Fort William 2005

The World Cup has been and gone and what a treat it was for the hardy folk that made the trip.

With the biggest attendance yet ( some 17,000!) accomodation was hard to come by and it was camping for most of the HiMBA members that had travelled down for the weekend - whilst some basked in the luxury of country house B&B with full English breakfast.

But it was well worth the discomfort. The whole atmosphere is amazing - from the exhibitions, trade stands, team technical areas, live commentary......and of course, the competitions.

Saturday saw the Cross Country - truly amazing - the sight of  100 of the world's top riders congregating at Nessie Corner en masse was like watching the migrating wildebeest crossing a crocodile infested river - with the jaws of Nessie waiting to snap (what ARE you on? - ed) and snap it did! Some chose the right line, some the unconventional one, some dismounted and some just completely lost it causing monumental pile-ups - all exciting stuff.

And after that, who wouldn't want to give it a try themselves? Well, Mark, Magnus and Dagmar did.

The course was well churned up from the day before, but it didn't stop them from putting in some pretty fine performances.......

...........by some! Obviously the rate of Magnus's ascent up the steep single track was too much for his tyres -  punctures caused early retirement for both Mag and Dean Martin        :-(

The 4X rounded off Saturday before the Party in the Fort at night......some atmosphere - bikes, beer, music......and more!

The Down Hill on Sunday was as exciting as ever - maybe even more so with the return of Steve Peat after his shoulder injury. Competition was HOT ....and flash - how do these guys have time to perform stunts like this in the middle of a race?!?

And there we were, thinking that Steve Peat would be getting gently back into the swing of things when............

....he storms back into action winning both heats in this World Cup. This guy just thrives on it! Tracy Mosley added to the British victories with her win in the women's Down Hill.

All in all a great weekend. The organisers should be congratulated on the complete set up.........now, get booked up for the World Championship in 2007..........with full English breakfast, please!