Glentress 2004

The 25th April 2004 saw the second James Burrell Annual Festival of Pain take place at the picturesque Glentress Forest in the Scottish Borders.

Despite the efforts of Sky Sports (yes - thanks very much for changing the match to the Sunday) Myself, Gary ‘Are they both still there’ Bousfield and Mark ‘Owww, my hands’ Hood managed to round-up our group of 15 guests and head North over the border to Sunny Scotland.

Following a wholesome and nutritious (?) breakfast at the ‘Mac’ Donalds, Galashiels we made the final leg of our journey into Peebles and finally the Glentress Forest. Having collected our bikes, slipped into our fetching (you know you want me Gary) Lycra suits and stuffed whatever rations we had brought into our pockets, we set off for the 1050 ft climb to the top of ‘Caresman Hill’

With short detours to take in the ‘Freeride’ area (for the show-offs) and ‘Uncle Pete’s Rock Farm’ (for the un-hinged) we continued on to the peak and a short break to rest our legs and eat whatever rations we had packed. Or in Garys’ case, drink 7 cans of Red Bull.

Refreshed and full of confidence, we all set off for the descent through the aptly named ‘Spooky Wood’ and, in a matter of only 100yds, had our first victim of the day in the form of………….… surprise, surprise Gary Bousfield.

Thanks to his bike throwing its chain, the unfortunate Mr Bousfield found his legs spinning at a rate far in excess of what can be considered safe and the resulting collision between the head-set and Gary’s nuts left him, and for that matter the rest of us, unable to breathe for some time.

After a short pause to ensure that Gary was still in possession of both of his testicles, and a quick chat with his solicitor to see who he can sue - we could continue with our descent through the forest.

Coming down a mountain is much more fun than going up it. At Glentress you do it quickly (unless you’re Mr Mark ‘Riding Miss Daisy’ Hood) -(thanks Gary)- with table-tops, burms, drop-offs, moguls and more coming at you thick and fast it’s a case of hang-on and peddle. With Ian Parker bouncing down the hill, hot on my tail, slavering like a mad-man and shrieking in my ear I didn’t need much encouragement to hurry up.

Having taken some 3 hours to climb to the summit we had managed to descend back to base in little more than 1hr to a warm welcome from ‘The Hub’ in the form of a much needed lunch and a chance to rest our weary legs.

My thanks to Gary & Mark for coming along and for keeping us all entertained with their ‘alternative’ routes.