Cyclocross race results

The last two weeks have seen some outstanding performances from Drumlanrig riders in cyclocross races up and down the country. First of all, Jamie Willoughby became the Scottish U12 Cyclocross Champion at Glenrothes. Ariana won the race for the U10 girls. This weekend saw Cameron Scott take a convincing win in the third round of the South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross League at Heathhall. This second win secured his overall victory in U12 series. Meanwhile, Jack Taylor made the trip to Mull for the final two rounds of the Scottish Cyclocross and continued with his run of excellent results in his first season as a Junior to seal his victory in the overall Scottish series. Well done to everyone - the picture below shows Jamie on the podium in Glenrothes lofting his trophy.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching 10th December

This Thursday night is the last of our floodlit coaching sessions before the Christmas holidays. The session will start at 19:00 and last until 20:30 and as ever will be supported by Richard Lord from Scottish Cycling. This will be the highlight of our series of floodlit sessions on cyclocross and we are aiming to cover the full micro cyclocross circuit including the bank and the descent. Please note that this session is open to both the Sprogs and Yoofs age groups.

Don't forget that this Saturday is the Stepping Stanes round of the South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross Series. Full details of this race can be found at the Stepping Stanes web-site at http://www.steppingstanes.co.uk/. Even more reason to come along and Thursday and brush up on your skills.

The Scottish cyclocross championships were held last Sunday at Glenrothes and the club were represented by the Willoughbies and Taylors. A full report will be posted on the blog (www.rootrats.blogspot.com) with some photos, but the big news is that Jamie and Ariana both won their age group races making them the Scottish Champions.

Stepping Stanes Youth Cyclo Cross Race

December 12th sees the final round of the South of Scotland Youth Cyclo Cross series. We have a great course lined up at Heathhall, Dumfries. Under 16's only, races for under 10, under 12, under 14 and undeer 16, boys and girls. All welcome. see www.steppingstanes.co.uk for details.

Note. race HQ is the old runway opposite the Air Museum on Tinwald Downs Road. NOT at the Pines golf centre as previously advised.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 26th November

Our second floodlit coaching session takes place this Thursday at Drumlanrig from 7pm to 8:30pm. Following on from the brilliant session that we had two weeks ago, we'll be continuing on the theme of cyclocross with help from Richard Lord of Scottish Cycling. Everyone is welcome.

Well done to everyone who entered the race last Saturday - a full set of results is available on the blog at www.rootrats.blogspot.com . The Drumlanrig highlight of an excellent days racing has to be Cameron Scott's victory in the U12 age group. The next race in the series is at Heathall on the 12th December - more details can be found on the blog.

Drumlanrig Youth Cyclocross Race Results

Here are the results and a few photographs from today's race. Well done to everyone who participated in this second round of the South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross Series at Drumlanrig Castle and thanks to Rik's Bike Shed for sponsoring the race. The weather was kind to the Under 8 racers, but deteriorated from there on for the remainder of the 30 race entrants with heavy rain for the last race of the day making for some memorable "cyclocross" conditions.

Don't forget that the next race of the series will be hosted by the Stepping Stanes in Dumfries on the 12th December.

Under 8 Boys (10min + 1lap):
1st Calum Johnson 5 laps
2nd Callum Reid 5 laps
3rd Jamie Magowan 4 laps

Under 8 girls (10min + 1 lap):
1st Kirsty Reid 1 Lap

Under 10 boys (10min + 1 lap):
1st Tom Aitkin 6 laps
2nd Ewan Mackay 6 laps
3rd Cameron Mason 6 laps
4th William Macartney 5 laps

Under 12 Boys (15min + 1 lap):
1st Cameron Scott 8 laps
2nd Jamie Mason 7 laps

Under 12 Girls (15min + 1 lap):
1st Erika Allen 8 laps
2nd Katherine Malone 6 laps
3rd Katie Allen 6 laps
4th Lizzie McCreadie 6 laps

Under 14 boys (25min + 1 lap):
1st Morgan McConnel 8 laps (Would have been 3rd overall)
2nd Calum Magowan 8 laps
3rd Adam Hughes 8 laps
4th Sean Noon 7 laps
5th Hamish McCreadie 6 laps
6th Ben Forsyth 6 laps
7th Rory Perkins 6 laps

Under 14 Girls (25 min + 1 lap):
1st Jenna Fenwick 7 laps

Under 16 boys (25min + 1 lap):
1st Scott Lindsey 8 laps
2nd Stuart McCluskey 8 laps
3rd Craig Owen 8 laps
4th Ewan Jenkins 8 laps
5th Jordan Crawford 6 laps
6th Daniel Wright 6 laps
DNF Ross Green
DNF Tom Arnstein

Latest News on Drumlanrig Youth Cyclocross Race

Good news - everything is in place for tomorrows U16 cyclocross race at Drumlanrig. The course was set up this afternoon and it is in good shape. Although there has been a lot of rain recently, the ground is still pretty firm. The picture to the left shows the course at the Chimes where the U8/U10/U12 loop splits off from the longer U14/U16 loop.

Drumlanrig Youth Cyclocross Race Day - 21st Novermber

This is a final reminder that Saturday is race day at Drumlanrig. Please come along and give it a go - entries on the day are welcome and sign on starts at 10:00. With 70 entrants of all ages and abilities having taken part in the first race run last Saturday by Peebles CC, this second race of the South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross series promises to be hotly contended. Although the race is part of a series, riders are welcome to come along to just the Drumlanrig race. See the South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross series entry at on this blog for full details. (Picture shows Drumlanrig's Jamie Willoughby leading the U12 SCX race at Auchentoshen on the 18th October).

Drumlanrig Youth Cyclocross Race Route

Here is a map of the race route that will be used for the Drumlanrig round of the South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross series. For those familar with Drumlanrig, the start line is at the top of the first forest road climb of the Drumlanrig Red Route. Rider access to the race from the car park is strictly via the forest road (just follow the Red Route (5) signs to the top of the first climb - this is about 500m. Riders must not ride on the footpath. The cours is not open to cycles until race day. Double-click on the map to view a larger version. The race runs anti-clockwise and the U8-U12 loop is about 600m, whilst the U14-U16 loop is just over 1100m. Both courses are rideable by both cyclocross and mountain bikes. Note that the first lap will start up the forest road. Please feel free to post a comment against this blog or get in touch with the race organiser if you have any questions.

