On a gloriously sunny, if a bit blustery, day in the Scottish Borders the first Scottish National Championships of 2017 were decided. It was the Olympic Time Trial Tour of the Meldons and in the Women’s event the victory was taken by Lynsey Curran (www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk), battling it out once again with Catriona MacGillivray…and we make it three wins in a row so with a brand new cup for the Women’s winner, maybe Lynsey gets to keep that.

In the Men’s event it was not to be yet another defense for Chris Smart (GTR) as neither he nor anybody else could do anything about the man on the rise, John Archibald (Pro Vision Scotland) as he handed out a near 3-minute beating on this mountain 25-mile TT course.

Riders Ready

It seems like only 5-minutes ago that we were standing in a wind-blown muddy field deciding the ‘cross championships but somehow May is almost upon us, and the aero bikes are in near-full flight. First away from the starter was Clare Pearson but the first rider to pass us at our favourite spot on top of the Shiplaw was Debbie Skinner (Lenzie Velo). She was quickly followed up by Louisa Sturrock who had caught and passed a stripy-socked Caroline Harvey from the host club Edinburgh RC.

Stripes were in as Sonya Drummond (Dundee Thistle RC) went by but the first of the faster women were approaching as Genevieve Whitson (Isorex Cycling Team) powered to the top of the climb. She would go on to finish in 5^th spot in the women’s race.

Also looking strong were Janet Erskine (Ayr Roads) and Anne Ewing (Veloclub Edinburgh) but the Ayr rider would suffer on the latter part of the course and drop down the leader board. Struggling on this part of the course was Aileen Clyde (Fullarton Wheelers) but she would get quicker as the day went on.

Then we saw Christine McLean (Shetland Wheelers) climbing smoothly and she would go on to take the Vets prize with Sonya Drummond in the other category. Emily Middleditch (Deeside Thistle CC) looked in a world of pain as she came to the top of the rise and Amanda Tweedie (RT23) couldn’t help smiling as she went past.

Where other riders were changing position, Neah Evans (Storey Racing) looked like she was on the velodrome as she smoothly crested the summit and she was followed by Mireille Captieux (Edinburgh RC), pushing hard…but disaster as a minute later she rolled back in the opposite direction with a front wheel puncture.

A quick call to the organiser and Juli Rourke arrived to take her back to the grid where she was allowed a later restart…hard work as she had to climb Shiplaw twice and would finish only 20-seconds down on Evans to end the day in 4^th spot, and the team prize for Dooleys with Lynsey Curran.

Before she went though, she had time to cheer on the remaining women as Catriona MacGillivray (RT23), who always seems to be locked in concentration, and then Lynsey Curran came through. The Dooleys rider knows this course well and always looks in control as she carefully paced her effort. In the end her efforts paid off as she won in 1:03:51, a 37-second margin over MacGillivray. It was much closer though for 2^nd position as the RT23 rider came home just 3-seconds ahead of the Storey Elite rider, Evans.

Speaking to the men after the event, they all said the wind had played its part with a nasty crosswind switching around on the climb and a truly awful headwind on the back of the course.

Before the men arrived though, we were treated to the sight of the Scottish Cycling Chair Kathy Gilchrist leading former professional Sandy to the top of the climb…and making him work to hold her wheel.

And then the men started coming through, each battling along the Wester Deans straight looking for the climb to be over. First of the really fast guys was Gavin Shirley (www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk) and he set down a marker of 57:06. A number of respected riders came afterwards and although a total of 19 riders went below the hour, names such as Jim Cusick and Arthur Doyle (Dooleys Cycles), Alan Thomson (RT23), Andy Brown (Metaltek Kuota RT) and David Griffiths (Pro Vision Scotland), none could better the man from Castle Douglas.

As we counted off the seeded riders, one man who was missing was the rider who has been on the podium at every Scottish national he’s ever entered. It was not to be however for Jon Entwistle (GTR) as he hit a pothole within the first 2-miles and punctured his rear tyre. It was not a wasted weekend though as he’d ridden a 200km gravel event just the day before.

So now it was down to the man on form and John Archibald didn’t disappoint as he smoothly sped up the climb. Repositioning ourselves for the finish, he also seemed to spin the lowest gear on that final, leg-crunching ride to the upper car park and the finish line.

Kyle Gordon looked resplendent in his new RT23 gear and Chris Smart was looking possibly leaner than we’ve ever seen him but in the end nobody could come close to Archibald as he finished 1-second away from a 3 minute gap over defending champion Smart. In third spot, and looking aggressive on both climbs, was Rob Friel (Pro Vision Scotland) 23-seconds down on the GTR rider. His teammate keeps saying he should get a rear disc and he might close the gap. With David Griffiths, this gave Pro Vision Scotland the team prize and, on present form, David Lang is going to have to order a bigger trophy cabinet as the year progresses.

All thanks to Juli Rourke and her many helpers from ERC for yet another excellent running of this early-season event and if she can keep this weather going for the rest of the year, we’d appreciate it.

