Annual bike fest is wheelie great
THE West Highland Wheelers (WHW) have held their annual bike festival which aims to provide a fun series of events to encourage people, both young and old, to get out cycling.
The week started off with a mini downhill race, a qualifier for the National Mini Downhill which is held during world cup weekend.
The group had more than 70 riders at the event from all over Scotland.
The following WHW juniors qualified for the final: Alastair Poll (U16), Hamish MacKay (U14), Nina Cameron (U12), Cory Muir (U12), Daniel Parfitt (U12), Kyler Macleod (U10) and Archie Ferguson (U10).
It was also the last of the wheelers’ winter league races. A good number of juniors took part and the last race was won by Duncan O Rourke, with Cory Muir in second place and Sorley Swabey in third.
The ‘wee ones’ race was won by Aiden Baltrunas, with Jessica Bamber in second place. The older junior results were: 1 Alasdair Poll, 2 Shaun Macleod, 3 Finlay Dempster.
And the adults’ race was won by Gary MacDonald with Ruaraidh Wells in second and Neil Wright in third. The first woman home was Gill Barnes.
Last Monday night WHW held a fun night for the juniors at Nevis Range. Twenty children enjoyed a great evening biking on some really dry trails.
The club also held a street race in Inverlochy, where 17 juniors raced around a fiendish lap right through the middle of Inverlochy. The junior race was won by Hamish MacKay.
Sixteen adults also took part and this race which was won by Liam Hutson. The races were followed by a barbecue. Two road races were also organised during the week – one at Loch Leven and one at Loch Crearan - with mostly adults participating in these. Both of these races were won by Donald Paterson.
Towards the end of the week a group of adults and youngsters enjoyed another fun night at Nevis Range. They rode some challenging trails including going down the Blue crane and over the newly rebuilt ‘ Emmy’s Bridge’. This was followed by a social gathering in the Pine Marten café.
A spokesperson for WHW said: ‘We finished the week off with junior bike club at Glencoe Lochan. The junior bike club is now running until the summer break (on a Saturday morning at Nevis Range). We currently have more than 40 riders. To come along, please first email the club whwkidsclub@gmail.com.’