We’ve sent our own ‘I’m a celebrity, let’s ride out of here’ reporter Pete Scullion to track down some of the riding, and rising stars of the British bike world. This issue, it’s the turn of Mark Scott.

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY PETE SCULLION

It was a rare treat to make the journey to the Borders without the typical traffic jam where the M8 and M9 motorways converge at the Edinburgh City Bypass and, as such, I was in much better fettle for meeting yet another of the Tweed Valley’s finest exports. Mark Scott has quietly gone about making himself one of the most consistent performers at the sharp end of the Enduro World Series over the last few years, but you’ll never hear him screaming from the rooftops about this.

Mark is a man of few words, and even the WhatsApp chat leading up to our ride was clipped. A man who very much lets the riding do the talking. and who has recently found a real love for massive days out on the bike. Anyone who kept tabs on his monster Tweed Valley mission will know Mark has one of the biggest engines going. Climbing 8,614m in a day without repeating a trail really puts it into context.

Nope, this is one without a motor, though the rider counts as one

Rain lashes the window for a few brief minutes before the combined sun and wind starts to dry everything out again as I roll through Peebles. March is always an interesting time weather-wise, so we’re prepared for anything. The infamous plantation forests on the hills above Innerleithen offer good protection from the elements should we find ourselves up high when the weather turns.

As if by magic we pull into the agreed meeting point off the Innerleithen main street at exactly the same time, both pretty much ready to roll. With the usual distractions like the lure of a No.1 coffee off the cards and the village fairly quiet, the faff quotient is low. Two things catch my eye immediately – first is his F1-style hoodie. I enquire if we’re going karting later, and he insists that Fox sold out of the hoodies in question as soon as he started wearing them… A chilly neck while out on the bike is the real reason he’s rocking the Formula 1-inspired garment though – it makes sense.