Scottish Cyclo-Cross Series - Round 4

Peebles 'Cross
Sun 9th November '08, Haylodge Park, Peebles
Report: Andy Wardman
Pics: Sue Melrose

For Round 4 the 2008-9 Scottish Cyclo-Cross series headed south to the town of Peebles in the Borders. Conditions were somewhat heavy going in places compared to the bone dry conditions riders were treated to back in 2007. The course was tweaked this year to avoid the wettest areas of the park and also to provide spectators and legendary commentator Jammy Johnstone with a view of nearly the whole course from the start/finish area.

The course was a decidedly hilly affair with a good mix of tarmac path to keep things flowing along, as well as several grass sections of varying degrees of slickness. Add in to the mix a cheeky barrier and grass run up, the 'corner of doom', some off camber slippy-ness and a particularly draggy muddy part and you had one challenging course.

Race 1 - Youths, 11am: Over 30 riders lined up for the start of the Youths' race, the biggest field of the series so far. Several riders had taken part in the previous day's Cyclo-Cross National School of Racing training sessions organised by Scottish Cycling and were no doubt ready to put those skills into action. Before the start of the race, riders, officials and spectators stood for a minute's silence to remember all the victims of conflict.

The gun then fired for the start of the race and it was Michael Butcher who was quickest away, off like a rocket, immediately opening a gap up on the rest of the field. Up the climb along the top of the park he extended his lead further, but by the end of lap 1 he had been joined by the winner of Round's 1 and 3 Grant Ferguson as well as Lewis Kirkwood (winner of Round 1a).

Next time through the start/finish Ferguson, a Peebles local, led through a few seconds ahead of Butcher, who in turn was a few seconds ahead of Kirkwood, another local rider. And this is how it stayed to the finish with Ferguson riding strongly at the front to comfortably take his third win of the series. Behind, Kirkwood pushed hard to close the gap on Butcher over the final couple of laps but Butcher held on well for 2nd with Kirkwood coming in not far behind for 3rd.

Race 2 - Senior Men/Women/Vets/Juniors, 12 noon: The sun came out in time for the start of the Open race as nearly 100 riders took to the line. From the gun, local rider Andy Wardman was quickest away, opening up a small gap on the field. By the end of lap 1 Rab Wardell had bridged up to Wardman with the main contenders not far behind.

Andy Wardman, right, leads away with Iain Nimmo

Junior rider Kenta Gallagher along with top vet Iain Nimmo, were next to bridge up. This group of four soon splintered with an impressive looking Gallagher taking to the front closely followed by Nimmo and Wardell.

The slick grassy descents were catching many riders out throughout the field, with one especially tight, slick corner - 'the corner of doom', attracting quite a crowd of spectators! A combination of mud and leaves were also playing havoc with rider's bikes, clogging up wheels and forcing many to stop and unblock things.

Kenta Gallagher rode a very impressive race

These challenges didn't seem to be slowing Gallagher down as he powered along out front. Behind a strong looking James Fraser Moodie was moving up and before long had worked up to 2nd position.

From here he gradually edged closer to Gallagher, finally catching him with around a third of the race to go. Clearly on a mission, Fraser-Moodie soon passed and dropped Gallagher and rode on solo for the remaining few laps to take a very well deserved second win of the series. Gallagher came in for second place and also the win in the Junior category. Nimmo comfortably took 3rd place.

Women's winner Anja McDonald

In the Women's race, Anja McDonald rode a strong race to take the win, her fourth of the Series. Her ride was all the more impressive given that she was feeling under the weather and wasn't originally planning to race. Behind, Eileen Roe rode well to take second with Jac Strachan putting in a fantastic performance to take 3rd place.

Brendan Roe leads Paul McInally

Iain Nimmo's fine 3rd place in the Open Race also gave him another victory in the Vets category. Steve Nicholson took 2nd place just ahead of James Melville in 3rd. Behind Kenta Gallagher, winner of the Junior's, Oli Young rode a strong race to take 2nd place (and also 9th overall). Ewan Clark rounded out the podium in 3rd.

The under-12 field lines up for their start

IslaBikes U12's race: The heavens opened and things got decidedly chillier as the U12's race was about to start. Despite this 15 youngsters braved the elements for 10mins and 1 lap of racing around a short course which looped around the start/finish area. The younger kids were away first, with a half lap head start over the older ones.

Soon Rory Mellis was out front with Jamie Willoughby and Adam Hughes battling it out not far behind. The course seemed to be suiting Mellis on his cyclocross bike as he was able to grow his lead gradually each lap to comfortably take the win. Behind Hughes was able to pull away into second spot around 15 seconds back with a fast finishing Francis Webb just pipping Willoughby for third spot.

A couple of under-12 riders really getting into the swing of things

Well done to all the kids who raced, they rode brilliantly in some not very nice at all conditions. Most impressively, some of the biggest smiles were to be seen in this race! Bravo! All will be entered into a draw at the end of the series where one lucky winner will receive a new bike very kindly donated by www.islabikes.co.uk

Jammy Johnstone conducts the prize giving in front of a good crowd!

Prize Giving: Award winning local brewery Broughton Ales (www.broughtonales.co.uk) provided bottles of their fine Champion Double Ale to several lucky competitors at the prize giving, with rider number bingo yielding several winners from the assembled crowd. Spot prize beers were also warmly received by Marty Steele for best moustache and Jon Meridith and Jon Ross for best beards - see pic below!

