Fort William SDA Rd5 2010

Fort William played host to the last round of the 2010 SDA series in what can only be described as typical September Scottish weather. Wind and heavy showers plagued Saturdays practice but the sun did make a few appearances, so I was told, as I didn’t get there till the Sunday. After putting in a long day at a wedding on Saturday in the beautiful sun down Innerleithen way, arriving up at the Anoch in overcast cold conditions wasn’t what I’d been looking forward to.

Kenta Gallagher is more known for his XC skills

It’s the last round of the 2010 season and a few of the categories were tight and could go either way so who won what and who got nowt. Well if you make the podium that’s not the way the SDA do things, as it was good to see the prizes/money going these guys and galls going down well with the riders who were really chuffed at what they got. Big thanks to all the sponsors – Orange, Mojo, Hope, AlpineBikes, Hotlines, Burgtec and many more.

Sam Herd takes the juvenile title

On to the racing then, track was pretty much the same old same, seems to me to be one big rock slab from the deer fence to the trees now, anyway apart from going into the trees and over the boards, the first section of this was by passed and you had a huck to the left off the board walk or a slower route round the end avoiding the tree stump. This led you down a section of thick soft mud with the odd big rock and tree stump to catch you out; the rest of the track is what it’s always been.

Wee Adam Hughes riding his Orange 5 one to watch for next year

So who won what, well the juvenile champ this year is the consistent Sam Herd riding for Perth City Cycles with second place going to Bikeworx rider Innes Graham, third place went to Drew Carters.

Fraser pinned as always taking the youth title

Youth category has been a tight affair this season but All Terrain Cycles pocket rocket Fraser McGlone just pipped Joe Connell second place riding for Alpine Bikes by 3 points Greg Gilfillan took 3rd place.

Lewis Buchanan back on home soil to take the win today

Junior’s this weekend saw the return of the loose canon Lewis Buchanan from his big WC season where he finished 3rd overall in the junior standings. Last weekend he picked up the bronze medal at the Worlds in MSA in Canada to cap off a pretty good first season in the top flight. This weekend it was all about the SDA and Lewis wasn’t in the running for that championship, albeit that didn’t stop him winning this weekend though.

Allan Findlay winner of the junior title for his Borderline/Orange team

It was Borderline/Orange rider Alan Findlay who was to take the junior title this year with All Terrain Cycles Andrew Kelly in second place, Ben Millward took third and best improved rider of the year.

Chris Whitfield got the better of brother Jed to take the masters win

The master’s title this year has been a battle between the Whitfield brothers; Chris took the win today and the title for All Terrain Cycles with Jed having to settle for second place, Mark Weightman was third in the series overall.

Iain brought his new Nukeproof Scalp over for the last round and put her on the podium

The Veteran title this year went to the globetrotting Glentress rider Neil Wilson who wasn’t here this weekend to pick up the cup due to him being in Brazil at the World Masters. Blahblah took second place overall with blah blah in third.  Iain Macintyre made an appearance this weekend with the new Nukeproof Scalp and promptly stuck it on the podium with a good second place behind Alistair MacLennan, lets hope next season he gets across the pond more as the SDA misses you big man.

Joe hucking of the boardwalk to take the win

Senior title this year went to yet another All Terrain Cycles rider Sam Flanagan with second place going to High Line Racing’s James Shirley, Shaun Conway took third place.
Ladies overall title was won by Uplift Scotland’s Bex Reilly who also took the win today, second place today and overall went to Fox Racing’s Angela Coates, third place in the series went to Emma McRobb.

Bex Rielly keeping it steady down the rocks to take the win and overall title

Perth City Cycles rider Ben Hall took the Expert title this year with Devinci’s Dave Duggan in second place, yet another All Terrain Cycles rider Andy Phillips took third place.

Ben "Huggy" Hall always good for a laugh but his riding is seriously fast

Down to the Elite’s now and it was Perth City Cycles Fergus Lamb who took the overall title from MTBCut.tv giant Ben Cathro in second place, his team mate Joe Barnes got a good solid third place overall.

Fergus Lamb takes the SDA Elite title this year for his Perth City Cycles team

So that’s it for another year and hope it’s as good next year, as always a big shout out to all the parents and people who give up their time to run this series, and to all the guy’s galls who marshal’s as without them you wouldn’t have a race series to be proud off.

Full results can be found here