Chase that Hill

I was supposed to be racing this y'know. Okay, sort of... Red Bull Hill Chasers, coming to Edinburgh after the bright lights of Bristol then Malaysia in its first two years, a straightforward shootout up the cobbles of Victoria Street. My involvement? Well I was chuffed to get acknowledgement of my place in the qualifiers. Less chuffed to find out at the start of the week that this would be at 6am today. That would mean a 5am rise, and... well... I just went off the idea.

Not so bad if you're going to be a contender, but only the top 30 (out of a few hundred) got through to the evening event, and I wasn't going to be in that bracket. Turns out those who did turn out at 6am were kept waiting till after 6.30 as they organisers weren't quite ready to get going. Seems even more like a good decision to remain in the warmth of bed.

Anyway, to the evening and some incredibly fast riding on show. In the red, second wheel, here is Craig Hardie. Former Scottish champion at cross country mountain biking, cyclocross and grass track racing - he's a pocket rocket, and a bloody nice guy. Even did me the courtesy of an interview with me for my website last year. He came in 6th in the semi final ride (the top 5 got into the final) after it became a bit physical. But then this is the guy who this year retired from cyclocross - he's still most definitely got it.

Before all of that the day was primarily spent in the garden, taking advantage of what turned out to be a nice day to re-build some raised beds and get a few more jobs done. Tiring, but satisfying.

And Isla had a play with the wee tweed mouse Mel made for her a month or so back...

Run Away
Eyes Fixed
Puffy Tail
Is It Dead?