On Sunday (4th June) the 2017 Scottish National 25 mile Time Trial Championships took place in the North East region, hosted by Dundee Thistle. The A90 course heading north from Forfar would hardly be described as a potentially record-breaking course as it rolls up and down on the way towards Brechin but on Sunday it stepped up and saw no less than four national records fall (all records subject to ratification).

Perfect Days

Hang around with testers long enough and eventually you’ll hear them, often in hushed tones, talk about the mythical ‘float’ day…a day so special that it doesn’t feel as if you're working on the bike at all and the miles fly by in an easy, relaxed way. It’s on such a day that PB’s are set, records are broken and stories are stored away, to be told and retold throughout the long off-season.

Well, Sunday in Forfar was by no means a float day as the wind was rising from the southeast and the main contenders in the men’s race even had to contend with a dramatic downpour a few miles out from the finish. And this is where the myth is scuppered because record after record fell that day: Junior Female, Men’s Team, Veteran Male and the Holy Grail at this distance, Graeme Obree’s national record of 23 years standing!

Onto the Race

First rider off was Kyle Cartmell (RT23) as a Youth A and he was going well, eventually coming home in under the hour in 58:26. We’d positioned ourselves about 9 miles in but he’d been passed already by his minute-man Ross Thomson (Dunfermline CC) and this impressive junior posted a 56:24 to take that Championship title. Fourth rider to start was Georgia Mansfield (RT23) and boy did she have a good weekend. Scottish Junior Road Race Champion on Saturday and now Scottish Junior 25-Mile Champion on Sunday in a new course record of 1:04:00.

Then we had the first of the women…times were coming down with Anna Fairweather (Spokes RT) the first to set a hot time of 1:03:27. Each rider then went quicker with Mireille Captieux (www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk), Toni McIntosh (Ayr Roads CC) and Amanda Tweedie (RT23) all coming within a few seconds of going under the hour.

The starters had got the seeding right and it came down to the last three riders. Catriona MacGillivray (RT23) would be the first to admit that she rarely looks comfortable on her bike but her style is one of pure speed. She was flying when she passed us and the smoother styles of Lynsey Curran (www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk) and the defending champion Vicky Smith (Aerocoach) couldn’t contain her. Into the wind on the return leg and the Oban rider eventually came home in 57:27. She only had to wait for the others but Lynsey Curran posted a 58:26 to Vicky Smith’s 59:21. Another medal and Championship title to Peter Ettles’s RT23 squad!

Racing South

By now, the wind had risen a little and the sunny conditions were coming and going. With a tailwind outward leg anyone can go fast but the big time gains are made by those that can push into the wind on the way back. The first rider to go under the hour was Steve Davidson now riding for Synergy Cycles who posted 57:18. This was followed by a host of others including Kelvin White (Deeside Thistle) and Angus Wilson of host club Dundee Thistle in 54:36 and 54:46 respectively.

Faster and faster with Andy Brown (Metaltek Kuota RT) posting an early 53:12 and staying in the hotseat until Jamie Davidson (Aberdeen Wheelers CC) put in a time of 51:40.

Kyle Gordon (RT23) would be the next man to top the sheets in 50:20, all the more remarkable as he’d just come off 22 days of nightshift! Chris Smart (GTR) would go 2 seconds quicker, tongue hanging out all the way back into the headwind.

And now we were onto the last three riders and once again the starters had seeded it perfectly. Waiting at the finish we witnessed David Griffiths (Pro Vision Scotland) flash through the underpass, shouting loudly about a missed turn. It seems he had misinterpreted the instructions on the final roundabout and had almost come to a halt before finding the correct route. He was beside himself thinking the race had been thrown away but in the end his time of 50:12 had saved the position of third from Chris Smart and any time lost wouldn’t have seen him rise to second.

And now the phenomenon that is Jon Entwistle (GTR) appeared through the underpass and shot over the line. Jon had gone all out for this race and had even shaved his hands from the wrists down in order to go more aero. His time of 49:27 was a new national veteran record and put him at the top of the standings but a mere 30 seconds later the shout of “rider” went up as John Archibald (Pro Vision Scotland) flew home, riding as smoothly as ever.

