Well, strange you should start a yarn about a trip, by telling folk how you feel now you're back.........so i won't, but in any case, here's the story behind our world champs, accompanied by some pictures.

I reckon first of all i should thanks Guy and Louise Murray, for giving me a hurl up the road and for sharing thier great company over the weekend, the same goes for Brian Gibb and his Lovely Missus Lesley, both of whom were an amazing help to me over the weekend, not least cooking the curry that set me up for some of the most nervous days of my life, and finally of course Carla and Samantha Geeson, for the coffee, the digestives, the company at dinner and the trip home which was an absolute pleasure, so thanks guys, i never knew any of these people a year or so ago, and they have become firm friends in the meantime, so thanks a million guys.

Photo: AL

Brians Camper, scene of the Chicken curry on Saturday night, i camped next to them on friday night and was robbed of my rest due to Brians snoring, i was 6 feet away, through a metal body, glass panels, six feet of night air and a tent, i could still hear him blowing......... unbelievible but i slept a little and then got chucked off the campsite for pitching in the wrong area, but we worked it out and got back in the following night, actually, i highly reccomend the glen nevis campsite to anyone that fancies a visit to the area.

Photo: AL

Saturday morning and i ticked off something I've wanted to do for soooo long, i rode with the man... Jon_e, me and guy were waiting for a taxi when the man himself trundled scorched by in his shiny VXR, and scooped us up, straight down the road, straight down the access point and straight into the event, superb, just as well really as there was a bit of rain on the horizon. It's not what you know, its who you know eh? ;-)

Photo: AL

Tucked away behind the gondola station was Bikelove, carl was beavering away at Gumps bike, preparing it for the longest weekend of his life, he was making all the excuses before we came here, selling this, selling that, i need to see so and so, but we all knew he just wanted to be here for Ruaridh, mostly seen in the background, it shouldnt be underestimated, the contribution that Carl has made to Ruaridh's success, having supported him for the last 6 years through one way or another.

Photo: AL

Well, i was'nt sure about this paint job, as i had some equipment trouble doing it, so couldnt do what i wanted with it, and i'm not sure Gump was too keen either, but it seemed to do the job anyway, you certainly seen him coming, The saltire on the front is a nod to Chis Ball's Mojo helmet of last year, a wee tribute to his mentor, and of course a statement of national pride for a fiercely patriotic young Scot.

Photo: AL

There was an unbelievible support for our british riders, with a small bias toward the Scots of course, i dont think anyone lost sight of the fact that this was a britich team, but we hev traditionally sucked at most sports, but cycling in all diceplins has never been one of them, so the potential for a couple of our natives to do well on true home soil, was a little too much for some folk to keep in.

Photo: AL

A different type of pride..........Wharncliffe Pride! Matt flies the flag!

Photo: AL

Tee shirt front, modelled by Sam Gesson, Carl's lovely wife, later that evening, we would help each other through a horrendous drive home by relenlessly chatting about everything and nothing at all, Thanks Sam

Photo: AL

Tee shirt back, How cool are these, all donned at the last minute for gumps last run,he didnt know about it till he'd finished, a true work of genius, and a nod toward just how much faith his supporters have in him. note the increasing amount of sponsors logo's appearing.

Photo: AL

A farmilian scene, Carl with fag and a coffee, just before the last of the Juniors come down, the nerves around the place were simply unbearable, caffiene and nicottine were a staple for this event, i have to say, i ingested my fair share of both!

Photo: Ben Cooper

The bike was done, helmet strapped on, some last minute tweaks and a gondola ride was all that stood in the way of a place in history, for the man from Stow. The young American John Swanguen posted a brilliant time in 5:08:89 that looked hard to beat, considering the conditions were getting proressively worse, or at least more difficult, if gump or Josh could score a time around thier drier seeding mark, then it was game on for a good old Britsh shootout! Our own Chris Hutchens came down in an impressive 5:16:44 giving him an overall 9th place in the end, which is impressive however you slice it, but i'm afraid to say, he got only the 2nd biggest cheer of the day, which is no mean feat! 3rd biggest cheer was reserved for one of the two guys that really had a fighting chance, Royal Racings Josh Bryceland, Josh (who has been signed up as a fully fledged member of the syndicate we hear?) was second seed just behind Ruaridh and came fast and smooth through the first section of the course and looking good, the tv pics here were slightly buffered, giving way to the live feed as the riders complete the middle of the wooded section on to the motorway, as the live feed appeared, the crowd erupted, but the more experienced of us were looking only at the clock, it was clear there was a problem.....Puncture, hats off to Josh, he completed his run, had some dodgy moments to put it lightly, sky'ed the Nissan jump and pedalled into the area to everyones dissapoinment an respect.

