Team Wideopenmag alumni Mark Scott joins Joe Parkin and Alex McGuinnis in Flanders for a taste of their infamous cobbles.
We caught up with Mark Scott to find out how the trip to Flanders to battle with the cobbles aboard his Stigmata came about and how it fits into his plans for going after the Enduro World Series season.
How did the trip to Belgium come about?
There was a bit of chit chat back in October at a team meeting and talking about trying to do some media outside of racing. Originally we thought about riding from Belgium to Finale to our team MTB camp but it became quite technical with logistics and it didn’t have much context. I’m glad it worked out the way it did and we got Joe to come along with his experience and knowledge of the area, he can actually speak Flemish too.
Had you ridden cobbles before this trip?
Only the cobbles down to Portobello beach in Edinburgh.
Does the Stigmata make up a fair bit of your training anyway?
Certainly at specific times in the year, mainly early winter. I raced a bit of domestic CX this off season too, so it all came together very well. Although with all this lock down stuff and trails being closed, I’ve kinda been switching between my Blur (XC bike) and Stigmata whilst sussing OS maps and doing a few adventures from home. The Tweed Valley is pretty special for off road missions.
How did that fit into the picture before the World went mad?
My training was all going well, I took a step back after a rough 2019 season and re evaluated with my coach what I felt was missing and got to work on that. I spent a bit more time in the gym and on the trails and managed to race 3-4 races down in NZ before the EWS was due to come around.
Then around 12th March everything changed, NZ and the UK went into lock down on pretty much the same day, so I was lucky Santa Cruz could get me home without any major issues.
Did you change your setup for Belgian cobbles?
Not much to be honest, the Stig is already a bit more capable when it comes to the bumpy terrain, relative to an all out road bike. I just replaced my 40c gravel tyres for some 32c slicks.
How does riding in Belgium compare to the Tweed Valley?
It was actually a couple of degrees warmer believe it or not. It’s certainly has a bit more of an industrial back drop with exposed, flat terrain and shorter and steeper climbs around the Flemish Ardennes. We did a day in the north east of France, where the Roubaix is held, the cobbles in France were the gnarliest, they don’t do much maintenance on those.
Did anyone get the lead out or was it a team effort to rip everyone’s legs on?
Nah, not really, we certainly gave it a nudge or 2 on some of the climbs but it was kinda civilised for most of it.
What got more time, chips with mayo and red sauce or beer?
I’d say the beer. Our Air BnB had a ridiculous stock of the Belgians’ finest.
Are you racing to get back or was it as grim as it looked?
I’m actually dead keen to get back to watch some road racing. I’d love to do a CX race in that region at some point in my bike racing career too.
Will we see you at Paris-Roubaix?
Hopefully as a spectator with a Duvel in hand.
