Elite riders on a high at pinnacle event

Aug 10 2010 by Denis Brown, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

PERTH’S spectacular Kinnoull Hill provided a highly challenging and dramatic backdrop for Sunday’s national mountainbiking championship.

One of a series in the annual Scottish Cross Country (SXC) Mountain Bike Championships, the event attracted 250 competitors, ranging from local novices to our top riders contending in the elite race.

Elite winner was current Scottish national champion, Dave Henderson, a Lothian and Borders firefighter.

Local organisers, Alistair McKendrick of Perth City Cycles, and peer, Paul Innes, spent six months setting the wheels in motion for the premier event, the first of its’ calibre ever held in the Fair City.

On Saturday at 6.30am the pair were on the hill marking out the four-mile course, which featured more climbs than any other race in the SXC series.

Watched by about 300 spectators, riders faced 900 feet of gruelling climbs on each lap, with elite riders undertaking up to six laps tackling the equivalent of 1.5 Munros and stretched to the vertical limit.

The route led to the iconic tower, along to the cliff-top stone table, across to Barnhill and returning to the summit before a furious downhill stretch to the finish line near Jubilee car park.

“The day was a total success, the riders gave us some very positive feedback about the course and location, plus we were incredibly lucky with the weather,” said Innes, who came 12th in the veterans’ category.

Senior countryside ranger, Niall Lobley, the woodland park’s key contact with organisers and who had the honour of awarding prizes, said riders had demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm.

“It was the first time we’ve had an event of this size at Kinnoull Hill and my understanding is that in addition to providing the most spectacular backdrop of any SXC event, it was also the most challenging,” he said.

“We’re hopeful we can hold further events of this type, the woodland park is there for everyone and there’s no conflict with mixed users; we had plenty of marshals on site and there were only one or two minor complaints.”

He said a second wave of workers were up on the hill clearing course materials yesterday, with a final sweep scheduled later this week to remove any trace of the event.

While Perth City Cycles team member, Michael Boyd, came first in the sports category, team leader, Alistair McKendrick, did not get the chance to saddle up.

“I was supposed to race at 11am, which would have been my first race of the season after injury, but as co-organiser I was just too busy to get on my bike,” McKendrick said.

“But everybody loved the track, some of the elite riders told me it was the best course they’d ever ridden.”