If you are coming from afar and need directions, Drumlanrig is just off the A76 about three miles north of Thornhill. See http://www.drumlanrig.com/default.asp?PageId=46 for more details. Riks Bike Shed should be open on the day as will be the snack bar in the Castle Stableyard which serves amazing pasties.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 12th November

We are all set for our first ever floodlit coaching session at Drumlanrig from 1900 to 2030 next Thursday at Drumlanrig. This will be the first of a series of three fortnightly coaching sessions open to the U16 Yoofs group in anticipation of the South of Scotland Cyclocross league that is being run over the next couple of months. The coaching will be on a micro cyclocross course that we have developed at the Castle and Richard Lord from Scottish Cycling will be there to provide the his expertise and support. As we are coaching in otherwise pitch black conditions, riders will be asked to remain within our floodlit zone and it would be useful if those that have them could bring along a working set of lights. Please ensure too that riders wrap up warm including gloves and come with their bikes and helmets in full working order.

An interesting new course has been set for our round of the Youth Southern CX Series which is coming up on the 21st November and we are hoping that the club will be able to field a strong entry on the day. Michelle Clark, our treasurer is taking pre-entries and full details of the race together with an entry form can be found at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/10/drumlanrig-round-of-south-of-scotland.html. Please get in touch if you have any questions about the race.

Finally last but not least, we are looking for volunteers to come forward to help out with the club. In particular, we are planning to run a Trail Cycle Leader training course in the near future and Scottish Cycling have just published their 2010 timetable of Level 1 and Level 2 coaching courses. Please get in touch by reply to this e-mail if you would like to find out more or put your name down for one of these courses. If you don't feel quite ready to get involved in this way, perhaps you could come along to our AGM to give us your support. The club AGM will be held in February.

Drumlanrig Round of the South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross Series

The Drumlanrig round of the South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross series takes place on Saturday the 21st November as follows. Also see Update - see http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/11/drumlanrig-youth-cyclocross-race-route.html for details of the race route and travel instructions.

South of Scotland Youth Cyclcross Series

Cyclocross season now underway!

The Scottish Cylocross season is now well under way.

The first race of the series took place on the 4th October at Plean near Stirling and Drumlanrig Root Rats rider, Jamie Willoughby took first prize in the U12's category. This is an execellent result for Jamie having just been promoted from the U10's group. The SCX web-site http://www.scottishcyclocross.org.uk/ reported Jamie's victory as follows: "From the gun Jamie Willoughby was quickest away leading the field down the fast/start finish straight into a tough 50m climb with short steps to negotiate. Willoughby was able to ride up this whilst behind many had to jump off and run up. "

This weekend saw the second race in the Scottish cyclocross series taking place at Auchentoshan, which is to the North West of Glasgow. This time the club were represented in both the senior and youth races. The senior race was run over a course of about a mile covering parkland, singletrack, two sets of cyclocross style jumps requiring a dismount, and a steep muddy scramble that could not be ridden! There were over 100 riders in the main race and Jack Taylor found himself being shunted off by another rider just yards after the start. Jack had a good race though and finished as 3rd Junior. Meanwhile, Andrew Taylor had a steady spill free race to finish 74th out of the 95 finishers in the main field.

Jamie Willoughby put on another great show to finish second in the U12's race.

This week's race is on Sunday at Mugdock Country Park just North of Glasgow. For further details and a full list of the SCX races from now until December, see http://www.scottishcyclocross.org.uk/2009/09/blog-post.html. Further to this watch out for details of the South of Scotland Youth SCX Series with events at Peebles, Drumlanrig and Heathall.

Dalbeattie Hardrock Challenge 4th October 2009

Drumlanrig Root Rats and Drumlanrig Rik’s Bike shed team had plenty to celebrate after the 2009 Hardrock Challenge held at Dalbeattie Forest on 3rd and 4th of October.

The Junior event was held on the Saturday, with the weather defying its own forecast by staying dry and gale free. The Drumlanrig team fielded three competitors to run 1.8m followed by a mountain bike stage of 5.2m using the trails and singletrack of the forest. All three boys competed in the 12-15 section where the competition was fierce.

Ally Taylor got off to an excellent start, finishing his run looking comfortable and well up the field, however, mechanical gremlins finished his race for him as his chain snapped on the way out of the changeover pit. Cameron Scott , who was pitting himself against much older (and bigger) boys cruised into the changeover pit and showed the others how to do a slick changeover,. He followed this up with a great ride to finish 2nd in the solo boys category. Luke Ball did the running leg for his team mate, Drumlanrig Root Rat Ryan Hill. The boys put in a great performance and their brilliant effort was rewarded with 11th place in the teams category. Well done to all the boys.

The much trained for and greatly anticipated adult race was held on the Sunday. The weather conditions were near perfect and the 10mile run followed by the 16 mile mountain bike stage attracted the largest field that this event has seen so far.

Best placed Drumlanrig rider was Ewan Clark, securing second place in the Mens Team category with Lewis Harkness from Thornhill who ran a great 10m. Ewan was sporting a natty hairdo under his helmet, as he recently had stitches removed from his head. Next Drumlanrig face past the finish line was rider was Graeme Scott, who powered home in third place in the Solo Men’s category. To state the obvious, solo competitors do both the running leg and the riding stage! Richard Cantillon followed a great run by Gordon Vivers by keeping his head and riding strongly to finish in 8th place in the Male Team section. Sixteen year old Drumlanrig rider , Jack Taylor took everyone, including himself by surprise by finishing 5th in the Solo Mens’ category against seasoned triathletes. Although Jack has lots of cycling and racing experience, he had never before tried a duathlon, and was in new territory with the cycling hard after running hard combination. Not to be outdone by son Jack, Drumlanrig members Jane and Andrew Taylor finished their Hardrock Challenge team effort 10 minutes up on last years time to finish in 9th place in the Mixed Teams section.

Well done to all those who participated, supported and organised this year’s event. It certainly lives up to the slogan, "the friendly duathlon."

Drumlanrig Root Rats Winter Coaching

This note is to let Yoofs riders know that we are planning to restart coaching sessions for the Yoofs group only on the 12th November using floodlights provided by Scottish Cycling. Richard Lord will be along to help out and to make sure that we don't blow the floodlights up! The aim of these sessions will be to focus on the skills that you will need to enter cyclocross races - see below for more details of upcoming races. I will be in touch in just over a week once we have finalised the details, but please put the date in your diary now. Our thoughts are to run a bi-weekly session from then on. We are hoping to make a similar announcement for the Sprogs coaching soon.

We are just getting into the cyclo cross season and there are weekly races up and down the country organised by Scottish Cyclocross. If you are interested in finding out more about these races, see the club blog entry at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/10/cyclocross-season-now-underway.html . However, as many of these races are quite far away, Scottish Cycling, Drumlanrig Root Rats, Stepping Stanes and Peebles CC are organising a South of Scotland Youth cyclocross league. This will be open to under 16's with races at Drumlanrig, Peebles and Heathall. We are hoping that all club members will enter the race at Drumlanrig and many will enter the full three race series. The dates are 14th November - Peebles, 21st November - Drumlanrig and 12th December - Heathall. Please put these dates in your diary.

