On The Pegs June 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 6 | Page 96

On The Pegs 96
31994: First SSDT Win
That year (1994) I had a lot happen. I also won my first
Scottish Six Day win. Obviously, it was a good year. I had
ridden the Scottish the previous year in ’93. I finished sixth.
One of my father’s and great friends and rivals throughout
all his career, Nigel Birkett, was a rider very close to me. My
father said to Nigel on the day before the Scottish Six Days in
’93, saying, “You take him around, Nigel. Show him what he
needs to do.” The advice that I took all week from him was
incredible and made a massive difference to me learning so
quickly and giving me that opportunity to win in ’94. So I think I have to give a fair
bit of credit to Mr. Birkett for that, as I have done in the past mentioned it to him.
It’s one of those events. It’s the first event I went to when I was six weeks old. My
mom pushed me around in a Silver Cross pram. I’ve been to it almost every year
of my life to watch my father or to watch my family or friends. To even be riding
in the event is still special for us now. So as you can imagine, to win it as an eighteen-year-old
was beyond belief, really. A lot more victories have sort of passed
that since then up there, but none feel as special as that first one.
4
First Scott Trial WIn
It’s nice to remember these times and everything. It’s easy
to sort of get on with what’s going on now when you forget
about all these such amazing times and journeys and places
we’ve ridden and people we’ve met.
The Scott Trial, for the Americans, is a bit different.
The Scott Trial really is one of the oldest events in the
world. It’s the only sort of trial that’s got its own different
rules. It’s time and observation, so whoever is the fastest.
Say if you were six hours and you were fastest, and then
somebody else was six hours, twenty minutes, they get twenty points added on
as well. So the scores work the same in the sections, but you add on your time
penalties at the end. So you don’t get off to look at the sections. It’s the toughest
one-day trial in the world, without any doubt. Obviously it’s not that recognized,
but the foreign riders that have come and tried it don’t come back very often.