Clarion members at Laggan in the SXC Round 6

David Mason says it was another great day's racing was enjoyed by five Clarion members at Laggan in the SXC Round 6.

Saturday practice day had fine weather to try the course out. It proved to be more of a natural downhill route than cross country and had a very long continuous technical descent that left little or no room for error. After the first practice lap there were a number of competitors questioning the safety of the course and whether they would race, however after a quick change of tyres from fast rolling to mud the second lap was much more comfortable.

Job done and off to the pub for a hearty last supper before racing on Sunday !

There were however some lingering safety concerns by the organizers. Following a risk assessment on the Saturday evening, where it was assessed that some of the technical sections were inaccessible to emergency services, the course was revised. So we woke on the Sunday morning to 2 surprises - a new course and the fact that winter had arrived with a bang and it was freezing; the show must go on though.

Jamie Mason (12) was first off in the Juvenile race. The revised race was all on natural trails and the course was definitely "old school" cross country. It had not been ridden on much so you had to find your own line and there were plenty of options. Jamie coped very well with the still very tricky downhill and only had one serious unplanned dismount.

David Mason had a very good performance in the Open category, the short technical course favored him and allowed him to overtake on the more difficult sections in a very untechnical rough way. Mind you those same riders then blasted him on the uphill fire road. It was a great course if a little short.

Another solid performance by Jonathan Buckley in the Master race pulling in a great 4th place. He really enjoyed the course despite having to do 5 laps.

The Primary Schools' races were every bit as thrilling as the adults' with 50 competitors. Great to see so many kids racing and to a very high standard.

Cameron Mason had a difficult start getting gridded at the back in a group of 16 but worked his way up to a good finish.

Ryan Ewing made his SXC debut on a very long course with some of the best young mountain bikers in Scotland. He toughed it through and had a very warm welcome at the finish line from fellow competitors. Ryan's now very keen to attend the final in the series at Drumlanrig on the 19th September.

A fantastic effort by all the Clarion riders especially the younger ones.

Results were..
Jamie Mason, Juvenile, 17th
David Mason, Open, 6th
Cameron Mason, P4-5, 6th
Ryan Ewing, P6-7, 6th
Jonathan Buckley, Masters, 4th

Photo - Ryan, Jamie and cameron