PETE’S PROS

Pete Scullion once again plays catchup, this time with a fiercely fast, fiercely independent young racer in the diminutive and cheerful form of Isla Short.

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY PETE SCULLION

Even before we’d met, Isla Short was making my life easy. When discussing a location for a ride she opted to come to me and sample the delights of Aberfoyle, nestling on the edge of the Highland Boundary Fault, rather than have me travel any real distance – it wouldn’t even be a thirty-second roll across the road to meet this accomplished Scot.

My backyard would be the setting for today’s ride and we’d be taking in many of the off-piste and unofficial singletrack delights that you can bolt onto last issue’s Classic Ride, should you have the urge. That urge should come tempered with an ability to deal with a considerable lack of traction should there be any moisture in the air, and a similar dollop of looseness should it be bone dry. Best to plan for the former and hope for the latter.

Who is Isla Short? Well, she’s yet another scarily fast young Scot who’s taking on the cross-country World Cup scene, having had a promising U23 career, and has taken the same results into the Elite field in her own inimitable style. She also decided to start her own race set-up, rather than bow to the power of the big race teams and their sometimes questionable sponsor choices. Isla is on the way to proving that you don’t need to be on a big race team to be competitive.

The stars align and I roll into the large riverside car park just as she pulls in with her Orbea standing proud on her roof rack. I’m met by what I will now call that trademark Isla Short smile. Much like Ella Conolly, you know something’s amiss if the smile is gone.

Is that a pineapple or a thistle?

Bringing a knife to a gun photoshoot 

As she lifts her Orbea Oiz off the roof of her car, seeing a slightly nervous glance from myself, Isla’s quick to assure me that she’s not fazed by her choice and says it’s usually a cross-country bike she rides on Innerleithen’s infamous ‘Golfie’ trails. No better way to get good at the ever-increasing technicality of a cross-country world cup… The tyres are what worry me the most as they look like they didn’t have much tread on them when new and they’ve done a few miles since then. If they were on a car with such little tread on show, you’d definitely get a fine if you were stopped by the fuzz.