Scottish Six Days Trial 2025

Preparation for this year’s event had gone as planned as previous years. Lots of bike practice which intensifies as it gets closer to the start. Lots of physical training which for me normally means either a 5, 8 or 10k most mornings before work. Then either bike training or circuits later in the day. As with every year the fitter you are the less painful the event should be. With that said let’s not pretend it’s not going to hurt …. a lot but the scenery and accomplishment of completing the six days always keeps you coming back year after year. 

All the bike practicing stops a few weeks before the event so the bikes can get fully prepared. The list is a very long one which takes many hours but let’s just say this is not my first rodeo. Even my young apprentice “Ben” is far more useful with the spanners. This does save quite a few hours for me. With the bikes fully prepared including getting a fresh MOT for them. It always amuses me when “Bill” my local bike mot tester says things like.

“Chris for Christ’s sake how can you ride these bikes for 6 long days as they don’t even have a seat!” As I said before this is not my first rodeo, and we just get on with it.   

This year’s Team was supposed to be Ben and myself and Pete who comes from Manchester Police. Pete has done this event many times before, but he last rode it with me about 15 years ago.

Unfortunately, Pete had a hip operation about 6 months ago and with it he had some complications which meant he had to withdraw. I’m sure he will return in the future which will be good for the future team.

This meant it was going to be another year of father / son police team which means so much to me. It was to be Ben’s 3^rd year in the Highlands and my 21^st. Ironically no 21 was to be my number for this year. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep going as I had completed my goal of 20 last year.  The decision to keep going was very easy for me. Back in November last year Ben and I were having a couple of beers in our local when it came up in conversation. Me “So we need to plan about next year’s ssdt. “ Ben “I’m definitely up for it , in fact I think I’m going to kick you’re a..e.”

As I said those that know me well will recognise that I can’t ever turn down a challenge, especially if it’s from my son.

The only trouble is that would mean I have another 5 years before I can retire from the event. That’s the next goal will surely have to be 25 completions.  

Saturday 3^rd May (My 53^rd birthday)

We had already loaded the van the previous night so we both quietly left home around 4am. After several pit stops, we arrived at Fort William around 3pm.

The support team would all arrive the following day.

Sunday 4^th May. (Scrutineering / Parade)

After greeting our amazing support team, we had a final ride of the bikes to check they were as good as they could be to start the event. No issues so we rode them from our accommodation a few miles to where we needed to sign on. Once we had all our documents checked etc we were issued our official numbers and this year’s goody bags. From there we rode to the parc ferme to get the bikes scrutineered and officially marked.

Later that day we had the parade through the local town. We always do this in uniform to fly the Police flag. I’ve always been passionate about using this international event as a PR opportunity. Over all of the years I have been involved I have had nothing but positive comments for promoting the Police Team.

The day finished with our normal packing of the rucksacks. As previously mentioned, we need to be fully prepared for any mechanical problems which we could encounter. I’ve had quite a few things go wrong over the years and each one has taught me a valuable lesson. It massively helps that we both ride the same model of bikes so we can divide our tools between us.

Monday 5^th Day 1

It was to be our early day which I for one was very pleased as I hate waiting to get going. Ben was no 19 this year and I was 21. No 20 was a guy called “Marcel” from Andorra. It was to be his first year. He ended up being a decent rider, but I had told him I always paced it to come in with 20 mins spare to work on bikes. Although he was a better rider in the sections, he did drop marks on time which he could have avoided if he had of kept us in sight most the day. I should have told him………owe yes, I had told him. I have to mention no 10 who was another new rider called Scott Callaghan. Well this fella really did look nervous at the start. He set off far too slowly and I had a quite word with him about pacing himself. He stuck to us like glue for most of the week after that conversation.

Lovely chap and boy good he rides. He was the current Irish champion, and I believe he got a top 30 finish which for a first year is amazing.

Ben and I both had a steady start to a new group off the Mamore Road called “Slubaich”.

As every year it takes a while to get used to riding rocks again. We both had a great ride on the first section (sub) at Cameron Hill. This is a 3^rd gear “Blast” over very loose small rocks. This suits my style , ie Pin it and hold on. As for getting out the second sub. Well that was a proper bench press and as it was our early day the rocks were proper slimy as no one had ridden them. Ben went down hard trying to get out and he snapped his clutch lever. We always carry spares so that was a quick fix.

We also managed to clean “Appin” which you just need to trust me is a massive slab of rock which requires full commitment.

On one of the many moor crossings that day “Glen Stockdale” Ben was out front leading the way when I thought we could take a picture of the amazing back drop. Well this meant I would need to get his attention. This is not easy when you have a son who loves racing across the moors and at literally any opportunity to jump across things he will. Some would say he’s definitely my son, either way it’s fun closing him down. I was in touching distance when luckily for me I found a hole and it was an instant stop which when you’re not ready for it, results in what I describe as a cape on and over the bars you go. Luckily this one was a soft landing, and I believe I overtook Ben in the air so he was able to see my flight. On inspecting the bike I saw that I had bent the exhaust a little. This would be repaired later in the day once it cooled down a few hundred degrees.

We finished the day with plenty of time to spare. In fact we had 50 minutes which meant we had been enjoying ourselves a little too much on the moors.   SCORES : Ben 102 marks Me 81

Tuesday 6^th Day 2

Both a little slow to get going in the sections. I have always said if you are able to ride the rocks with a little pace you tend to ride on top of them all. If you are a little too slow you can easily  drop into a hole and end up bench pressing your bike all the way to the end cards. Ben had a great clean at section called “Leanachan”. These are huge slabs of rock. Importunely we both failed to get out the top of the famous “Witches Burn” (Huge Waterfall) This was ben best ride last year. Another excuse to return and hopefully concur.

