Super Quaich living up to its name!
The January blues have been truly shaken, with two cracking rounds of the Super Quaich series ensuring the cross spirit is alive and well!
Following the series opener, TurboCross up in Aberdeenshire back in September, we’ve had two rounds in quick succession with the Battle of the Bing shaking of Hogmanay hangovers, and the first edition of TrossCross this past week.
Battle of the Bing is a well known classic, this year made even more classic with freezing temperatures, making the course firm but extremely slippy - not often you get black ice in cross! Reuben Oakley continued his return from long-term breathing issues to take the A race, clear of Sam Chisholm, who arrived 10 minutes before the start having travelled back from a cancelled National Trophy in Bradford! Sam would go on to crack the top 10 at British Championships a week later - chapeau!
In the Female race we were treated to an epic dash to the line, Lauren Johnston taking the spoils from Lettie McDonald in a brilliant battle. In the B race, Steven Sharp would break the tape, but there were some great rides throughout all the races.
Having warmed up a bit, riders raced around Gartmore House, Aberfoyle on Saturday 18th, in the inaugural running of TrossCross. Early feedback could hardly be more positive, a proper old school course testing the full toolbox of technical abilities, but with plenty of power needed too. And what about those cambers!
It was that man Oakley who would win out again - should he race the final two rounds, he’ll be favourite for the series crown. In the Female race it was victory for Evie Steed, with Lettie McDonald once again having to settle for second. The B race saw an impressive victory for Scott Meldrum in his first ever cross race - think that young man will be in the A race at Linlithgow!
Super Quaich format
The Super Quaich is a series based on accumulated time, so the remaining rounds Linlithgow (25th Jan) and the season ending Strathallan Castle (3rd March), should give riders the motivation to ride throughout the coming months with champions still to be crowned in all three race categories ( A, B and Female only).
The beauty of a time-based series means that you can still race those who are positioned in and around you, and throughout the series we expect to see places being changed and perhaps decided by the odd second - exciting stuff!
Even if you have missed a couple of rounds already, you can still also submit a series time. Four race times from the five races in the series count. So those missing a race or races can accept a time-based penalty (the same time deficit as the last rider in the race behind the winner) to give them four race times.
So, what can we expect from the remaining rounds? Well, the first two races could hardly have been more different - TurboCross with a new venue and race organisation opened the season in glorious weather on a fast dry course. Battle of the Bing, with a revamped course crafted by seasoned organisers and aided with some truly “Belgian Weather” providing a demanding start to 2025. Each had its quirks and challenges and the races to come with undoubtedly provide that as well.
Linlithgow will surely prove as popular as it has done in recent races with a course that makes the most of its varied surfaces. The start leading into the ‘moguls’ will provide a clear indication of who is likely to prevail on the day.
Strathallan has now become established as the season closer, and will close out the Super Quaich series. Word has it that Kirsty took a shine to the off-camber section in this year's World Cup race at Namur and believes she can create a Caledonian version as a race deciding feature! Better start practicing that 1-legged pedalling action, folks!
The standings so far:
F Race
1. Abigail Chaplin, Series Leader
2.Aileen Laing @00:10:47.6
3. Evie Steed @00:12:13.3
A Race
1.Jackie Chan, Series Leader
2.Reuben Oakley @00:01:42.3
3. Neil Scott @ 00:03:00.2
B Race
1. Simon Arnot, Series Leader
2. Christopher MacDonald @00:03:18.6
3.John Bremner @00:17:14:7
