JD's Blog: 2014 SSDT Monday
By John Dickinson on 6th May 14
Following a day of typically Scottish weather there was a three way tie at the head of the 288 strong entry in the 2014 Scottish Six Days Trial in Fort William on Monday.
And it was no surprise that last year's winner Dougie Lampkin, on his DL12 (Gas Gas) machine had negotiated the day's 30 sections, spread over a 70 mile route taking in roadwork, tracks and open moorland, without loss of marks.
But Doug was matched in his efforts by Beta pairing (and fellow former winners) James Dabill and Sam Connor followed by Gas Gas duo Michael Brown and Alexz Wigg who both dropped their dabs in the final section of the day, up the narrow double sub-section at Lagnaha.
The day had begun at 7.30am when Scot Ian Shankie was flagged away followed by the rest of the field at one minute intervals which meant that it was close to mid-day before rider 288, Xavier Martinex Balet left parc ferme.
The opening group at Leanachen saw riders shed their early nerves with five sections up the riverbed which was relatively dry, despite heavy overnight rain. None of the fancied runners suffered any early disasters before setting off up the road to Spean Bridge and then onto the moors that would take them, via the Blackwater dam, down to Kinlochleven. From there it was then more roadwork to the final group of the day, Lagnaha and seven of the day's hardest sections which are daunting to the club riders but the stars make mincemeat of.
With no fewer than 27 riders keeping their scores in single figures after the opening day the end result is obviously wide open and anmything can happen over six tough days.
Gary Macdonald leads the Over 40s, his score being a disputed five which Gmac was far from happy about, while Emma Bristow again set a scorching pace in the Ladies class on just 16 marks with Becky Cook also going well on 33.
The hard luck story of the day was Spanish girl Sandra Gomez who rode in Spain on Sunday, then flew to Scotland, arriving at Fort William at 2am! But after a bright start, dropping just two marks in the opening group, Sandra's trial was over as she suffered bike problems after a river crossing on the moors after the Bradilieg group.