We had John Archibald 40 seconds up on Jon Entwistle at about 15 miles but he put it up a gear and went all out on the way home. His time of 47:57 was simply amazing especially on a less than perfect day (certainly not a float day) and smashed Graeme Obree’s 22-year-old record. And he hardly seemed out of breath at the end, in fact joking around with Jon Entwistle as they listened to Dr Dave’s tales of woe.

We witnessed greatness on Sunday but we don’t think it will be another 22 years before this record falls again.

Men’s Results:

1	155	John Archibald	Pro Vision Scotland	S	0:47:57
2	153	Jon Entwistle	GTR	V	0:49:27
3	151	David Griffiths	Pro Vision Scotland	S	0:50:12
4	149	Chris Smart	GTR	S	0:50:18
5	139	Kyle Gordon	RT23	S	0:50:20
6	143	Kenneth Armstrong	Carrick CC	S	0:51:38
7	76	Jamie Davidson	Aberdeen Wheelers CC	S	0:51:40
8	147	Tom Broadbent	Elgin CC		0:52:10
9	107	Stewart Irving	Carnoustie CC	S	0:52:19
10	141	Arthur Doyle	Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	V	0:52:25
11	137	James Cusick	Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	V	0:52:56
12	55	Andy Brown	Metaltek Kuota RT	S	0:53:12
13	121	Sean Noon	Spokes RT	S	0:53:17
14	60	Andrew Underwood	Cog Velo	S	0:53:18
15	130	Edward Addis	RT23	S	0:53:28
16	131	Michael Cheney	Deeside Thistle	V	0:53:49
17	97	Richard McGhee	Glasgow Nightingale		0:53:55
18	100	Peter Ettles	RT23	V	0:53:58
19	86	Graham Smith	Law Wheelers	V	0:54:07
20	110	Kyle Johnston	Pro Vision Scotland	S	0:54:14
21	125	Lewis Duff	GTR	V	0:54:17
22	51	Brian Duncan	Rapha CC	S	0:54:21
23	105	Gavin Shirley	Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	S	0:54:23
24	120	Paul McLafferty	Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	S	0:54:24
25	90	Jamie Henderson	Spokes RT	V	0:54:25
26	75	Mark Skilling	Carrick CC	V	0:54:27
27	95	Alan Dean	Edinburgh RC		0:54:29
28	46	Kelvin White	Deeside Thistle		0:54:36
29	115	Alan Holmes	GTR	V	0:54:40
30	133	Dean Cunningham	Moray Firth CC	S	0:54:45
31	45	Angus Wilson	Dundee Thistle	V	0:54:46
32	68	Michael Robb	Carrick CC	S	0:55:16
33	65	Joseph McMillan	Synergy Cycles	S	0:55:18
34	135	Lee Smith	Ythan CC		0:55:33
35	70	Gordon Graham	Fullarton Wheelers	V	0:55:35
36	127	Colin Stevenson	Kelso Wheelers	S	0:55:40
37	111	Ian Anderson	Walkers CC	V	0:55:48
38	128	Ian Dobbie	West Lothian Clarion	V	0:55:57
39	106	Ewen MacGillivray	RT23	S	0:56:08
40	101	David Nicoll	Perth United	V	0:56:27
41	104	Mark Warters	Ayr Roads CC		0:56:36
42	62	Duncan Buchanan	Fife Century RC	V	0:56:43
43	102	Jason Fogarty	Edinburgh RC	S	0:56:45
44	54	Brian Yates	Carrick CC	S	0:56:46
45	50	Derek McMillan	St Christopher CC	V	0:56:55
46	88	Paul Keoghan	Royal Albert	V	0:56:55
47	81	Gary Bratt	Fruin RC	V	0:56:58
48	41	Sean Quinn	Law Wheelers	V	0:57:02
49	118	Terry Christie	Elgin CC		0:57:06
50	126	Chris Stewart	Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk		0:57:17
51	40	Steve Davidson	Synergy Cycles	V	0:57:18
52	122	Jimmy Storrar	Velocity 44	S	0:57:18
53	52	William Bavidge		V	0:57:25
54	71	Andrew Ramsey	Deeside Thistle		0:57:25
55	74	Eoghan Maguire	Edinburgh RC	S	0:57:36
56	112	Frank Anderson	SVTTA	V	0:57:42
57	83	Graham Jones	Edinburgh RC	V	0:57:44
58	57	Malcolm Young	Deeside Thistle	V	0:57:56
59	96	Michael Curran	Ayr Roads CC	S	0:58:05
60	116	Jon Clarke	GTR	V	0:58:05
61	99	John Landragon	Granite City RT		0:58:07
62	58	Allan Ross	Fruin RC		0:58:13
63	69	Mark Wood	Elgin CC		0:58:20
64	87	Stuart Whitelaw	Fruin RC	V	0:58:24
65	132	Alastair McGibbon	Ayr Roads CC	S	0:58:26
66	108	Neil Anderson	Deeside Thistle		0:58:32
67	91	Michael Spalding	Granite City RT	V	0:58:43
68	123	Michael Giles	Ythan CC		0:59:13
69	53	Jim Petrie	Dundee Wheelers	V	0:59:18
70	98	David Harter	Forres CC		0:59:18
71	134	Murray Doyle	Bute Wheelers	V	0:59:29
72	47	James Hall	Rock & Road Cycles	V	0:59:32
73	67	Steve Beech	RT23	V	0:59:46
74	72	Derek Skinner	Fullarton Wheelers	V	1:00:22
75	78	Jonny May	Edinburgh RC	V	1:00:43
76	124	Alan Davidson	Dundee Thistle	V	1:00:52
77	64	Edward Atkinson	Elgin CC		1:01:16
78	93	Stephen Walton	Deeside Thistle		1:01:23
79	73	Sandy Wallace	Fife Century RC	V	1:01:31
80	129	Derek Stuart	Deeside Thistle		1:01:37
81	39	Fraser Caldwell			1:02:46
82	59	Edd Shackley	Glasgow Ivy CC	V	1:02:52
83	109	Iain Binning	Stirling Bike Club	V	1:03:21
84	44	Steve Wallace	Dunfermline CC	V	1:04:00
85	89	John Shelley	Perth United	V	1:05:11
86	49	Martin Lawson	Dundee Thistle	V	1:05:18
87	63	Steven Smith	Royal Albert	V	1:05:46
88	37	Stewart Mitchell	Deeside Thistle	V	1:09:38
89	36	David Kirton	Kennoway RC	V	1:19:20

