Just a small look back at theBicycleWorks 2012 season and its up’s and downs.
The 2012 season has came to end for us as a team with what can only be described as a season of two halves.
Our Season began back in March with the first round of the Scottish Series at Gifford in East Lothian. It was a shock to the system, new bikes, new kit and a group of new riders. If I was being honest I could only see one outcome. None of us in top 10 and the race passed us by with no real hint of us even taking part.
On to April and slowly our fortunes began to turn, two of the guys (Alister McNicol, Andrew Cox) went to Tour Doon Hame.
Wet and severely battered, Andrew returned with a result – he managed to get himself round with the front group, big success in such a high-end race.
It brought confidence to the team in every way, being around the team there was a feeling of we could now get results in Scotland in the bigger races.
Further success came to the team through our youngest member Dale McCallum, his inclusion in the Scottish Junior Development Team meant that he was getting around Britain doing some of the biggest races in country for Juniors and picking up regular top 20 and top 10 results.
Also back up in Scotland results came the Jack Murray RR for Angus Elliot and that would be followed by a rich vein of form for the rider.
Top 10 in the Davie Campbell RR again put another progression into the confidence of the team, Andrew Cox then produced a ride that would be known as the first real team performance of the season: 3rd at the Rosneath Scottish Series was a lot down to the work of his teammates, managing to put him close to the front into the final climb and getting the teams first result in the Scottish Series.
Through the Scottish Championships there was a dry spell for the team, few of the riders stuggled with form and illness.
Races were passing by and no results were arriving… words were had and a new instalment of ‘wanting to win’ a race was put into us.
So we packed the van and headed to the Moray Two Day.
Five riders started the opening Prologue of four miles and all of us inside the top 15 put confidence into our team and suddenly a stage win was high on the agenda.
The first stage was a 50 mile road race, we put Angus into the move and came away with a 5th, everyone was really upbeat about the first day and the objective of a stage win was a must in the riders’ eyes.
Stage two and another road stage of similar distance, again we manged to put Craig Dale into the move a group of 5/6 experienced guys up the road we all thought this could be it.
Craig managed the stage win in a sprint and we could all say our objective of the weekend had been reached.
Long overdue the win brought a big relief to the team with team boss John Anderson delighted on the phone. Looking to end of the season we could see possible more results coming our way.
One of the main objectives of the season we were keen on winning was the Team Races that came in September.
A team of six guys went to the race in Falkirk and after Ali McNicol got 5th in the race the guys managed to fill in behind him and group together enough to win the overall team prize. A sense of achievement for the season had been reached and the gelling of the team had reached a new height.
Ali’s end to the season would be strong after that and his form managed to hold for the remainder of the season with a 7th in the Scottish Criterium Championships and 7th again in the Wanlockhead RR.
Our Junior Dale had had a consistent season and his ability to get himself into the top 10 in races at the junior level would give him confidence to attack a few of senior races that seen results at Rosneath and Eastern Promise RR.
Podium finish in Eastern Promise was a classy result for the youngster of the team and I saw his confidence increase considerably through that.
As the season was slowly coming to an end the team was tired and our season fizzled out with a few OK results but nothing to improve on what had been a roller coaster first year, but a year that we could build on for the 2013 season and I have no doubt we can bring results to the table and go onto get results in both road and track this coming season.
As a team we would like to thank John Anderson for his help and constant support of the team, also our sponsors Ian Brown Design and Build, Madison UK for the kit provideed that got us through the season.
Big thanks also goes to Pro rider James McCallum for helping some of riders with training and giving the rest of team confidence and ability to progress in the sport of cycling.
The riders at Bicycleworks.com Under 23 team all appreciate the support throughout the year from people all over and we hope to repay these people with results in 2013 and beyond.