Whilst you are waiting for us to resume the coaching at Drumlanrig, there are the following opportunities for top level coaching and racing under the guidance of the Scottish Cycling regional development coaches:

Downhill race and coaching 31st October at Innerleithen http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/10/spooky-downhill-race-and-coaching-31st.html

Cyclocross RSR coaching event at Kilmarnock on the 31st October http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/10/cyclocross-coaching-31st-of-october-in.html

BMX RSR coaching event at Glasgow Titans on the 24th October http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/10/bmx-coaching-24th-october-in-glasgow.html

please feel free to get in touch by reply to this note if you would like some more details, or are worried about bike requirements for any of the events. You might find it useful to post comments against the above blog entries if you would like to let other club members know that you are planning to go to any of these events.

Finally, I have just posted an entry on the blog with some words and photos to describe the fantastic results achieved by everyone from the club who entered this years Dalbeattie Hard Rock Challenge. See http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/10/dalbeattie-hardrock-challenge-4th.html

Spooky Downhill Race and Coaching 31st October Innerleithen

Innerleithen racing brings to you a downhill race which is the first of its kind in Scotland. If you have ever wanted to try downhill racing this is the ideal entry level event. To help you compete in the afternoon I will be holding coaching sessions in the morning on the race course.

See the Innerleithen Website for more info: http://www.innerleithenmtbracing.com/

“For the kids ! A mini downhill race for the Under 16s. Riders will push/ride their bikes up to the start at the first fire road. Timing is done manually with stopwatches. Riders have no stated start time, will line up when they get to the top and leave at 30 second intervals. As many runs as they have the energy for ! The track will be the bottom section of the Cresta Run with an extra special bit Steve is arranging at the end. This is a Go-Race, and a British Cycling licence is not required.”

To enter the race: http://www.entrycentral.com/index.php?raceID=100674

To book your place for coaching in the morning drop an email to David Winton at david.winton@scottishcyling.org.uk Note there are limited places for coaching and there is a nominal fee of £5 for the half days coaching you will receive.

Cyclocross Coaching - 31st of October in Kilmarnock

BMX Coaching 24th October in Glasgow

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching 2nd October

Just a quick note to remind everyone that the coaching is not on this week. We'll be in touch soon with details of the winter activities that the club will be running.

Some of you with better memories will recall that we were going to produce cycling water bottles with the club logo on them for the Root Rats - well, the good news is that they have arrived. Root Rats are invited to claim their water bottle by showing their club membership card to Rik or Ginny in the shop.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 24th September

The Sprogs coaching is on this week as usual, starting 17:15 and ending at 18:30. However, this will be the last evening of coaching for the Sprogs until further notice. We will be in touch in the near future with the winter events timetable for the club.

In the meantime, don't forget about the Dalbeattie Hard Rock Challenge, which is on on the 3rd (U16) and 4th October (Adult). More information can be found at http://www.dalbeattiehardrockchallenge.org/. There is also cyclo-cross racing on for under 16s this weekend with at Linwood the Johnstone Jets, see http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/09/johnstone-jets-cyclo-cross-27th.html for more details of this event.

Well done to everyone from the club who entered one of the SXC races at the Castle last Sunday and to the club members who braved it out in the woods with the midgies to do the marshalling. A brief summary of race results for the club is given on the blog at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/09/drumlanrig-sxc-race-report-20th.html. If you have any additional information to add to this race report, or any photos that you'd like to put up on the blog, please e-mail them to me.

Drumlanrig SXC Race Report 20th September 2009

The senior races were conducted on a race course made up from established sections of the Drumlanrig red route joined by the new section of singletrack that was developed during our July trailbuilding sessions.

Jack Taylor was forced to retire from Youth the race with a snapped chain close to the end of his first lap. Frustratingly, this came when it seemed that he was set to achieve his best result of the season. Next off were the Veterans and the Drumlanrig Rik's Bike Shed team were represented by Graeme Scott and Richard Cantillon who finished 21st and 19th respectively. Next off was Cameron Scott in the Juvenile race. Cameron put in an excellent lap to finish in 18th place. Last off at 11am was Andrew Taylor in the two lap open race who finished in 18th place, a considerable improvement on his dismal 32nd at Aviemore two weeks ago.

The Primary Schools race was set on a new course running up the start of the blue route into the woods before descending down some singletrack to a tight grassy turn for the return loop. This made a fun but challenging course. Well done to all of the Root Rats who took part. First off were the P1-3's with Ariana Willoughby coming in 2nd in the girls race and Kyle Colchester 7th in the boys race. Having raced throughout the season, Ariana finished 3rd overall in the series. The next race to go was the P4&5 age group and the Root Rats were represented by Eloise Coombs, Glen Howat, Fergus Hiddleston and Jamie Willoughby who came in 3rd, 11th 8th and 2nd in their respective races. Equalling younger sister Ariana's performance of the season, Jamie finished 3rd overall in the series. Cameron Scott, who competed in the Juvenille race came 5th in the P6-7 boys series even though he didn't even enter the Drumlanrig race.

The last Drumlanrig Rik's Bike Shed team member of the day to race was Ewan Clark in the Junior category. Ewan had to win the race in order to claim the overall series title for the year and this was going to be a real challenge with an ever stronger Kenta Gallagher lining up on the start line as a Junior. After the fist lap, Kenta came through in the lead with Ewan close on his tail with no sign of series contender Jamie Maxwell. However, as the race progressed, Kenta consolidated his lead and eventually took the victory with Ewan finishing a strong second.

Johnstone Jets Cyclo Cross 27th September

Following the success of last year’s event the Johnstone Jets Youth Cycling Club are organising a fun cyclo-cross / mountain bike event at Linwood Sports Centre on Sunday 27th September 2009. The races will be open to club riders and newcomers alike and will incorporate an inter-schools competition for Renfrewshire school children. Bridge of Weir Primary School were the winners of last year’s competition.

Races will be run in different age categories and all you need to take part is your bike in safe working order and your helmet.

