Bikedock Belles

The trip was booked and sorted relatively quickly (unlike usual Belles style), until Thursday when Belle Julie decided to go (last minute.com in true Belles style). The Bikedock van was loaded for the Friday evening departure and the mood was good, which is more than can be said for the singing! Everything ran smoothly and the trip to Perth was only interrupted with a Pizza stop and the appearance of a certain Captain Morgan!

Saturday morning brought unexpected sunshine and the girls headed to the course. Debbie was produly sporting her new shin guards and elbow pads, which in white made her look like a Storm Trooper ! On the way into the Car park the marshal welcomed them with the comment, ” So you’re the girls from Ireland? ”. The Belles reputation preceded them!

After introductions to some of the organizers and to Sara Muir, the mastermind behind the event, the girls had a walk down the track with some of the instructors. Katy Curd, 4X MTB Pro rider was there and very kindly gave a lot of her time sharing tips and advice and answering questions from all the girls.

There were 23 entrants altogether and everyone was itching to get riding. Joanne has been riding Downhill MTB for several years (on and off when the notion takes her!) and had no concerns about her ability to get from top to bottom. Debbie however was quite literally scared stiff and said on more than one occasion that she thought she had taken on too much.

Parts of the first half of the course was very rooty and slippy with a very technical section in the middle before going into a sweeping fast jumpy section to finish. The technical section proved very challenging for Debbie and her first attempt resulted in a front wheel stoppy, over the bars, somersault, and forward roll type ?! manoeuvre – finally landing flat on her back with the bike on top of her. Happy 40^th ?!

With a “get back on the horse” attitude she had another go immediately and after a few attempts managed to get through it. Not gracefully, but at least upright. The rest of the course was fast with a few steps and steep sections and a couple of tabletops. Joanne sailed through the air on all of these while Debbie rolled over them hanging onto her bike for dear life wondering if she would actually see her 40^th birthday. In her mind was a comment by Andrea a few weeks ago that at least if you died with the Belles, you’d die laughing! At the weekend Andrea also named Debbie "Fearless At 40"!

While Debbie and Joanne tackled the course, Belles Julie and Andrea had taken to the hills for a couple of hours “training”. Photographs taken during this stint begged the question “training for what?” ! And during the excursion Julie also found that Andrea must have an underliying love of animals, because she promptly fell out of her new SPDs when Julie shouted “I think that horse over there is dead”.

The weather stayed sunny and warm – until just after the girls made a mid-afternoon departure from the course to head to Aberfoyle’s “Go Ape”…..another bright idea that Andrea had earlier in the day, and in true Belles style Julie concurred and they both excitedly yelled “let’s do it”! The Belles, always up for a random, unplanned adventure!

Go Ape is a tree top adventure park with the UKs longest Zip wire at 400 metres. On the drive over, which lasted longer than expected due to random refreshment stops and encounters with Scottish youths (would love to have heard their Saturday night chat about 4 girls in a van!!), the rain started to fall. Quickly falling in true Scottish style – ie monsoon! The girls were drenched in minutes of getting out of the van for their safety briefing, but in typical positive attitude the Belles proclaimed this added to the atmosphere! No way did it dampen the enthusiasm.

Once harnessed up the 4 girls went Ape alright! Woo hooing and ding donging through the misty forest from tree to tree, doing pretty good ape imitations into the bargain – physically and vocally! A couple of hours and a change of clothes later and it was straight back to Perth. Well not exactly straight, let’s just say they took the scenic route... ahem!

On Sunday morning the rain continued and the course was totally different and very slippy and muddy. Joanne and Debbie had a quick run down from top to bottom and were happy with their progress. The Belles decided to “give back” to the Monthlies, who have been so enthusiastic about their initiative to encourage more females and kids into cycling and multi sport, and binned their “training” ?! to be Support Crew for Debbie and Joanne all day. They gave lots of support to all the girls and kept everyone in craic!

The atmosphere was relaxed and happy and the rain certainly didn’t bother anyone. The only thing lacking was an up-lift to the top, with most of the girls having to push their bikes up….. and some of the opposition getting a little Belles help! No, they didn’t tamper with the bikes while cycling them up!

The seeding run started at 1pm with Joanne coming in 4th and Debbie bringing up the rear after falling 3 times at the technical section. For the race itself the Belles decided that Jo and Debbie should wear their unique, for the 4 Belles only, now widely known, pink enflamed cycling tops. This was a great honour and one which Jo and Debbie took on happily (eh Jo?!)  especially Debbie, as Andrea’s top was a great substitute for a forgotten piece of kit!

The race began with all the girls staring into the pouring rain and plenty of supporters cheering them on and in Debbie’s case screaming “ Don’t touch your brakes”, which worked as she got round the tech bits with only a foot down and sailed through the finish line to the music from the Red Bull truck and a grin wide enough to put a coat hanger in!

Jo came an impressive 4^th and came through the finish line in her usual relaxed effortless style. What that girl could do if she tried!!

All the girls did fantastically well and everybody was buzzing. Sarah Muir was chuffed to bits and has vowed to have a Diva Descent 2….and the Belles have already started goading her to come plan an event in Ireland! At the prize giving, Debbie was called up for a spot prize and everybody sang Happy Birthday. Truly a memorable 40^th! The atmosphere was great, everyone was so supportive and enthusiastic throughout the whole weekend, and it made the event a huge success.

The trip back to the boat on Sunday was quick and after a game of brolly rounders on the beach (obviously the Belles won!), a swift skinny dip, fish and chips in Troon, many “laughing until you’re sick” type moments, and the obligatory singing to Firework and various Pink tunes, the girls headed home on a complete high. This may have had something to do with the sugar fix too – as Andrea produced a “40 Ding Dong” birthday cake on the ferry and many slices were had!

A big thanks to all the organizers of the Diva Descent, and also to Julie and Andrea for all their support and craic. The only word to describe the weekend is awesome! Now, how do you  beat that when the 50^th comes about ?!

Ding Dong !

written by Debbie (alias Storm Trooper and Fearless At 40!)

Andrea