Scottish Cyclocross Championships

Post date: 12-Feb-2013 10:25:02

A grim day greeted the competitors for the Scottish Cyclocross Championships at Strathclyde Park on Sunday. A difficult and muddy course with freezing temperatures and sleet. Classic cyclocross conditions!

First up for Perth was Lewis Champion in the under 16 category. He was going well in training and hopes were high, especially after a good clean start. A few minutes into the race and he was nicely positioned in the top 3 going into the first set of hairpins, but then disaster! An innocuous slip led to a jammed chain and despite desperate attempts it couldn't be freed. The disappointment was obvious, Lewis was distraught, it meant running nearly a full lap of the course to get to the pits for his spare bike, his challenge effectively over. But he did what I hope all of us would do in this situation - he just got on with it, showing great maturity and respect for the competition.

The final result was irrelevant especially after yet another mechanical, but the lap times showed if luck had played a different hand Lewis would have been on the podium, with his lap times suggesting a challenge for gold.

Lewis, with his second mechanical, runs to the pits

But showed true grit and determination

Anne was on next in the womens event, a late decision to keep her longs on for the race was met with disdain from her support team (me) but with the sleet and knee deep gloop, she may have been right. The churned up mud and rain proved a tough challenge for the ladies but Anne rode brilliantly and even managed to sprint away from her group at the finish to claim 3rd Veteran Lady (8th lady overall), an excellent result.

Anne making it look easy

Our sole rep in the mens veteran race was myself. A mediocre start led to some traffic early on, and that combined with the lack of a practice lap led to some spectacular falls, including landing on top of a spectators umbrella (sorry John McComisky!). Less amusing was the claggy, deep mud with long sections rapidly becoming unrideable and with cold hands I found myself wishing it was over. Finally relief, the finish and 11th place. Post race shivers kicked in just to finish me off but I was satisfied with the result given my early problems.

Gordon, determined desipte a few mishaps

A thanks must go to the organisers and commissaires for the whole cyclocross season, including our own John Green.

For full results and details of how you can join in with the most accessible form of cycle racing next season, see www.scottishcyclocross.org.uk

All photos courtesy of pit crew/team manager/coach/team photographer Mark Champion.