edinburgh rc cycling club

posted: 27 Apr 2009

Ali Easton and Calum MacLean took part in "one of the hardest and most prestigious single day cycle races in Scotland"

It's always re-assuring when you read on the start sheet that the race you are about to take part in is named after  a rider who was 'tragically killed' while participating in the same race some years earlier.  This feeling was only heightened given the truly awful accident which befell Colin May last week - cutting down one of our club's very finest riders.

Thankfully, this year's Dave Campbell race was a very safe affair indeed.  Not that that made in much easier!  It is about 6 years since I last attempted this race - and I remember all to well dying off in the ferocious headwind that was present that day.

The race is 82 miles in total - with over 5,000ft of climbing. It comprises (i) 4 laps of a circuit starting from Kennoway in Fife, and heading towards Cupar before turning back south west to Kingskettle and over a 1 mile steep climb followed by a couple further nasty short rises, followed by (ii) 3 laps of a finishing circuit including (and finishing half way up) a 1 mile + drag - enough to seep any remaining strength you might have had.

Before long in lap 1, a break away had gone up the road-  containing James McCallum, Gordon Myurdoch and David Lines from Endura Racing, Stuart McGregor and Graham McGarrity (Dooleys RT), Alistair Watt of Gramite City RT and 2 of the strongest Glasgow Wheelers riders (Dougie Young and Keith Smith) amongst them.

Lewis Oliphant and a few others (Paul Coats and a couple of Falkirk riders) made some efforts over the course of the next lap and a half chase them down - and I was up amongst them, having kept myself in the top few in the bunch both times up the climb, and thinking that the bunch might well fragment a bit more over the course of that circuit.  As it turned out, these massive efforts were somewhat futile, as the remains of the bunch were soon on us, and despite a few more surges from the front, the core of the (relatively small) bunch remained there till the end.  Ali had kept himself more closely within the bunch for the first two laps - and that proved to be a wise move.  I found myself in a position on more than a few occasions where I had the choice to sprint to keep up with the riders who were belting off the front, or to face some solo time until the bunch caught me.  I chose the former each time, and buried myself to keep with the pace.  Then Paul coats and others organised a chain gang of sorts.  There is no doubt that Ali and I did more work in that chaingang than was wise, given that plenty of riders had decided to ride a defeatist/pragmatic strategy of not attempting to chase down the break, and were not contributing to the effort one iota.

All the more credit to Ali that, despite that effort which many in the bunch did not share, he stayed with them on the fourth painful ascent of the hill, and kept with it on every lap of the finishing circuit - by which time I had blown, and fallen off the back.  Ali told me later that on the second time round this mini-circuit, he had himself drifted off the back, and his legs were really burning, but with a real display of mental strength he forced himself out of the saddle and manged to reconnect with the group. 

I pulled out 3/4 lap (4 miles) before the end of the race, as the lead riders in the break were about to finish - and so I did at least get to watch all the finishing riders come in.  All credit to them, James McCallum et all looked remarkably fresh as they crossed the line.  A few minutes afterwards the remnants of the bunch came into view (about 15 riders in all).  Niall Aitken of Pedal Power came in just ahead of the bunch - a phenomenal effort, particularly as he had ridden in a solo break for 3/4 lap-  so masses of respect to him for that result.  Then i saw Ali - he was powering up through the bunch, and looked incredibly strong.  He crossed the line well up in the bunch - and it was only when I looked up the road and saw him crouched over his bike that I realised just what an effort he had managed to draw out of himself out of sheer will-power.  He came 17th - ahead of several 1st and 2nd cats.  In a race like that, 17th is to my mind, a real achievement.  A great effort, Ali.

Results:

1 - James McCallum        Endura

2 - Gordon Murdoch         Endura

3 - Stuart McGregor

4 - David Lines               Endura

5 - Graham McGarrity      Dooleys

17th - Alasdair Easton    Edinburgh RC

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