Glentress Seven 2022

I’ll be there riding solo . The logistics are the same as last year I think , park in the field down the bottom , when registering they give you a box for your pit which is a pretty decent size which then gets transported to the buzzard nest for you . The start is on the fire road just up from the peel centre , the first lap is a short one . By the time you pass through the pits your box is already there . Sounds complicated but it worked pretty well last year and I much preferred that set up as it meant you didn’t have to ride up that horrible grass climb every lap 😀

forecast looks interesting but yeah hopefully some shelter in the forest .

I'm riding solo as well. Have ridden several times but not last year so the buzzards nest pits is new to me as well. From reading the notes I had the impression that the first lap is long rather than short. Climb to buzzards nest then continue straight on with a full first lap without going through the pit area.

I believe Mr terahawk is competing too

My first year ever of not doing it, someone else is going to have to be last in solos

Good day, much prefer it at Buzzards and logistics are run very well. We got so lucky with the weather! Not mad keen on the course tweaks this year but it's a minor grumble, all in all a fun day.

I believe Mr terahawk is competing too

Seems he did rather well.

Anyone got any info on the bomb hole accident. I got held up for 5 minutes or so (which is obviously fine given the circumstances), while the ambulance crew turned up and got them strapped to a back board and out..  Seems it was a pretty serious head injury but not critical according to the info the guys at the timing tent had at the time.

I do wonder how many more years the bombhole will stay in the course, I think it's been closed due to serious accidents every year for at least the last 3 events.

The logistics were fine despite it sounding complicated, as observed above.

I had a really good time but my head wasn't in the last lap, I had heebie jeebies about the bomb hole causalty who must have been there for hours before getting carted off. I hate hate hate the notion of serious injury. I'm tentatively relieved to hear they are "not critical".

Healing vibes fellow rider, there but for the grace of God etc.

Good race, very lucky with the weather. Absolutely burst now though.

Hey guys, that was me in the bombhole... Thanks for the thoughts and sorry for the disruption! I have a spiral fracture in my left humerus (upper arm bone), waiting on a slot for surgery in the next week or two. My face is a bit messed up too, but nothing major. There was concern about my neck and spine (including a neck brace) but that's all fine, fortunately. Could have been a lot worse.

I don't really know what happened, I'd ridden it a couple of times without incident and didn't think it was a big deal at all. All I can say is that I was pushing the descents very hard, partly through adrenaline and enjoyment, so must have just gone in too hot and been complacent. Feel pretty embarrassed to have cocked it up so badly, I know what I'm doing, I promise!

Huge thanks to the first aid team, mountain rescue, ambulance and borders general A&E, they were all amazing. I think a fellow rider stopped to help too, big thanks.

Oh, and the bike appears to be fine!

I hope you heal and recover quickly.
See you there next year hopefully

Heal up soon matey 👍

When i did it with a team mate, he did the first lap and took a while before arriving with a broken handlebar having got the bombhole wrong... ver wrong...

he had bought and fitted a new set by the time i got round 😀

I'm gutted i can't find my crash photo from the same event.

My first year ever of not doing it, someone else is going to have to be last in solos

did you not have a hissy fit one year after some tubeless fail?

I did but I'm still counting it as "doing it".

Glad to hear you're OK GT7_casualty!

@gt7_casualty really pleased to hear you are relatively ok and on the mend. Also that it can be rationalised. Get well soon!

@gt7_casualty really pleased to hear you are relatively ok and on the mend. Also that it can be rationalised. Get well soon!

I’ll echo that sentiment, really glad to hear you are doing ok.  I’ve done the same thing heading into the bombhole with the race face on, and it sounds like you came off the same way, I was lucky all I did was bust up my knee and rip my calf open.

Fingers crossed and you’ll be reet in a few weeks, you can spend the time working out which upgrades are needed for the bike so it doesn’t happen again.!! 😜

Oh and in case you hadn’t noticed, I think a photographer caught the whole thing as it happened.

There’s a crash sequence of pics on roots and rain, I think they were still untagged as your bike was obviously not facing the camera.!

Just in case you wanted a memento. (Assuming it is actually you and not some other bombhole victim) 😁

(Assuming it is actually you and not some other bombhole victim)

There does appear to be quite a few bomb hole victims, both this year and previous years. Time for a course route rethink?

I'd love to see what actually happened but unfortunately that's a different bombhole victim!!

Thanks again for the positive messages. I'm glad it's not just me that had trouble! Is it a deceptive feature or something? Any insight from someone with memory of a crash? It seems innocuous enough in isolation...

I’m glad it’s not just me that had trouble! Is it a deceptive feature or something? Any insight from someone with memory of a crash? It seems innocuous enough in isolation…

I think it's less that it's deceptively hard (it's not), but it can catch you out at race pace, and certainly at that point on the course.

I find that I am usually quite keen to get into that section in front of some of the 'racier' folks who've just come past me back up from the Horse Trail after my having to get past them on the Horse Trail descent.  Passing on the way down the Cardie Hill descent to the bottom is tricky and risky with the roots, so if you are a quick descender then you tend to be at full effort up onto the fireroad to get past/stay in front of slower descender's.  In my case this led to me coming into the top of the bombhole way too fast and sliding just a wee bit wide, hitting the bar on the tree to the right and heading down the bombhole head first.

I think the big rock on the left halfway down also catches some people if they have their line just slightly wrong which leads to panic braking and a head first descent again.

It's 3 years since I've done it but from memory is it quite easy to overshoot the downslope if you go in too fast? I'm pretty sure I'd scrub off a bit off speed but then off the brakes as you drop the front wheel in and roll out nice and fast.

@gt7_casualty Glad to hear you are doing ok and that the bike is fine 🙂 I was there with the first aid / mountain rescue chatting away while holding your left hand to warm it up and keep an eye on your circulation. Sorry I had to cut your glove to get it off.
Fingers crossed surgery is trouble free.

IIRC the big crash that caused it to be closed last year was actually after the bombhole itself? The bit after had gone really loose and is super fast.

It's so bone dry that that area is just a big sand pit. It was loose over loose.

I've always found the sandy chute bit after the bombhole much more treacherous as I'm inclined to hit it much faster. A couple of times I've almost washed the front wheel as it gets pretty loose.

@pjacks I remember! Thank you for being there. I was pretty out of it but you really helped. And don't worry about the glove, of course!!

Next year I think I might go around (or go very slowly)...