As the big screen showed the start tent, you could see the fron wheel Of Ruaridh's bike poking out....the crowd went Banana's, i mean, this was amazing, the pics were delayed, but we could already see the white dot of his helmet 2000 feet up the hill, carreering down the thin grey line of the Aonach Mor course, when the live feed came on it was crazy, whooping fans, people with dewey eyes, i never relised i had so many hairs on the back of my neck! 1 second up on Swanguen's time at the split, and the place gets louder. As if it were possible to increase the partisan crowd's support any more, when the Nissan jump was treated to its most anticipated rider of the day, the place erupted, those of you that were there when peaty won here a couple of years ago, can compare it to that moment, i am positive that this was louder, longer and more emotional than that day, and by a fair margin at that, the only hurdle now was landing this jump, job done, safe landing, speeding towards the 4x course, it was obvious that this was it, he crossed the line in 5:06:82 a respectable 2:07 ahead of the American Swanguen, Jesus, i'm sweating thinking about it, hugs and tears, emotions going overboard, adrenaline rushes are strange things, you can take all manner of pills and potions to attain them, but the natural highs of that sunday, were the best i have EVER experienced.

We all made our way over to see Ruaridh curled in a ball on his knees, clearly overtaken by emotion and in disbelief at the reception he had as he started his run, later in press conference he said "i didnt know so many people knew my name!" after some brief hugs and handshakes, he was whisked off to Pee for the man, and to attend the press conference, we never seen him again untill dinner that night. later on we found out that Ruaridh had hit a tree AND a photographer on his run, to come through you first world champs race with a win in such a confident manner and such humility DESERVES respect from us all, and indeed some factory teams are already sniffing...............it seems Ruaridh Cunninghams life is about to change.

Photo: jon_e

I dont care if this lid sits on his mantlepiece for all time, i hope it felt good for him and brought him luck on the day, i for one was very proud to see him wear it.

Photo: jon_e

Its no secret the Gump is a proud Scot, the uk is unique in that we can celebrate our own culture within the union jack, people have already done the Scots / English / Britich argument thing, but it was a win for British Cycling in the end, a proud member of any country will always choose THIER flag first.

The podium ceremony was strange, we all knew this day would come, but we still couldnt quite take it in, chants of Ruaridh, Ruaridh, Ruaridh echoed around the arena, he looked at ease after a few uncofortable moments and breezed through the whole thing like it was the plywood box at an SDA race.

JOB DONE.

Photo: AL

Ruaridh Cunninghams World Championship winning Iron Horse Sunday, just after his win, superbly tended by Carl Geeson at Bikelove.

Photo: AL

The Brains of the outfit, Ray Cunningham and Carl, Ruaridh's parents are in inspiration to him, having selflessly dedicated thier time and effort to Ruaridh's success, all that remains it the nerve racking trip to Slovienia at the weekend to see thier son attempt to make an historic double in taking both the World title and the World Cup title in the same season, after that.............. well maybe they can catch up on some sleep?

Photo: Tenacious Doug

Our boy hutch finished an impressive 9th, this guy is now in the top 15% in the world, in his chosen sport, not mny people can say that! Ruaridh never qualified for the worl cup here last year, and he is World Champ a year later, if thats any measure then we can say that Tha Hutch is on it! expect great things from this man, he's a true racer in the making!

Photo: Ian Linton

Gas, well what can we say, a nicer lass you'll never meet, we did a special paint job for her ettempt at the worlds, She landed a 7th place, this year, which (so she tell's me) was a bad day at the office, i disagree this race is enormous and helen is a great racer, you only have to look into her eyes in any photograph to see the commitment on her face whilst riding, helen will continue to ride in the very biggest races all over the world, and her day WILL come, and the floodgates will open!!!

Photo: Ian linton

Jaymie was flying the flag for barbados this year, we hoped to do a special lid for her this year, but events conspired against us, still, we hope to make it up to her as time goes by, Jaymie is a seasoned competitor and was the only competitor riding for barbados in this event.

So there you have it, for at least while anyway, Thanks to Brian Gibb and Lesley, Guy Murray and Louise, Carl Geeson and Sam, Ray and Lynda Cunningham and anyone else that i crossed paths with this weekend and helped it to be the beat event ever.

AL

THE END

.............till slovienia, mon' the gump!