Date: Sunday 27th September 2009 Venue: Linwood Sports Centre, Brediland Road, Linwood, PA3 3RA

Riders must sign on no later than 30 mins before the start time for their respective race. However, please note that sign-on for the Youth A, B and Junior categories will close at 11:00am
Age categories: Under 8’s 10:30am Under 10’s 10:55am Under 12’s 11:20am Under 14 11:50am Under 16 and 18 12:30pm Entry Fee Entries received in advance £2.00 per rider Entries on the day £3.00 per rider To enter please complete the entry form on the http://www.johnstone-jets.org.uk/downloads/linwood-flyer-2009.pdf and return it to Kenny Steele before Friday 25th September or else enter on the day.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 17th September

The Sprogs coaching is on this week as usual, starting 17:15 and ending at 18:30. However for the Yoofs, the coaching will not be on on Thursdays from now on. This is due to the lack of light. We will be in touch in the near future to confirm arrangements for club activities from now until Christmas.

The Yoofs group have the opportunity to participate this weekend in the Scottish Cycling Drumlanrig Regional School of Racing. For more details see the club blog at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/08/scottish-cycling-drumlanrig-rsr-19th.html. This is a great chance to receive coaching from some of the top coaches in the country and don't be put off if you are not interested in racing - RSRs are great fun for all.

Finally, don't forget that it is the SXC MTB race this Sunday at Drumlanrig. Tomorrow is the deadline for advance entries at entrycentral.com and from then on riders will need to enter on the day; Primary School races are entry on the day only. Not taking part? Then why not come along and watch the action. If you would be able to help out with the course marshalling, please get in touch with Rik on 01848 330 080. He is looking for marshals to help during race practice on Saturday (from 12am) and during the race on Sunday (from 9am), but any small amount of time that you spare to help would be greatly appreciated.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 10th September

Root Rats coaching continues this Thursday evening at Drumlanrig. It is business as usual for the Sprogs with a 17:15 start whereas once again the Yoofs start time has is at 18:30 with the session finishing at 20:00. Graeme Scott will be with the Yoofs this week and we will be taking a ride in the woods. Please remember to watch the weather and dress appropriately for the conditions. Please also remember to check the condition of bikes well in advance of the session to avoid valuable time being used at the start of the session to deal with problem bikes.

Don't forget that there are just two weeks to go until the Drumlanrig round of the SXC series. See www.sxc.org.uk for more details. Richard Lord has e-mailed to say that there are still places available for the Scottish Cycling Regional School of Racing at the Castle on the 19th September. The event is aimed at those riders aged 12 – 16yrs wanting to race the SXC at Drumlanrig on the Sunday. The aim of this session is to give our younger riders the edge over their competition. For any further questions or to book a place please email or call 07908 672652, or look at the entry on the club blog at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/08/scottish-cycling-drumlanrig-rsr-19th.html. By the way, Rik is still keen to hear from anyone who would like to volunteer to help with marshalling of the SXC event on the 19th and / or 20th September. Give him a call on 01848 330080 if you can help out.

Finally, I am planning to change the timing of the Yoofs sessions again in the near future to accommodate the ever fading evening light, so please watch this space for further details.

Scottish Youth Criterium Championships

The Scottish Youth Criterium Road Race Championships were held at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow on the 22nd August 2009. Jamie Willoughby from Drumlanrig Root Rats took part in the 3 lap race for the Youth D Title. In the field of 13, Jamie got a flying start on the closed circuit around Bellahouston Park and kept the lead until just after the half way point, when Tom Mein from England, riding for Newcastle club Hetton Hawks, managed to overhaul him and go on to win. Jamie maintained second place to head the list of Scottish riders and be presented with his prize by Chris Hoy. Chris then signed Jamie's Drumlanrig Rik's Bike Shed racing shirt, and also his new Revolution Flyer 650mm road bike. The picture above shows Jamie leading the field and the picture below shows Sir Chris signing Jamie's bike after the event.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 3rd September

New start time of 18:30 for theYoofs!


Root Rats coaching continues this Thursday evening at Drumlanrig. It is business as usual for the Sprogs with a 17:15 start whereas the Yoofs start time has been moved to 18:30 with the session finishing at 20:00. This is to make the most of available light. This week, Richard Lord from Scottish Cycling will be joining the coaching team and we are aiming to do some skills specific to the SXC race route.

Remember it is race day on the 20th September, and Scottish Cycling are running a Regional School of Racing on the 19th, which should be of interest to all of the Yoofs. Please also don't forget to get in touch with Rik if you available to help with marshalling of the SXC course on the 19th or 20th of September. Marshalling is required for a few hours on the 19th, because the race has been classified as a UCI event in which riders compete for international ranking points.

Further to the above change of time for the Yoofs coaching session, we will only be able to run for short time before changing again. As a result, we are in the process of considering what to do for the winter and it would be helpful if you have any suggestions or views on the following options : (1) coaching sessions to every other Saturday; (2) one club event per month during the winter (3) evening coaching sessions every other week under floodlight.

Finally, I understand that there are still places available for this Saturdays Mini DH RSR at the awesome Freeride Park in Newmilns. It’s just £10 for the day and there will be plenty coaching before your timed runs to get your best effort on the board. For more details, see the entry on the clib blog at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/08/scottish-cycling-coaching-events.html

Trailbuilding Session Tueaday 1st September 2009

This coming Tuesday, the 1st September is our club trail building night. Our plans this week are to deberm the race route that Rik has designed for the SXC race that is coming to Drumlanrig on the 20th September. The session starts at 18:30 and runs into 20:00. Please bring along a spade and / or a rake. It is best to come dressed in long trousers, because we are likely to be working in the vicinity of brambles and it would be wise to bring along some gardening gloves together with something to drink.

Meet just outside the Stableyard at 6:30pm.

Scottish Cycling Drumlanrig RSR 19th September

Saturday 19th September – MTB RSR at Drumlanrig Castle. This is a must if you are racing the SXC on the 20th. We will ride the course and teach you where to get ahead of the competition. Contact Richard Lord for more details.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 27th August

Coaching is on as usual with the Sprogs session (U12 group) running from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs (U16 group) will from 19:00 to 20:30. Graeme Scott will be out with the Yoofs this week and we'll be going out for a ride in the woods.

This coming Tuesday is the first Tuesday of the month and that means that it is a trail building night. The trail building session will start at 18:30 and end at 20:00 and we will be working on the race course that Rik has designed for the SXC race, which takes place on the 20th September. So why not come along - this will probably be the last trail building Tuesday of the year.

Details of the following events have been posted on the Root Rats blog (www.rootrats.blogspot.com ) :

(1) Scottish Cycling Regional School of racing event at Drumlanrig - 19th September
(2) Forestry Commission All Abilities Day at Ae Forest - 12th September
(3) Scottish Cycling Regional School of racing event at Glenmore Lodge - 29th August
(4) Extreme Valley Riders Mini DH Event at Newmilns - 5th September
(5) Scottish BMX Championships at Clydebank - 5th September

Finally, don't forget that it is getting close to the time of the Dalbeattie Hard Rock Challenge and Junior Hard Rock Challenge. See www.dalbeattiehardrockchallenge.org/ for more information. This is a run / bike duathlon which may be raced in pairs.