After are compulsory rest stop we both settled down to some decent rides. The moor crossings were tough as we were at the back of the field today. Sections would be more tractable but the crossings would be hard work due to over 200 riders in front of us.

On one crossing we were both at full riding capacity due to the depth of the bog we were in. We were struggling to find a safe route through when our Irish friend shouted out that he had found a bridge. I’ll put it down to beginner’s luck. Either way it was very useful.

Ben finished off with some great rides which was even more remarkable when he told me that he literally had no rear brake. This was to his problem for the WHOLE week. We again came in with 40 mins to spare. On inspection it appeared that he must have a little air in the system so we re bleed his rear brake and it appeared to work.

SCORES: Ben 62 Me 57 Marks lost.

Wednesday 7^th Day 3

It was only 10 mins after leaving the Parc Ferme that Ben told me that he had no pressure on his rear brake. It didn’t appear to have a leak as it still showed a full reservoir. There was nothing we could do till the end of the day. This little problem clearly didn’t affect his riding in the sections because he was riding really well. I on the other hand was dropping too many slack marks. I started poorly but got going better later. This was to be the pattern for the whole week. I knew things were close score wise.

We got in with 20 mins spare. Enough time for Honda mechanics to try and work their magic with Ben’s rear brake. I told them to put a new cable on which would have solved it. Unfortunately, they had no spares with them. The spare I had brought was the wrong length. I did offer to swap mine to swap it with mine, but he said he was used to it. It was only the descents which would be hard work. I can not explain how hard it is to ride literally down mountains without a rear brake. He’s a stubborn chap my Ben or slightly mad some would say.

SCORE: Ben 59 Me 62 (Closing me down!)

Thursday 8^th Day 4

Again, Ben starting with no brake. He was riding well. After lunch the sections were tough. If we managed to get out a few we had done well. The organisers have a tendency to turn the screw on a few days in the sections. This was to try and take marks of the top riders. I don’t have a problem with this but on this particular day there was too many tough ones for what I would class a club rider. I must have come out in sympathy with BEN as I had bike issues all afternoon. My throttle was sticking when ever a put a decent right lock on. Not ideal at all. On later inspection it had been caught up under the tank. We both pushed on as we knew the last moor crossing was going to be the sting in the tail. This wasn’t too bad so we were flying. We came in with 45 minutes to spare. It’s nice to get everything done on the bikes prior to booking them back in to Parc Ferme.

Ben 88 Marks Me 92

Friday 9^th Day 5

As we most days this year either myself or Ben would start the day either strongly in the sections or we would loose some slack marks. It was Ben’s time to start slowly today. I had a solid start but things have a habit of changing very quickly up there.

We normally have at least one stressful moment whilst competing in this amazing event. Well it happened on the second section at “Ba House”.

These are huge slabs of rocks which always look really daunting to ride but ride nicely if you can stay on the pegs.

Ben appeared to ride out with a steady dab. All looked well until we met up at our rucksacks near the end cards. The rear tyre wasn’t just flat it was my worse nightmare, it had actually come off the rim. This was a first for me. I’ve dealt with countless punctures over the years but because they are tubeless rears they don’t normally come off the rim.

The only way they normally go on is with what we call a bead buddy and a decent air compressor. Both of which I didn’t have in either rucksack. The bead buddy is not something anyone carry’s as is so rare for it to come off the rim. We think Ben must have pinched the tyre between a couple of rocks. I didn’t exactly panic but I knew unless we could find at least a bead buddy we would be out.

I quickly ran back down to the last group of sections where I saw some friendly faces. On asking I was amazed to hear that a southern friend of mine “Phil Wiffen” (Army lad) had put one in his bag for the first time ever this morning. As I said before sometimes you can get lucky and this was another of those times.

This wasn't an easy fix still as be only had small air bottles and a hand pump. It took me about 25 minutes to get the tyre back on the rim. “Yes I was officially tired”.

We knew what we had to do to make up the time we had lost. Anyone who has ever been through the Met Driving School will recognise this phrase. “Drive or Ride it like you’ve nicked it !”

We somehow managed to make up the time and came in with 10 minutes to spare.

Scores: Ben 88 Me 91

Saturday 10^th Day 6

Last day is always a tough one. This year would not disappoint. Considering there was only 16 marks between us it was going to be a very competitive finish. We both rode solid all morning. There is no rest stop on the final day so we just battled on. Ben started to claw back a few marks on me and I knew it could all go down to the last couple of sections. These sections at the bottom of Ben Nevis are huge quite often what re refer as Bench Presser type.

On one of these I managed to have a decent ride and somehow cleaned it. Ben had a very impressive bench press. As we were riding back towards the finish with only one section to go, I had done some adding up and I was 95% confident I had done enough. We both had a steady ride on the last section, and it was great to see so many familiar faces who were there to congratulate the both of us on another successful finish.

Scores: Ben 90 Me 89

This had been another fantastic week with an even closer battle this year with Ben and me. I still can’t believe Ben actually rode 4 days with no rear brake. There’s not many I know who could have done it. (Respect !!!!!)

Final finish positions:

Ben came 229^th on 489 Marks lost.

I came 221^st on 472 Marks.

(Close Ben but no cigar!)