The Scottish Downhill Champs headed to Fort William and our man Andrew Georgeson came away with the 15-16 category title.
Our man north of the Border, Andrew Georgeson, was at Nevis Range to battle for the 2021 Scottish Downhill Championship title and came away with the gold. With no rain and midgies to deal with, and a local track, it was all about just building the speed for when it mattered.
Find out how the weekend went with Andrew’s race report below.
Photos by Rae McKenzie.
As this track is close to home I knew it pretty well, so the main focus of Saturday was to get up to speed and get comfy on the #Team Wideopenmag Nukeproof Dissent after a few weeks off.
Saturday was a successful day with no mechanicals or crashes, which is an achievement in itself at Fort William. This track doesn’t get any less punishing on the bike and body.
Race day came and as the day progressed I got more and more comfy until I was ready to put some times down. My first run was a bit off the pace and not quite as smooth as it could have been. There was definitely time left on the hill. This slotted me into second place in the SDA though, and leading the pack in Scottish Champs race.
One thing I’ve learnt about this track is that if you fight the track it fights back. With this is mind I headed up for my second run and I felt ready to go with the flow. With more focus and energy I absolutely smashed down this run, managing to find the flow and let the taps open up. All was going well until I had a little lie down half way in some really soft, unpredictable loam. I struggled my way back on the bike and wanted to still put a time down all things considered, so attacked the track after my crash.
I managed to still put a second into my first run with a crash so I’m pleased at where the speed is. All in all a great weekend on the bike and it has set me up perfectly for the final races of the season in the coming weeks. Massive thanks to the team around me, this is definitely not a one man sport.
I’m over the moon to come away with the Scottish Champs title this weekend and post a time that would put me in the mix with the senior men.
Full results from the Scottish Downhill Champs can be found on Roots & Rain here.
