. Meantime, Sam used a combination of brute strength and skill to pull his way up the field.

As the drama unfolded, many riders crashed and bikes shattered, with the seriously injured being extracted using special quad bike ambulances. Deep in concentration though, the casualties were merely another obstacle for the competitors.

Finally, after almost two hours of intense racing, Jason crossed the line, followed almost two minutes later by Sam, with Paul another 9 seconds behind. They had finished in 13th, 15th and 16th in the most competitive category. Neil was exhausted and pulled out after 3 laps.

The club is now ranked 4th out of 100 teams in the competition, with two more races to go.

AN ACCOUNT BY JASON SINDEN