The headline might have got you reading, but really this weekend was all about the third round of the 2007 Scottish Mountain Bike series in Fort William.

I’ve raced before but not for years and years, so it was a matter of dusting off the old race bike and seeing how much the scene had progressed in my absence.

Fort William might sound like an exotic place in a Highlander sort of way but in fact it’s a dismal and rather soulless transport centre made for a large part out of 1960s prefabs and with the sort of sweeping expanses that divide malls from motels and fast food outlets that you usually see in the USA. A place to be avoided, particularly on dreary rain days when the most cheerful thing (ironically) I could find was the graveyard, with its upbeat red fence – until a temporary halt in the downpours when a rainbow popped out.

But you come to Fort William with the extraordinary surrounding great outdoors in their mind, and it was certainly the slopes of nearby Ben Nevis that I was here for. There’s a whole bunch of trails here starting at the base of the gondola (which runs hardcore types and their bikes up to downhill trails) called the Witch's Trail network. This has a bit of something for everyone, from families to nutters, with trails graded green, blue, red, black in the style of ski resorts.

The course laid out for the Scottish series was a good one – with a long climb, a great swooping single-track descent and plenty of challenging sections – and several top international riders were present to show the rest of us how its done properly: in around 21 minutes a lap, about half the time I could manage! They were mostly previewing of the new course that’s part of the World Cup Circuit between the 3rd-9th September 2007 (fortwilliamworldchamps.co.uk) which will be spectacular enough to warrant a trip if you’re in the area.

At other times consider hiring a bike with a company like Offbeat Bikes (offbeatbikes.co.uk) and exploring.