Vitus First Tracks Head to Tweedlove

 

HEAR ABOUT THEIR FAVOURITE TRAILS & PIT STOPS!

 

 

Pre-Practice Vibe

 

Relaxed – although I hoped our overnight camping spot in a hospital car park was not an omen of things to come!

 

Favourite Trails of the weekend: Cato

 

Stage 1 – “The Beast is Deid” – one of the oldest purpose built downhill trails in the valley – I surprised myself (and the boys!) by how much I loved this steep gravelly trail

 

Stage 6 “Snow Chi Min” – although an absolute beast of a stage I loved the rough and rooty start of Ho Chi Min – (maybe not so much) the brutal climb towards the end which had many a grown man in pain! Shame that this may be the last enduro to include Zoom or Bust due to forest development plans 🙁

 

Favourite Trail: Glyn OB

 

Stage 2 – Gotta love the downhill tracks! Steep as you like and zero pedalling on this bad boy. A little on the short side but lots of fun all the same. I was surprised how dry this was after all the rain.

 

 

Favourite Trail: Jack Devlin

 

Stage 6 – There was a good variety of trails of different lengths. The last stage had a bit of everything though. Flat out at the start and then into countless corners. The pedal was tough and I emptied the tank here, it still wasn’t enough to beat the aul man O’Brien!

 

 

Race Village

 

Located in the grounds of the Park Hotel – easily spotted with the Tweedlove double decker bus! Hot drinks and snacks on hand. The event team were fab — friendly and helpful. Looking at things from ‘the other side of the fence’ so to speak, these guys did a superb job – registration was super efficient and the trails were really well signed and taped too! The feed station was also well stocked with bananas, various cakes, flapjacks, energy gels and bars – for which I was very grateful!!!

 

Favourite Pit Stop

 

Has to be No.1 Peebles Road in Innerleithen. I discovered this gem of a coffee shop a few years ago with some of my other biking buddies and it never disappoints. Riders of all ages cram in round rustic wooden tables and share their days adventure over a hot drink and some of the best food in the valley! Doesn’t matter how dirty your ass is, theres always a warm welcome!!

 

Accommodation

 

Bar our pit stop en route on Thursday evening (mentioned above) we spent the rest of the trip in Rosetta Campsite. Always welcoming to the biking community and a warm hot shower guaranteed (apart from our last night as there was a problem with their system!!). The campsite is literally a 5 minute pedal from the race village (or 2 mins in taxi as I literally couldn’t walk to the pub on Sunday night!!)

 

Post Race Food/Drinks

 

Again – another hidden gem if you find yourself in Peebles – The Green Tree Hotel. Walking past you wouldn’t give it a second glance but it serves the best Scottish Steak pie we have ever tasted at a reasonable price!

 

Results

 

Cato ripped all weekend and pushed herself to the limit. She was rewarded with a win in the E3 women. Jack stepped up to the mark as his first year in seniors with the big dogs, he narrowly missed his target of top 10 and slotted into 11th. Glyn was loving his new Vitus Sommet VRX all weekend and put it top of the podium in the Vet category. A great start to the season by the team and hopefully the way it continues.

 

SPONSORS: Vitus bikes, First Tracks MTB, Wilderness Trail Bikes, Silverfish UK, RaceFace, Spin 11, Niall Clarke Oils & Think Studio

 

Race Report by Catherine O’Brien