Kill The Bill 2, Fort William

Nukeproof Scalp rider Alasatir Maclennan took part in Kill The Bill 2 at Fort William. Here's his round-up of the event:

After all the travel of recent weeks it was great to just roll out of bed and race at my local track, Fort William.

A fairly low key event with an entry of only about 160 riders made for quite a relaxing event made even more enjoyable by wall to wall sunshine for the whole weekend.

The track was fairly loose as it always is in the dry and has become pretty rough since the World Cup a few weeks back.

After doing only 5 practice runs at good speed on saturday I could feel my arms had taken a beating but I still felt in good shape for Sundays race.

Rumours that the big World Cup Step Down was going to be used were quashed as we walked the track and saw that the "chicken run" around it was used instead. The rest of the woods section rode well and you had to be very careful on the slippy roots and holes that had appeared.

Race run 1 very nearly ended seconds out of the start hut after I got the hip jump at the top station a bit wrong and did a balancing act as I landed on the grassy verge and nearly went through the tapes and down the banking. Calming down a bit my run went well and felt fast and smooth over the rocky top half of the hill. Coming into the woods I hit it a bit full-on but stayed in control and got through it at good speed. Dropping down across the fire road it was flat out down the 3 steps and then a fast turn and lovely smooth jump next to the big wall ride before being shot into the narrow rough gully. Just after here I caught up the man in front and tried to squeeze past him but caught my bars on a tree and then leaned on him with our bars locked. It neary ended in a pile up, but we both managed to stay upright as I forced my way through and onto the motorway section.

Pedaling hard all the way all jumps were cleared before taking off down the Off Beat Wall, jumping into the 4X bowl and then the last triple into the finish.

I managed a time of 5: 26 to take the lead by around 40secs.

Race run 2 was a bit windier up top which slowed me down a bit on one section but I got all my lines fast and smooth and had enough energy to power all the way to the finish line to end my run a second faster on 5:26 which I was pleased with.

Overall a great weekends riding on a super tough track in the sun made only better by seeing my son Alastair do his first race and coming 3rd in juveniles.

The Scalp took a pounding this weekend on the harsh track and yet again came out and was great fun to ride.

Next race is the No Fuss Events Endurance Downhill at Fort William. 6 Hours of body and bike punishing fun!