Andrew

Ae All Abilities Day 10th September

Scottish Cycling Coaching Events

Here are details of three upcoming events organised by Scottish Cycling. These are Mini DH event at EVR in Newmilns on the 5th September; a cross country RSR at Glenmore Lodge on the 29th August; and the Scottish BMX Championships on the 5th September. For more details, click on the image, or contact Richard Lord of Scottish Cycling.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 20th August

Now that the schools are back, please don't forget about this weeks coaching sessions at Drumlanrig. Coaching is on as usual with the Sprogs session (U12 group) running from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs (U16 group) will from 19:00 to 20:30.

I am looking for an adult helper to assist me with the Yoofs session this week. Ideally you would bring along your bike and take part in the session, but helping out on foot is possible as we we stay within a few minutes walk of the Castle or the coaching sessions. If anyone would like to volunteer, please get in touch by reply to this note.

I have posted details of the Bute Cycling Festival on the club blog (http://www.rootrats.blogspot.com/). This runs on the 19th and 20th September and includes a junior cyclo cross race with U10/U12/U14 and U16 categories. On the subject of racing, well done to Jack and Jamie for their excellent performances in the Hawick Criterium race last Sunday.

Isle of Bute Cycling Festival 19th and 20th September

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 13th August

This weeks Sprogs coaching session (U12 group) will run from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs (U16 group) will run from 19:00 to 20:30. We are planning to for the Yoofs group to take a ride this week, so please bring along something to drink.

Once again, we would like to encourage female riders to get together for an informal ride on Thursdays whilst Rik's Sprogs session is on. This will be between 17:30 and 18:30. There was some positive interest in this last week and if you would like to find out more, why not give Rik and Ginny a call / e-mail on 01848 330 080 / mtbrik@aol.com.

Well done to Ariana, Jamie, Cameron, Ally, Jack, Ewan and Richard C. for their excellent results at last Sunday's SXC Cathkin Braes MTB race. More details of the racing can be found on the club blog at http://www.rootrats.blogspot.com/. The Drumlanrig SXC round is on the 20th September and we are hoping that club members will take part in the racing, which has separate races from the P1-3 up to the Elite / Expert Category. The trail building work that we have been doing since the start of July has provided a new section of single track for this race. We are also looking for volunteers to help with Marshalling on the day of the race and if you can help out in this way, please get in touch with Rik as above.

SXC Cathkin Braes - 9th August

This Sunday saw the completion of the fifth stage of the Scottish Cross Country race series at Cathkin Braes on the outskirts of Glasgow. This was riders first chance to race on a course that has been prepared for the 2014 Commonwealth Games when they come to Glasgow. The course turned out to be extremely tough with a series of almost never ending climbs followed by steep technical descents. The steepest descent was just on the edge of the "race village" with a large crowd watching every riders move. The picture to the left shows the view of the finish line and beyond being occupied by some of the local Police force.

Congratulations are due to the four Root Drumlanrig Root Rats in the Primary Schools Racing. Ariana Willoughby came second in her P1-3 race whilst brother Jamie came home third in the ever more competitive P4-5 race after recovering from a start line crash. Cameron Scott shrugged off most of the competition to record an excellent second place in the P6-7 race. Well done everyone.

Ewan Clark (below) continued his run of good form to take a convincing victory in the Junior race. This keeps Ewan in the series lead. Meanwhile, Jack Taylor had his best result of the series to date coming in fifth in the Youth race, with brother Ally putting in a solid performance to come in eleventh. Finally, the Drumlanrig Rik's Bike Shed team were represented by Richard Cantillon in the Veterans category. Unfortunately, Richard was forced to retire from the race after experiencing his second puncture.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 6th August

This weeks Sprogs coaching session (U12 group) will run from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs (U16 group) will run from 19:00 to 20:30. This weeks session for the Yoofs will be a coaching session based on the new singletrack that we completed in this evenings trail building session.

The Scottish Cycling summer series of Regional Schools of Racing continues with road focussed events in Aviemore and Kelso. More details of these coaching events can be found on the club blog (http://www.rootrats.blogspot.com/); note that road bikes are not required for younger riders. Further to these two events, there is a town centre criterium race in Hawick on the 16th August and this is open to Youth A,B, C and D categories. Entry details are given on the British Cycling web-site.

We have noticed that not many females have taken an interest in the club activities and we would like to encourage mums, daughters and big sisters to get together for an informal ride on Thursdays whilst Rik's Sprogs session is on. So why not give it a go this week and bring your wheels along this Thursday for a short ride between 17:30 and 18:30.

Finally, thanks to everyone who turned up to tonights trail building session. The next session will be held on Tueaday the 1st September - the first Tuesday of the month!

Scottish Cycling RSR at Kelso - 11th August

Trail building session tomorrow night - 4th August

Tomorrow is the second Tueaday of the month, which means that it is our club trail building night. Our plans are to complete the new section of single track that has been developed in the last two trail building sessions. The trail building session starts at 18:30 and runs into 20:00. Please bring along a spade and / or a rake. It is best to come dressed in long trousers, because we are likely to be working in the vicinity of brambles and it would be wise to bring along some gardening gloves together with something to drink.

See you there,

Andrew

Scottish Cycling Regional School of Racing - Aviemore 14th August

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 30th July

This weeks Sprogs coaching session (U12 group) will run from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs (U16 group) will run from 19:00 to 20:30. We are planning to for the Yoofs group to take a ride this week, so please bring along something to drink.

Next Tuesday will be the next of our series of trail building sessions. Please come along at 18:30 and join in. Don't forget to bring a spade and / or a rake, gardening gloves, suitable clothes and something to drink.

The next session in the Scottish Cycling Regional School of Racing Programme is a Mountain Bike session being held at Cathkin Braes Country Park in the South of Glasgow near Castlemilk, which will also be the venue for the 2014 Commonwealth Games Mountain Bike Race. The aim of the session is to allow riders the opportunity to practice and learn some inside tips for the upcoming round of the Scottish Cross Country Mountain Bike (http://www.sxc.org.uk/) series being held in the park on the 9th of August. The Glasgow RDC, Rab Wardell will be leading the coaching activities on the day and Paul Newnham the Scottish Mountain Bike Talent Team coach for Scotland will be helping out. The session will be open to riders aged 12 to 18 year olds (under 12’s will e considered based on ability) and will begin at 10am and finish at 3pm with a break for lunch which will not be provided. Please get in touch with Robert Wardell on robert.wardell@scottishcycling.org.uk 07508 040 069 if you would like to take part.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 23rd July

Coaching is back on for both groups from this week onwards. As usual, the Sprogs (U12) group will run from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs (U16) group will run from 19:00 to 20:30. I am planning to run the Yoofs coaching session on the new singletrack section that was established through our trail building work at the start of July.