Women’s Results:

1	29	Catriona  MacGillivray	RT23	F	00:57:27
2	31	Lynsey Curran	Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	F	00:58:26
3	33	Vicky Smith	Aerocoach	F	00:59:21
4	17	Mireille Captieux	Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	F	01:00:05
5	27	Toni McIntosh	Ayr Roads CC	F	01:00:07
6	14	Amanda Tweedie	RT23	F	01:00:19
7	25	Laura Nicolson	Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk	F	01:01:15
8	16	Aileen Clyde	Fullarton Wheelers	F	01:02:41
9	18	Catherine Logan	Fullarton Wheelers	FV	01:03:11
10	9	Anna Fairweather	Spokes RT	F	01:03:27
11	12	Emily Middleditch	Deeside Thistle	F	01:04:22
12	11	Sonya Drummond	Dundee Thistle	FV	01:04:53
13	13	Joanne Clark	Royal Albert	FV	01:05:14
14	21	Christine McKenzie	Stirling Bike Club	FV	01:05:19
15	15	Laura Kent	Perth United CC		01:05:54
16	10	Margaret Anderson	Deeside Thistle	FV	01:08:15
17	22	Carol Middleton	Ythan CC	FV	01:08:15
18	7	Pamela Irving	Carnoustie CC	F	01:08:31
19	8	Jane Emslie	Edinburgh RC	F	01:11:35

Youth and Junior Results:

1	2	Ross Thomson	Dunfermline CC	JM	00:56:24
2	1	Kyle Cartmell	RT23	YM	00:58:23
3	5	Georgia Mansfield	RT23	JF	01:04:00
4	3	Bruce Pattullo	Discovery Juniors	JM	01:06:56
5	6	Anna Shackley	Glasgow Riderz	YF	01:14:55