Results

Pos	Name	Club	Cat	Time
1	John Archibald	Pro Vision Scotland	1st	00:53:08
2	Chris Smart	GTR	3rd	00:56:07
3	Robert Friel	Pro Vision Cycle Clothing	2nd	00:56:30
4	Liam Beaty	Hawick CC	3rd	00:56:48
5	Kyle Gordon	RT 23	3rd	00:56:59
6	Gavin Shirley	www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	2nd	00:57:06
7	Arthur Doyle	www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	3rd	00:57:15
8	Andy Brown	Metaltek Kuota Racing Team	1st	00:57:28
9	Alan Thomson	RT 23	3rd	00:57:34
10	James Cusick	www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk		00:57:53
11	Jamie Davidson	Aberdeen Wheelers cycling club	4th	00:58:12
12	Aidan Quinn	www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	2nd	00:58:19
13	Ross Clark	www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	2nd	00:58:23
14	Jamie Henderson	Spokes Racing Team	3rd	00:58:30
15	David Griffiths	Pro Vision Scotland	2nd	00:58:30
16	Edward Addis	RT 23	3rd	00:58:46
17	Tom Broadbent	Elgin CC	4th	00:59:18
18	David Gleave	East Kilbride Road Club	2nd	00:59:27
19	Stewart Burke	www.Hardie-Bikes.com	3rd	00:59:55
20	Carlos Riise	Shetland Wheelers	3rd	01:00:16
21	Lewis Duff	GTR	3rd	01:00:16
22	Robin Atkinson	Shetland Wheelers	3rd	01:00:17
23	Ewen Macgillivray	RT 23	4th	01:00:21
24	Malcolm Galloway		4th	01:00:30
25	Alan Dean	Edinburgh RC	3rd	01:00:34
26	Scott Newman	Glasgow Couriers	3rd	01:00:34
27	Nathan Beard	Gala Cycling Club	3rd	01:00:42
28	Colin Stevenson	Kelso Wheelers	4th	01:01:07
29	Stephen Couper	Glasgow United CC	3rd	01:01:16
30	Buchanan Paterson	Pedal Power RT	4th	01:01:43
31	Gordon Murdoch	Icarus Racing	3rd	01:01:46
32	Gary Davidson	East Kilbride Road Club	3rd	01:01:49
33	Alasdair Munro	RT 23	3rd	01:02:11
34	Scott McGonigle	Edinburgh RC	3rd	01:02:12
35	Kyle Johnston	Pro Vision Scotland	3rd	01:02:13
36	Tom Ilett	Edinburgh RC	3rd	01:02:29
37	Darryl Tait	Gala Cycling Club	4th	01:02:33
38	Craig McCulloch		3rd	01:02:53
39	Ben Norris	www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	3rd	01:02:54
40	Eoghan Maguire	Edinburgh RC		01:03:26
41	Lynsey Curran	www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	2nd	01:03:51
42	Ian King	Velocity 44 RT	3rd	01:03:57
43	Andrew Isherwood	Peebles CC	4th	01:03:59
44	Colin Fergus	Peebles CC	3rd	01:04:04
45	Ross Thomson	Dunfermline CC	4th	01:04:09
46	Catriona MacGillivray	RT 23	4th	01:04:28
47	Neah Evans	Storey Racing	Elite	01:04:31
48	Mireille Captieux	www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	3rd	01:04:51
49	Genevieve Whitson	Isorex Cycling Team	2nd	01:04:53
50	Viktor Taranenko	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:05:07
51	Joshua Graham	Glasgow Nightingale CC	4th	01:05:09
52	Douglas Cameron		4th	01:05:12
53	Dougal Allan	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:06:05
54	Jonny May	Edinburgh RC	3rd	01:06:06
55	Warren Crombie	Musselburgh RCC	4th	01:06:14
56	Robert Marshall	www.Hardie-Bikes.com	4th	01:06:29
57	Colin Knott	Pedal Power RT	4th	01:06:58
58	Dave Moran		3rd	01:07:00
59	Graham Jones	Edinburgh RC		01:07:13
60	James Moore	Peebles CC	4th	01:07:47
61	Amanda Tweedie	RT 23	2nd	01:08:07
62	Adrian Hay	Dunfermline CC	4th	01:08:17
63	Aaron Wright	Pedal Power RT	4th	01:08:25
64	Chris Allen	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:08:45
65	Stephen Malaney	Glasgow Couriers		01:09:25
66	Emily Middleditch	Deeside Thistle CC	3rd	01:09:41
67	Michael Walker	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:10:14
68	Christine McLean	Shetland Wheelers	3rd	01:10:28
69	Kevin Chalmers	Peebles CC		01:11:28
70	Sonya Drummond	Dundee Thistle RC		01:11:53
71	Anne Ewing	Veloclub Edinburgh	3rd	01:12:25
72	Aileen Clyde	Fullarton Wheelers	4th	01:12:28
73	Eric Easton	Haddington Cycle Club	4th	01:12:31
74	Louisa Sturrock		4th	01:12:40
75	Janet Erskine	Ayr Roads Cycling Club	3rd	01:12:55
76	Joanne Clark	Royal Albert CC	4th	01:13:02
77	Kirsten Cameron	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:13:32
78	Neil McLeod	Scottish Veterans T.T.A.	4th	01:13:37
79	Neil Pendrich		4th	01:13:42
80	Andrew Sinclair	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:14:28
81	Alistair Dow	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:16:40
82	Timothy May	Peebles CC	3rd	01:18:02
83	Jane Emslie	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:18:07
84	John Hampshire		3rd	01:18:20
85	Debbie Skinner	Lenzie Velo	4th	01:19:14
86	Clare Pearson		4th	01:21:56
87	Caroline Harvey	Edinburgh RC	4th	01:24:07
88	Alan Linstead	Glasgow Couriers	4th	01:24:10

All Scottish National Championships will again be invited to the Scottish Cycling Roll of Honour to celebrate their success, which will take place in February 2018. More information to follow.