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Rabble on top of Fort to Fort again

30 October 2011

This year saw the 20^th edition of the Fort 2 Fort. Organised by the West Highland Wheelers, it is a bike race from Fort Augustus to Fort William via the Great Glen Way. Riders are set off in groups of ten with 2 minute intervals. The mixture of canal tow path, singletrack, forest roads and tarmac road make for a very interesting and challenging race both in terms of riding and tactics. The cyclo-cross (CX) bikes are becoming ever more popular for this event. Ewan Thorburn and Ben Thompson were amongst those on the CX bikes. Ben Miller and Gavin Shirley on XC bikes completed the quartet of pre-race favourites. John Shirley was the only other Rabbler racing with GCR numbers down on normal.

Ben T, Ben M, Ewan, Gavin and Alan Dent set off briskly against the strong head wind, chain ganging it along the canal path. Before they’d reached the singletrack, Alan dropped off the back. Ben T made a break on the singletrack but his lead and indeed race did not last long when a rogue piece of wood spat up and destroyed his rear mech. Ben M took the initiative and made almost one minute on the others going past Invergarry. Gav pulled away from Ewan but was hauled back in when they hit the first long stretch of tarmac by Loch Lochy. Together they bridged the gap to Ben on the forest road section. Before reaching Clunes, they broke away from Ben on a long climb and worked well to pass Pele Munro who was going strong on his CX bike. Gavin and Ewan were now leading the race outright and knowing Ewan should have the advantage on the road with his CX bike, Gavin made no attacks opting for the sprint finish instead and stayed on Ewan’s tail going in to the final mile. Hooning towards the finish with about 300 yards to go he leapt past Ewan and sprinted to his second consecutive victory at the Fort to Fort!

1^st Gavin Shirley 01:50:14

2^nd Ewan Thorburn 01:50:15

3^rd Pele Munro 01:54:58

4^th Ben Miller 01:57:13 (1^st Jnr)

8^th John Shirley 02:04:45

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SPotY 2011

29 October 2011

Gavin has been named Lochaber Sports Person of the Year, 2011. The award recognises his outstanding achievements throughout the year and commends his behaviour and contribution made to the local bike club, West Highland Wheelers. The Rabbler is said to be thrilled and honoured to be given the award which caps off a memorable year.

Rabble Dominate Relentless

09 October 2011

Now in its 6^th year, the 24hr XC race Relentless was again contested by the Glencroft Rabble / Full Beam team. In the line up were Gavin, James, Geoff & Richard. Once again they were aided by John & Olga in the “pits” and from the loan of the Macdonald’s caravan. The race was wet throughout and gusty at times but the largely hard-pact, 8 mile loop was durable and although muddy in places, the riding conditions were good and fast. The team were all using Full Beam’s Night Nemesis to provide bike lighting in the 12hrs that were enveloped by the fall of night.

The Singlespeed quad team of “Derailleur? nein danger” put in a terrific effort, posting some rapid times. Gavin recorded the joint fastest lap of the entire race with their lead man; a scorching 37m 58s. All four Rabblers recorded times less than 40m and along with the lead singlespeeder were the only people in the race to do so. Times could have been quicker still for the Rabblers but a tactical switch to double lap stints early on required a slight ease on the gas. James managed the quickest average lap time within the team and by the end of the race the Glencroft Rabble / Full Beam had cranked in 32 laps winning overall by more than a lap. This was the Rabble’s 6^th podium finish at Relentless and 3^rd outright win.

‘Mon the Rabble!

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