As well as providing the start/finish arch and tech support, the local Innerleithen branch of Alpine Bikes (www.alpinebikes.com) also kindly provided some fantastic prizes to the top 3 in each category, including the winner of each taking home a set of Gore sealed cables. Prizes were also awarded to each competitor in the U12's race courtesy of hosting club Peebles CC (www.peeblescycling.org).

Race Pics
Lots more excellent pictures from the race are up at:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/scottishcyclocross/

Coming up - Rounds 5 and 6 - Double Header, Sun 15th and 16th November
Riders are in for a treat next weekend as the series heads north to Fife for 2 days of racing! On the Saturday, Round 5, The Steven Lyle Memorial is being hosted by Sandy Wallace Cycles at Beath High School in Cowdenbeath. The following day Round 6 is being hosted by Kirkcaldy and District CC at a classic and well loved venue, Riverside Park in Glenrothes. Expect close, exciting racing on a fast and flowing hilly parkland course which also includes a steep set of steps to clamber up each lap! All the details are on www.scottishcyclocross.com where updated league tables for all categories will be appearing soon.

This year these fine folk are supporting the series. Please support them:
www.bontrager.com | www.endura.co.uk | www.islabikes.co.uk | www.bikelove.co.uk | www.glengormcastle.co.uk | www.swc.co.uk |
www.hardie-bikes.com | www.cycle-aid.co.uk

SCX 4 - RESULTS (Provisional)
There were problems with a few riders whose numbers were not clearly visible. If you have a query on any of the positions please e-mail stuart.gillies@tiscali.co.uk as soon as possible. Many thanks to all the helpers who made the event possible, to the riders for coming along to race, to all the spectators for the cheering and support and to Jammy Johnstone for his outstanding commentary.

Results

YOUTHS
1 Grant Ferguson 6
2 Michael Butcher 6
3 Lewis Kirkwood 6
4 Ryan Fenwick 6
5 Charles Fletcher 6
6 Jack Taylor 6
7 Sam Flockhart 6
8 Ross Green 6
9 Tom Arnstein 6
10 Cameron Balfour 6
11 Cameron Kilgour 6
12 Mark Scott 6
13 Richard Scales 6
14 Sam Waterston 6
15 Callum Chirnside 6
16 Euan Jenkin 5
17 Stuart Balfour 5
18 Louise Borthwick 5
19 Joe Evans 5
20 Morgan Gulland 5
21 Yuka Gallagher 5
22 Tenzin Stephens 5
23 Paul Sommerville 5
24 Jenna Fenwick 5
25 Rebecca Leith 4
26 Flora Gillies 4
27 Louise Waterston 4
28 Danielle Lee 4
29 Cameron Grant 4

 

OPEN RACE - SENIOR MEN, WOMEN, VETS, JUNIORS
1 James Fraser-Moodie (S) 11 laps
2 Kenta Galacher (J) 11
3 Ian Nimmo (V) 11
4 Andy Wardman (S) 11
5 Stephen Cooper (S) 11
6 David Lines (S) 11
7 Rab Wardell (S) 11
8 Paul McInally (S) 11
9 Oliver Young (J) 10
10 Neil Walker (S) 10
11 Garry McCrae (S) 10
12 Steve Nicholson (V) 10
13 James Mellville (V) 10
14 Neil Dryden (S) 10
15 Neil Scott (V) 10
16 Brendan Roe (V) 10
17 John Ross (S) 10
18 Ewan Clark (J) 10
19 Vince Potter (S) 10
20 Kenny Fentley (V) 10
21 Tom MacDonald (S) 10
22 Allan Love (S) 10
23 John McCallum (S) 10
24 Colin Bain (S) 9
25 Greg Walker (S) 9
26 Andrew Leith (J) 9
27 John Meredith (S) 9
28 Neil Pearson (S) 9
29 Mick Nally (V) 9
30 Hamish McLean (S) 9
31 Steven Sheriden (S) 9
32 David Arnott (S) 9
33 Simon Muir (S) 9
34 Neil Raitt (V) 9
35 James Smith (J) 9
36 Kevin Gaberston (V) 9
37 Donald Smith (V) 9
38 Joeseph Reid (S) 9
39 Joe Wilson (S) 9
40 Anja MacDonald (W) 9
41 Ian Bell (V) 9
42 Ken Tomson (S) 9
43 Colin Shearer (V) 9
44 Chris Duncan (V) 9
45 Gordon Durnham (V) 9
46 Oliver Samphier (S) 9
47 Davie Graham (V) 9
48 Gordon Dickson (V) 9
49 Martin Steele (S) 9
50 Steven Turbitt (S) 9
51 Kevin Mclean (V) 9
52 Chris Volley (S) 9
53 Eileen Roe (W) 9
54 Drew Thopmson (V) 8
55 Alan Cardwell (V) 8
56 Scott Rusell (V) 8
57 Alan Byford (V) 8
58 Sanday Wallace (V) 8
59 William Burgess (S) 8
60 Paul McGreal (S) 8
61 Tin McCall (V) 8
62 Jac Strachan (W) 8
63 John Walker (V) 8
64 Richard MacDonald (S) 7
65 Sarah Mitchell (JW) 7
66 Jay Burgess (W) 7
67 Maddy Robinson (W) 7
68 Trevor Bryant (V) 7
69 Andrew Bothwell (V) 7
70 Steve Evans (V) 7
71 Phil Wardman (S) 7
72 Ruth Volley (W) 7
73 Julie Nimmo (W) 6
74 Andrew Taylor (V) 6
75 Alaster Stewart (S) 6