Have you all been following the Tour de France on TV? If not, it's well worth a watch this week as the race goes through the Alps - it's usually on 7-8pm on ITV4. Talking of racing, Jack and Ewan were up in Innerleithen this weekend for the British MTB Champs and both turned in impressive performances - more details are on the blog. We also saw Liam Killeen and Oli Beckingsale going head to head for the senior championship.

British XC Champs

This weekend saw the British XC Championships take place at Innerleithen. The course
was combination of an unforgiving and gruelling climb followed a long, menacingly technical descent. The Drumlanrig Rik's Bike Shed team were represented by Ewan Clark and Jack Taylor.

Ewan's race got of to a superb start, entering the forest in third place despite a very stong field in the Junior race. From then on, he rode well to complete the race in fourth place. Jack too had a good race, making his return after the injury he collected at the Scottish Champs last month. He finished in tenth place - hs best ever national result. The photograph above shows the start of Jack's race in the Youth category.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 2nd July

This Thursday's sessions are on at the usual times; the Sprogs run from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs run from 19:00 to 20:30. This week, the Yoofs will be aiming to ride the complete red route, so please take along something to drink and turn up at 18:45 to allow plenty time for registration and bike checking before the ride. The Sprogs coaching will take place on the 4X style race course that was set up for the Go-Ride at the Castle event and Rik will kick things off by covering race starts.

As per the information last week, we plan for the Sprogs to run on every Thursday during the summer holidays whilst the Yoofs will have a two week break before returning to weekly sessions for the rest of the season. Details of the summer coaching timetable will be posted on the blog later this week - these are already up on the club notice board in the Drumlanrig Stableyard together along with with our Go-Ride Clubmark certificates.

Finally, thanks to everyone who turned up for the trail building this evening - I'm sure you'll agree that we carved out an impressive length of brand new singletrack for one evenings work. For those who can spare the time. Rik is running another session next Tuesday starting at 18:30.

Trail building session 30th June 18:30 -20:00

Rik is running a trail building session tomorrow night and we are looking for volunteers from the club to come along and join in. If you can help out, please turn up at Rik's Bike at the Castle at 18:30. The session will last until about 8pm and your help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the short notice - we do like to keep you on your toes though!

Don't forget to bring a spade, rake, gardening gloves, wear suitable clothing and bring something to drink.

Drumlanrig Dirt Crit Race Event Summary

The race event that we held last Saturday was great success - well done to everyone that took part. Here are a few pictures to record the action.



A summary of lap counts is given below for each of the riders




Under 16's event
30 Jordan (7 laps)

Under 14's event
20 Morgan (8 laps)
21 Ruaraidh (6)
22 Hamish (7)

Under 12's event
10 Rian (6 laps)
11 Cameron S (6)
12 Cameron P (4)
13 Guy P (6)
14 Adam (7)
15 Eoghain (5)
16 Callum (5)
17 Kyle (5)
19 Lizzie (4)
18 Mona (4)

Under 10's event
2 Campbell (1 lap)
3 Fergus (2)
4 Fraser (4)
5 Kyle (5)
6 Greg (1)
7 Kyle S (6)
8 Ariana (2)
9 Connor (7)
40 Polly (1)
41 Corey (3)
42 Rebecca (1 lap)

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 25th June

This Thursday's sessions are on at the usual times; the Sprogs run from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs run from 19:00 to 20:30. This week for the Yoofs, we are planning to run a session on the descender race course that was set up for the Go-Ride at the Castle event but thundered off. It is getting close to our last chance to use this before it goes back to nature and it should be really good fun.

Over the summer, our current plans are for the Sprogs to run on every Thursday whilst the Yoofs will have a two week break before returning to weekly sessions for the rest of the season. Watch out for more details of the summer program next week. By the way, as promised earlier, the aim for the Yoofs next week will be to ride the whole of the red route.

Drumlanrig Dirt Crit (updated information)

Updated information on Drumlanrig Dirt Crit (posted Thursday 18th June 17:00)

I am afraid that Drumlanrig Rik's Bike Shed cycling club have been forced to alter the format of Dirt Crit Race that we are having at the Castle this Saturday. This is because we have been unable to appoint a race commissar in order to register the race with British Cycling. We apologise to all concerned for the late notice and will return any payments that have been made. Don't be disappointed though, because the good news is that with the help of Scottish Cycling, we are still going to hold a race event at Drumlanrig this Saturday and you are very much invited to attend. This will be a coach led racing event. The difference between this and the Dirt Crit is that the race will be run as a coaching session with entrants remaining under the supervision of the Drumlanrig / Scottish Cycling coaching team throughout the event. Don't worry though, we'll keep you all entertained with additional fun activities!

Sign on for the event will be at 10am and we plan to start the activities with a warm up and pre-ride at 10:30am so please aim to arrive for 09:45. For non-members / season ticket holders, there will be a nominal £2 parking charge payable at the Castle kiosk. Please get in touch by reply if you have any further questions. I am on 0775 284 1935 and Rik's Bike Shed can be called on 01848 330 080.

We look forward to seeing you there.


Here are details of the Drumlanrig Dirt Crit Youth MTB race on the 20th June 2009. Click on the images for a full screen view - watch this blog post for updates to the race and race day travel and parking instructions. We are looking for volunteers to help with the marshalling on the day - please get in touch with Rik if you would be able to help out.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 18th June

Just a reminder about this weeks coaching sessions at Drumlanrig. The U12 Sprogs group will meet between 17:15 and 18:30 and the Yoofs U12 group will meet at the Castle between 19:00 and 20:30. With the Drumlanrig Dirt Crit just days away, we will devote our time to a pre-ride of the race route to give everyone their best chance of doing well in the race. More information can be found about the race at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/drumlanrig-dirt-crit.html and you are still welcome to hand in entry forms at the start or end of Thursday's sessions. Sign on for the race is at 10:00 on Saturday. We will be looking for volunteers to help with course marshalling on the day; if you would be prepared to help out in this way, please either let me know by reply, or tell Michelle when you sign on.

