Strathpuffer lite

A Velobike this time will be a Raleigh MTB Team in Blue and Yellow with polished alloy suspension forks and SS gear tensioned by Ghost gear.............oh and red tyres, mustn't forget the red tyres :LOL:
 
No pics :roll: too busy racing/sleeping/dying. More later......
 
Velo said he'd do a aftermath. What I will say though is that it was fantastic, many highs and lows but definitely doable again. In fact its the one thing I will try to do next year :D
 
Velo is alive but Velo came pretty much last bar a couple of others more unfit than me :LOL:

Summary:

Loaded up bike and kit onto car at Straiton Retail Park besides my hometown, drove ten yards under a max height barrier and ripped my bike and the bike rack clean off the car..............not a good start :?

Bike OK, rack not but successfully reloaded and headed north, wow what a long journey but campsite found, tent set up and registration completed :D

Vibe was good, event was small, live music, catering tent, friendly people, general confusion as to how long or tough the course was. Assembled for race Le Mans style, rules explained such as they were then we were off. I was the last of the pack, proper bearded slacker SS'er :roll:

First 3rd of race was a long steady but smoothish timber road climb, it did seem to get longer each lap but it was not a pain. Next 3rd was a rock garden of bed rock, rocks loose and dug in and a bit rough and technical. The metal skeleton sits in the middle of this on the bed rock, not my favourite section but Kaiser loved it. Last 3rd was smooth'ish fast flowing single track through the woods culminating in a 1 mile steep very fast descent on smooth trail occasionally cut across with cross drains which could damage a wheel if you were not careful :shock: :cool:

Both of us slept through most of the darkness but we did set out together at 2'ish in the dark for 1 x scary dark lap. 2 thirds round the sun came up, a special moment for me.

In total I did 4 laps (very poor), Kaiser did 9 (very good), Rumble who I've forgotten to mention did 6 (he was suffering from cramp). Best solo male on a geared bike did 19 laps :shock: , best solo male on an SS did 17 :shock: :shock: didn't have a beard though so not proper SS. Best solo female full stop did 12 on an SS :shock:. 3 fastest laps were held by one guy from the best pair at 28 minutes 11 seconds :shock: :shock: :shock:

There were Young and Old there, youngest being 9, a 10-11 year old past me on my final lap claiming it was his 10th :shock:

Fabulous time had by all, great low key event, very good vibe. I'd do it again but next time for me at least I'm going geared and with more suspension. Kaiser would return too and still on an SS but even he conceded some front bounce would be good.

Highly recommended but no pics, too busy doing stuff :D
 
Just to add to what Velo has said. The course was perfect, a nice singlespeed doable climb got you some good height which left you to enjoy the downhill :D Some really nice sections with some clever obstacles again nothing too hard but enough to keep you smiling. Words can not do the location and scenery justice, it was very emotional and inspiring riding as the sunset set on the Highlands,riding at night with a big orange moon and nothing can pick you up more than the sun coming up as you ride :cool: :cool: I'll remember this one for a long time and I think I get why folks rave about the 24hrl one in winter :eek:
 
Toward the end of the event due to fatigue I swore this would be my last SS competative event :shock:

Ignore that, that was just fatigue talking, however I'll be less competative on SS in future as it does knacker me big style. Time for lower gearing and more laid back comfort, 1.5:1 i think, pull back bars and a comfy saddle :roll: :LOL:
 
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