Roadtrip 2011; 2011 UCI Downhill World Cup; Fort William

So another summer holiday and as always here in Scotland was the destination,
5 days around Fort William with Friends then heading north alone for some me time on some of Scotland's most spectacular beaches and coastline,
First up getting all this lot into a wee Ford Fiesta-home for the next 12 days...


Heading north up the A9 means missing the scenery of Glencoe but also the slow traffic, there are still plenty of places to stop off at on the A9 to admire the views...




We all keep in touch on facebook but it was great seeing Steve from London and Chris from Yorkshire again, local friends Andy and Ben,Martin & Sarah too on the Friday,
Camped again at the usual spot in the Nevis Range Campsite,
Thursday was spent out and about on the bikes around Fort William doing some site seeing...
(curling rinks)








Shopping- at the `Nam Shop`...


And after visiting the Whisky shop some whisky sampling...




Followed by some beachriding and big grins all round on the pugsley...


Friday was a daytrip up to Arisaig and Glenfinnan, but thats for the next post,
By friday evening the campsite was near full...






And time for some beers,chat and some guitar by Steve...chorus by midges..


Saturday and Sunday we cycled along to Aonach Mor,
Only one bike here with 4" tyres...


Saturday was Downhill Qualifying then 4X, This years 4X racing was excellent with a lot of passes and a few crashes to entertain the crowds...


As were the usual spectating tree kids,can you see him? (click on pic to enlarge)


Sunday; Downhill finals...
This year was the 10th anniversary of the Fort William round of the UCI Downhill World Cup, over the years there has been some amazing racing and story's from what is rated as the longest and toughest Downhill track in the World Cup series,
Here is a great review of famous on track incidents and off track stuff that maybe shouldnt have been filmed -:)


Its hard to show even on film how steep and rough the track is and just how fast the riders get down the hill, one mistake and your into a world of pain with huge rocks off line waiting to catch you,










watch out in the filming i did of a guy jumping over this tree stump in the woods, its nuts!, but in a controlled and calculated way...


I rode the hill a few years back when i was really fit and only managed 3 runs before i couldnt hold onto the bars anymore from fatigue,and i was taking over twice the time set by the competitors, you freewheel a lot of the track feathering the brakes as it is so steep in places, trying to keep breathing and pick lines,
its like a rollercoaster- thinking your gonna die any second but full of adrenalin,
How these guys and girls are riding off the brakes and also peddling still on the motorway towards the end is beyond belief,
We had a great affy walking down the track watching the racing,
Steve is very proud of his Scottish ancestry and his rights to wear Leslie tartan...


And Andys walking poles made a lot of sense for crossing the wet boggy areas,
i will deft have a set with me next year, there was a lot of fans with muddy arses!...


The noise at the bottom is unreal as each faster qualifying rider comes down into the areana...






Once again this year a wee film of some of the most skilled men and woman in cycling...oh and cheered on by the loudest fans on the world cup circuit!...