Race Report || SDA Round 4 || Ae Forest 2013

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Ben Cathro — No Comments ↓

Race Report || SDA Round 4 || Ae Forest 2013

The one and only SDA race series.

Last year I had a tough race at Ae Forest SDA. It was the final round and I was in contention for winning the series. It was between myself and Fergus Lamb and it was down to the wire! Whoever won the race would win the series. I crashed on my first run and gave myself the WORST dead leg of my life, seriously never experienced anything like it before. Strapped it up, smashed some pain killers and bashed out my second run, I crossed the line and posted a time on the exact same second as Ferg’s first run time! Scratch that, the exact same tenth of a second! No wait, the exact same hundredth of a second! He beat me….. by….. 0.003 seconds. Gutted.

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Race Report || Scottish Champs || Dunkeld 2013

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Ben Cathro — No Comments ↓

Race Report || Scottish Champs || Dunkeld 2013

When the 2013 calendar was released at the start of the year I took down the dates and started punching them into my calendar. When I got to the Scottish Champs I noticed a severe clash of interests. My girlfriend’s brother’s wedding fell on the same weekend…. Damn! I wrote off being able to race but as details for the wedding started rolling in I realised, if I managed to survive the wedding, I could make it to the race on Sunday morning. Race Entered!

The tropical conditions made for amazing riding! Photo – Paul Cram Photography

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Race Report – SDA Killin Round 3

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Ben Cathro — No Comments ↓

Race Report – SDA Killin Round 3

So it’s been a while since the last blog and I promise there will be a roundup of the last month or so appearing soon with some sweet pic’s and all that jazz.

Until then lets get back to the race report. The Scottish Downhill Association took the 3rd round to the bare grassy hillside of Killin, a decision that was not liked by all as there is no uplift and the track suffered in the past due to rain. Well I can tell you all now that the track and the race was awesome! The track was really challenging in spots but nice and flowing everywhere else. A great combination that kept everyone smiling and on their toes at the same time (most ended up on their heads at some point as well.)

View of the track from the Sick Skills pits

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Race Report: SDA Glencoe Round 2

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Ben Cathro — 1 Comment ↓

Race Report: SDA Glencoe Round 2

I’ve raced at Glencoe every year since it’s inception and it has consistently been THE most challenging track in the country. Steep, rough, wild and very technical. When I heard that the snow melt had left the main track too sketchy to race I was a little disappointed. The decision was made to run the race on the red route which everyone assumed would be a walk in the park…. we were wrong.

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Race Report: BDS Round 2 Fort William

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Ben Cathro — No Comments ↓

Race Report: BDS Round 2 Fort William

Nevis Range opened their wooden side door to the masses on the Monday before the race. I was up there with Sick Skills bright an early for some top notch coaching on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. It was great fun working with some quality riders and it also gave me a good gauge of the track before the race. Sneaky practice masquerading as work is where it’s at. It does have it’s downsides as after many runs my first blister of the year blossomed.