Glentress 7

A great end to the season

This was my third time riding the Tweedlove Glentress 7.

It is an absolutely fantastic event that has been running for many years. Essentially, it involves a mass start and seven hours of racing. This year I did it in a pair with my mate Paul, in the men’s combined over 80 years old category. Obviously, this involves only riding half of the time each. Nevertheless, I still covered almost 60kms and climbed over 2000 metres. Furthermore, racing in a pair offers a more sociable relaxed day with time to chat with friends or family who are spectating but also to encourage other riders during your lap out.

I had three friends racing solo for the entire seven hours so they appreciated the encouragement I gave with my cow bell from a chair in my gazebo, whilst I ate and hydrated. As I went first, I ended up doing an extra lap, which gave us 11 laps total, which we were really pleased with, especially as Paul was recovering from a knee injury and it put us in 6th place. I saw a few ERC kits out there on the day and all seemed to be going strong. I was really fortunate that my new skinsuit arrived from Kalas the day prior. It fitted perfect and was comfortable throughout the day.

It is unclear at this stage whether the event will run again but it is always very popular, which is evident by the large number at the mass start in the photo, especially as this only includes half of the riders racing as a pair. I encourage anyone who enjoys mountain biking to have a go the next time the event runs. It would be great to see a few ERC pairs riding!