Many of you have asked about when our club cycling shirts will be available and we discussed this at our committee meeting last night. The good news here is that we are hoping to have the shirt design and order forms available on Saturday at the Cirt Crit Race. The club plans to sell the shirts at a discounted rate to encourage everyone to buy one.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 11th June

With just a week and a half to go until the Drumlanrig Dirt, our focus in the coaching sessions will be turning towards race preparation. As ever, the U12 Sprogs group will meet between 17:15 and 18:30 and the Yoofs U12 group will meet at the Castle between 19:00 and 20:30. More information can be found about the race at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/drumlanrig-dirt-crit.html and you are welcome to hand in entry forms at the start or end of Thursday's sessions.

As some of you might be aware, the Scottish Circuit Race Championships are taking place on Saturday the 28th June at Erskine Harbour. Further to this, Johnstone Jets, the local youth cycling club are running a circuit race for age groups U14, U12, U10 and U8. For further information, see the Johnstone Jets web-site at http://www.johnstone-jets.org.uk/erskine_circuit_race.htm. This is a good chance for anyone who is interested in road racing to give it a go in closed road environment.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 4th June

To: Drumlanrig Go-Ride Riders and Parents

Continuing with our summer term timetable of events, club sessions are on this Thursday for both the Sprogs (U12) and the Yoofs (U16) groups. The Sprogs starts at 1715 and finishes at 1830 and the Yoofs group will start at 19:00, finishing at 20:30. Please make every effort to arrive 15 minutes before these times to allow for offloading, registration etc. Richard Lord will be here again from Scottish Cycling and the Yoofs group will be going out on a ride. Our aim this week is to tackle the second half of the red route.

Next Tuesday is the second Tuesday of the month and this means that it is Trailbuilding Tuesday. Trailbuilding starts off from Rik's Bike Shed and runs from 1830 to 2000. Everyone in the club is asked to come along and take part in these sessions in order to help pay pack the generosity of the Drumlanrig Estate for letting us meet on their land and use their trails free of charge. All you need to do is come along suitably dressed with a spade and/or a rake. Come along - it's fun.

Don't forget about our Dirt Crit U16's race on the 20th June. I've just spoken with Michelle and entries have started to come in. All Sprogs and Yoofs are encouraged to come along and have a go in the race. More info can be found on http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/drumlanrig-dirt-crit.html. As well as the racing on the 20th June, the Root Rats club will become the seventh club in Scotland to be presented with its British Cycling Go-Ride Accreditation. This represents the culmination of almost two years of work by the club, kicked off by Rik when he went on a British Cycling Level 2 Coaching course, and ensures that the activities we run are of the highest standard.

Finally, if you have a look on the club blog www.rootrats.blogspot.com , you will be able to see a collage of the pictures that we took at the coaching sessions last week. There are also a few photos of club riders from the Dumfries and Castle Douglas town centre crit races that took place on the 23rd and 24th May.

Coaching Session - 28th May 2009

Here are some of the photos that were taken by Jack and Jane at the two coaching sessions last Thursday evening. The Sprogs group were covering mounting on the grass by the main drive and the Yoofs group covered gear selection starting off on the main drive and then moving to the "Chimes" loop. You can double-click on the picture to make it go full screen.

Dumfries Criterium Race - 24th May 2009

Here are some photos from the Dumfries Crit race last Sunday. Well done to Jamie, Ariana and Ewan and Jack for doing so well in the race.

Castle Douglas Criterium - 23rd May 2009

Here are a few pictures of the action from last Saturday's CD crit. Well done to Ariana, Jamie and Jack for giving 100% in this race.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 28th May

Coaching is on as per usual this Thursday night at the Castle. The U12 Sprogs group runs from 5:15pm to 6:30 and the U16 Yoofs group will run from 7pm until 8:30pm. This week the focus for the Yoofs will be gear selection and we will do the coaching on a combination grass areas near the car park and the "Chimes" single track loop up in the woods. Once again, we'll have Richard Lord here with us from Scottish Cycling to help out with the coaching.

I have attached a poster and entry form for our Dirt Crit Race, which is on the 20th June. Our coaching sessions will be working towards this race over the coming month and we are hoping that most riders from the club will take this opportunity to enter the race. Please feel free to circulate the poster to anyone else that you know who might be interested in the race, or put it up in your local shop / hall. Watch http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/drumlanrig-dirt-crit.html for more details / updates as the event approaches.

Finally, pay attention those of you in the club with old, damaged or unfashionable helmets. Rik has a special offer in his shop to club members only for the Bell "Ukon" helmet. This is a good chance to get yourselves protected at a knock down price.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 21st May

Both coaching groups will be back in action this week at Drumlanrig. The Sprogs (U12) group starts at 5:15 pm and finishes at 6:30, whilst the Yoofs will start at 7pm and go on until 8:30. We will have Richard Lord from Scottish Cycling with us for the evening for the coaching sessions and he has put together a session covering group riding, manuals and bunny hops.

This week is our last chance to put names down for the Fort William XC Sprint in June, so if you are interested, please let us know. There are more details of this event on the club blog at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/scottish-cycling-youth-xc-sprint-fort.html.

There is town centre road racing on in both Dumfries and Castle Douglas this weekend as a part of the Original Bicycle Festival. Come along and support club riders Ewan Clark and Jack Taylor as they fight it out some of the top roadies in the country. See http://www.originalbicyclefestival.co.uk/Bikefest-Events.html#EventTwentyTwo for more details and times of the race. To get a flavour of town centre racing, why not watch the Tour Series city centre racing this Friday night at 7pm on ITV4.

Race Report for SXC3

The venue for yesterday's 3rd round SXC mountain bike race was Laggan Wolftrax near Newtonmore in the northern reaches of Perthshire. The course consisted of a 2 mile climb on a mixture of forest road and natural singletrack followed by an equally long singletrack descent punctuated by large sections of rock slab pavement requiring commitment from the riders.

Ewan Clark was first off for the Drumlanrig Riks Bike Shed team. Wearing the yellow series leader number board, Ewan was out to consolidate his position as top Junior. However, Sunday's race saw on form rider Kenta Gallagher take first place with an outstanding performance leaving Ewan to take a well earned second place and strengthen his position as the series lead.

Next off were Jack (pictured, centre) and Ally Taylor in the U16 Youth category. Jack was standing in the ditch when the race was set off meaning that he had to sprint hard to catch the last place rider. A solid effort from there on meant that Jack had made it back up to seventh place, his eventual finishing position at the end of the three lap race. Coming back after some time off the bike, brother Ally rode a steady race from start to finish coming in just off the pace. Meanwhile, veteran campaigner Graeme Scott had to retire from the race after his chain had snapped.

