Ace Race 2 Day Series

Round 1 – Drumlanrig Castle – April

First race of the three race series saw a long drive to north of the border and a new location for Ace Races – Drumlanrig Castle Estate. The rest of the country was enjoying a long dry spell, as racers congregated in distinctly murky and damp conditions. Saturday saw competitors start with a 3 hour orienteering section on nearby hills, a bit of dodgy route choice saw us loose out on the best score and come in a few points down on the other competitive teams, Sleepmonsters, Inov-8 and Planet Fear.

Determined to improve the situation, we headed out on the 5-hour MTB section. The weather had improved and Mr Sunshine was coming out to play. The route we chose took in the excellent hill country near Drumlanrig first. This left us with some forestry riding – and a short hike-a-bike, finishing off with some fast riding on singletrack. A good choice of route towards the end of the bike allowed us to overcome the deficit from the first stage and take the overall lead.

Going into the all important night navigation stage we were motivated to retain our lead. Set in the woodland around Drumlanrig, it was a tricky stage that was longer than it appeared. We aimed to get back slightly late to maximise the controls we could get. This led to a tough finish to the stage with every minute late costing us valuable points. Despite this, we posted the best score and increased our lead over the chasing pack.

Sunday dawned a murky grey colour, made worse by the fact that the radio stated it was sunny down south. Day two started with a paddle down the local river. Due to the dry weather in the previous month there was very low water levels, leading teams to have to drag boats over shallows. With some short easy rapids it was a fun paddle. At the far end we had a quick transition to the bikes for a ride back to Drumlanrig. Once back, there was the option of going for extra points by riding round the red MTB route. This was the best riding of the weekend, with some nice singletrack through the pretty woodlands, and our best stage where we put a lot of points on our rivals.

The final stage was a short hour or so run through the grounds finishing back up the imposing drive to the castle – a fitting finale to a good course and race. For us the perfect end to the race, winning the event and setting us up for the series. Next stop round 2 in North Wales.