Wideopen's Pete Scullion

2015 was a pretty good year by any standards. Namely, I rode my bike as much as I wanted to, and even rode in too much in one instance (see Epic Israel). Here's my pick of the last year's highlights.

Megavalanche. ALARMA!

Since I have been riding and racing bikes from about late 2000, the Megavalanche has been the race to do by anybody who considered themselves a proper mountain biker. Qualifying for the main event had me absolutely buzzing. Also, nothing other than riding the snow in the main race prepares you for just how steep it is. Nothing can prepare you for trying to race down it... My plan was to just get off the snow and race from there. If you've never done the Megavalanche, do yourself a favour. I totally understand the look of bemusement in my friends' faces the countless times I answered "no" to the question, "have you ever raced the Mega?"

 

First big hill of the year.

While clattering about the woods, or any low-level trail keeps the stoke-O-meter pretty much in the red through the winter months, the first big hill of the year always sees the needle hit the redline and ping off behind the sofa. Ben Ledi is a classic and the closest big lump of rock to me. Its 879m peak still covered in snow did not put me off one bit. It turned out the descent down the south easterly ridge brought with it some great practice for a wee bike race in the Alps later that year.

 

First Munro(s) of the year.

As with Ben Ledi, most Munros (Scottish mountains over 3000ft) clear their winter coat much later than the rest. Ben Lawers is no exception, being the 10th highest peak in the UK. This mountain, coupled with the equally impressive Beinn Ghlas (47th tallest Munro at 1103m) on the descent bags you two Munros in one sitting. The summit was still very much covered in snow, complete with a snowman, by oh my days, it was so good to get up and see the Highlands spread out in every direction. After a winter of lots of snow days ruined by 100mph+ winds, getting out and feeling utterly useless and unfit never felt quite so good.

 

 

Epic Israel, Day 1.

Perhaps not a 'best' moment per se, but day one of my first XC marathon stage race was a record breaker. Just shy of 73 miles off road in one day was, in hindsight, perhaps too many in one day, especially when there's two more days to follow. At around the 60 mile mark I celebrated with a gel, shortly afterwards everything came undone and I was left asking myself how I was going to finish the day. My previous single day tally was 56 miles, so a 30% increase in distance, plus add racing as well as 34°C, and I think I'll be quite happy leaving that record unbroken.

 

Silence is golden.

It's rare to find a place where silence, a lack of phone signal and unrivalled natural beauty coincide. Two days after the summer solstice, however, I did find such a place. Way out west on the Arnamurchan Peninsular, I found a stony beach (opposed to the famed sandy one I was looking for) looking out towards the islands of Muck and Eigg. It was so quiet here, you could almost hear the silence. Once I'd found myself a comfy spot and collected enough driftwood to keep a fire going for a few hours, the only sign of life was a distant lighthouse on Muck's southern tip. My only regret is that one bag of sweeties got demolished very quickly.