SSEC

Prompt as ever it's been a week since the euro champs and already it seems far, far longer. My only reminders are whats left of a bottle of Jura whisky and saddle sores on the inside of my thighs, a complimentary pair if ever there were some.

I'm relatively close to the race venue so only had a 4 or 5 hour round trip as opposed to the other 2 who had double that at least. I organised a barbeque for their arrival and after my course mates had sickened alec with talk of babies and faecal matter night and I managed to avoid an impromptu mohawk, they spent the night on the inflatable palace.

We got there Friday pitched and headed off on what has the be the slowest group ride ever, more time spent stopped than riding but at least we got a flavour of the trails. That night was cheese flavoured-over a hundred different types to sample and the middle of the night saw Chris amongst the portaloo relay racers all vying for a dark hole in which to relieve the stomach cramps. It also saw us pay 8 quid for the privilege of eating the worst meal I've had, even though we had missed lunch none of us could finish it.

By race time all was clear but the start was marred by yet more waiting although it gave us plenty time to get our whisky heads on. Before we knew it we were off and first impressions of the new assos kilterse were good-it seemed to sit under me well and the gooch was fairly intact even after a few climbs. Sadly over the course of a lap (it was 10 miles mind) all was not well and more than once I got the kilt caught on the front of the saddle as I moved over the back wheel not to mention the amount of time I spent bare arse to saddle. I yo-yo'd the boys, catching up as they waited and inevitably watching them pull away again soon after. I caught them for the last time as they sat at the top of a pretty decent climb and whilst they sunk a bit more from the hp flasks, I dropped in a heap. We sat for a fair bit and then pedalled off to find the end of the lap about 5 minutes away! Should have just pushed through but never mind, the best brownie I've ever had some water and then some beer made up for it. An hour in the sun, more beer and then being told there was loads of beer left prompted us to discard the paper cups and fill our water bottles with ale. A few more trips to the beer tap and then a trundle home (albeit getting a bit lost on the way) before a shower and more beer.

Plenty more beer and whisky saw off Saturday and we were kiboshed in the tent by 11! Sunday we skipped the group ride and instead explored the forest, watched some DH weasels make a descent look hard (even I could ride it FFS) before a cafe stop and another pootle (I was properly blowing out my arse by this time and was thankful Chris had to fire off to try and find his misplaced head camera) and then a grind upwards to the campsite. (punctuated by an ice cream stop at halfway)

And then it was over as quickly as it had started, jobs returned to, lectures attended and lab work mused over. Until SSUK.

Looking and feeling gubbed whilst Alec has his permagrin intact