The Drumlanrig Root Rats were represented in the Primary School races by lone rider, Cameron Scott. Cameron showed his strength by powering into the race lead on the first climb and fought hard throughout the higly competitive race to secure a well earned fourth place.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Yoofs - Thursday 14th May

Our session this Thursday is due to be a ride in the woods with myself and Graeme Scott. Depending on numbers and conditions, we are hoping to cover the 2008 SXC / NPS race route, which is based on the first half of the red route. Please ensure that you bring along something to drink.

Don't forget about the Original Bicycle Festival Events. This weekend sees the Stepping Stanes Mini Festival at Heathall Forest - for more details see our blog (http://www.rootrats.blogspot.com/), or the Stepping Stanes web-site (http://www.steppingstanes.co.uk/) and next weekend sees town centre racing coming to Castle Douglas and Dumfries.

This coming Tuesday is our informal Q&A session on all things mechanical so come along with your equipment issues and take advantage of Rik's free advice. The session starts at 18:30 and will run on until 20:30 and you are free to come and go as you please during that time.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 7th May

Firstly, a big thanks to everyone that turned up for tonight's trail building in the rain. We managed to drain the whole of the red route first descent - well done. As a reward to you all, the next trail building session is 18:30-20:30 on the 2nd June. In the meantime, look out for our next Tuesday evening event running from 18:30 to 20:30 on the 19th May; this will be a Q&A session hosted by Rik on all matters mechanical - a must if you have any burning questions on cycling kit and maintenance.

To make things easier, Rik and I have decided to name the coaching groups the "Sprogs" (~U12) and the "Yoofs" (~U16); if you come to Rik's sessions just after five, then you are in the Sprogs group and if you come to mine, then your are in the Yoofs group. This weeks Sprogs session starts at 17:15 and finishes at 18:30, and for the Yoofs, the session runs from 19:00 to 20:30. This week, the Yoofs will do some coaching on the skills loop.

This weekend sees the Dalbeattie Fun Day (with MTB races ) starting at the Dalbeattie Seven Stanes car park - see the blog (www.rootrats.blogspot.com) or the Original Bicycle Festival Web-site for more details. Further to this, we have just got news of an event going down (and up) at the Extreme Valley Rider's Bike Park in Newmilns. This is the EVR Jump Jam Festival, which is a jumping competition for ages 12 and up. Some more details are posted on our blog and on the Scottish Cycling web-site under MTB and BMX. If you would like an entry form, please e-mail Richard Lord; if you are planning to go and can help with marshalling, please let him know.

Jump Jam Festival at EVR in Newmilns

EVR Bike club and Scottish Cycling are running a Jump Jam Festival on the Sunday the 10th May at Newmilns Bikepark and there will be 100 worth of prize money given away for the top riders and loads of top burgers for you to eat! So, come along and lets make this a really exciting new event!!!!! The event is open to youths, juniors and senior Mountain bike AND BMXers. The event is open to none club members too.
Time: Free Practice is 10.30-12noon Event proper: 1-3pm
Entry £10 Contact Richard Lord of Scottish Cycling for more details on 07908 672652.

Original Bicycle Festival Events

By now, you should have all heard about the original bicycle festival, but just in case you haven't, this note points out a coupld of events that should be of particular interest to club members. These are the Dalbeattie Fun day on the 10th May and the Stepping Stanes Mini Festival on the 16th May. See http://www.originalbicyclefestival.co.uk/ for full details of the festival.

Stepping Stanes Mini Festival - 16th May
This event includes coaching and a Dirt Crit race and a parents race - se the Stepping Stanes web-site, http://www.steppingstanes.co.uk/ for details and entry form.

Dalbeattie Fun Day - 10th May

Starts from the Seven Stanes car park at Dealbeattie. The event includes fun activities and races with entry on the day. Click on the image to the left for full details.

Scottish Cycling Youth XC Sprint - Fort William Saturday 6th June

Scottish Cycling Youth XC Sprint - Fort William Saturday 6th June

Scottish Cyling have invited the club to enter 8 riders in the above race. This takes place in Fort William during the June round of the MTB World Cup, which includes downhill, 4X and the XC sprint races. If you are interested in entering the XC sprint, can you please get in touch with Andrew or Rik for further details.

See http://www.fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk/ for more details of the World Cup event in Fort William.

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 30th April 2009

Drumlanrig Root Rats coaching is on again this week for both primary and secondary age groups. The primary group starts at 17:15 and finishes at 18:30 and this weeks session will focus on cornering. The secondary secondary group starts at 19:00 and finishes at 20:30. As per usual, please try to turn up a bit before this to allow time to get bikes ready, sign on etc - 17:00 and 18:45 would be ideal.

For the secondary age group, this week is the second of our led rides in the forest and we have both Graeme Scott and Richard Lord with us. We are planning to cover last years SXC and NPS race route on our ride, taking in the "Black Alders" section of the red route together with the "Up First Down Climb". Please ensure that you dress suitably for the weather and remember to take along a water bottle and something to eat in case you get hungry.

There are quite a few events coming up in May under the Original Bicycle Festival including a fun day at Dalbeattie, Town Centre Crit races in Dumfries and CD, and Danny Macaskill of YouTube fame will be in town. See their web-site for more details. As soon as the OBF is out of the way, we will be on the run in to the Drumlanrig Dirt Crit under 16's race on the 20th June. More details of these events and more will be posted on our blog in the next few days.

Talking of the blog, there two reports have just been added to cover photos from the Newmilns mini DH and the results of last Sundays SXC race at Aberfoyle. Take a look for yourself below.

Race Report for SXC2

The club was well represented at the second round of the SXC mountain bike race series in Aberfoyle. Well done to everyone who took part and to the various support teams.

Cameron Scott, and Jamie and Ariana Willoughby entered the primary schools races. These races were set on a challenging grass circuit and all three riders confirmed their status as a strong contenders with podium finishes in their respective age groups. First off was Ariana giving one hundred percent to gain an impressive third place finish in the P1-3 girls category. Jamie was next to go in the P4&5 group and he put in a fantastic effort to seal second place representing a satisfying improvement over last months result at Kirroughtree. Cameron (left) had to fight hard to hold his place amongst a strong P6&7 field and his efforts were rewarded with a magnificent third place finish.

The senior course was a mixture of tough climbs followed by steep and technical singletrack with a mixture of thick mud and slippy roots. Ewan Clark was first off bearing the yellow number board of the Junior series leader. Ewan got away to a good start and held the lead for the first two laps to eventually finish in second place. Next off was Youth rider, Jack Taylor. Jack really enjoyed the course and finished in seventh place in an increasingly strong Youth line up. Graeme Scott completed the four lap Veterans race to finish a highly creditable twenty fifth.

Photos from Newmilns Mini DH