On one of those grey Scottish mornings where it looks like the sun might just break through – but it never does – Dooley’s Iain Grant successfully defended his Scottish 25 Mile Time Trial Championship title on the rolling A90 dual carriageway east of Laurencekirk on Sunday morning with a sparkling 50:46 course record.
Second was ’10’ champion, Ben Peacock (Paisley Velo Race Team) in 51:12; with a tie for bronze – Peter Murdoch (Paisley Velo) and Sean Childs (Royal Navy) both on 52:37.
Beaten by Peacock in the ’10,’ Championship, Grant was in a class of his own in this race; nudging down towards the magical 30 mph barrier – which on a warmer morning may have been achievable.
It was cool and grey when VeloVeritas arrived at the Strathcathro flyover turn to set up shop.
On this grey morning on a grey, featureless dual carriageway the turn offered the best photo opportunities.
The turn marshall advised us that we should; ‘try and bide oot of the way of the riders.’
That sage advice duly digested we commenced snapping.
Traffic flow was light and the air cool with a drift off the west.
Cairns avoided the trap which many of the field feel into – taking the left hander on to the flyover in too high a gear and ‘bogging down’ over the top.
The next name to catch our eye was a well kent one if you raced in the 70’s and 80’s – son of road and track star, Davie; Andrew Whitehall off No.77.
Dooley’s mentor, Bob Taylor was looking cool on his Giant but team mate Gavin Shirley was breathing down his neck for four minutes.
But in the post race dissection Skene would tell us he found it OK in both directions with his final ’56’ – his best in seven seasons endorsing that.
By now it was cold and the wind had risen with the traffic count varying by the minute.
At the busy periods it looked very scary from our vantage point to be slipping on and off the dual carriageway into the cars, buses and artics – but as Martin said; ‘it’s probably less scary than it looks, when you’re on the bike.’
That drag to the turn saw many riders struggling, with shoulders rocking, catching the wind and rather defeating the point of riding a five grand bike.
If you check out the top guys – Wiggins, Martin, Zabriskie, Phinney then you’ll see they’re rock-solid on the bike keeping their frontal area as compact as possible.
We didn’t know it at the time but Peter Murdoch (Paisley Velo) was headed for bronze off N.129 having put a minute into Neil Walker (Walkers Cycling Club) with his physical style he was obviously getting the job done.
The wind was variable by now as our ’10’ champion, No. 140 Ben Peacock blasted past.
Purely on visuals he looked fastest; strong, focussed and very determined – but on a course like this one we think a rear disc wheel wouldn’t have been a bad idea for him.
Chris Smart was the next ‘flyer’ we expected – but was a ‘no show.’
Last man and defending champion Grant hove into sight way ahead of schedule and looked every inch the champion, tidy, compact and dropping the gear to maintain cadence over the turn – 54 seconds up on Childs.
Barring disaster, the race was for silver.
We managed to catch the last four riders on their way in to the finish.
Grant was flying, whilst Childs’ tight style had given way to rocking shoulders, McLean had been caught by Doyle – never good for the moral – whilst Doyle looked good; but good enough only for eventual fifth.
A grey day but a golden ride from Grant – and we’ll be running a full interview with the man on VeloVeritas in the next day or two.
Results
Result - Scottish 25 Mile Time Trial Championship
Full Result
1 Iain Grant www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk V 0:50:46
2 Benjamin Peacock Paisley Velo Race Team S 0:51:12
3 Peter Murdoch Paisley Velo Race Team S 0:52:37
3 Sean Childs Royal Navy & Royal Marines CA S 0:52:37
5 Arthur Doyle www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk S 0:52:54
6 James Cusick Glasgow Couriers V 0:53:14
7 David Gibson Dooleys CRT V 0:53:16
8 Jamie Kennedy Paisley Velo Race Team V 0:53:22
9 Kyle Gordon Sandy Wallace Cycles S 0:53:28
10 Stephen Cairns Perth United Cycling Club S 0:53:33
11 Andrew Whitehall Equipe Velo Ecosse/Montpeliers S 0:53:34
12 Carlos Riise Shetland Whs CC V 0:53:37
13 Neil Walker Walkers Cycling Club S 0:53:47
13 Gerry McGarrity Inverclyde Velo V 0:53:47
15 Simon van Bellen Aberdeen Whs CC S 0:53:56
15 Robin Wilkins Equipe Velo Ecosse/Montpeliers S 0:53:56
17 Robert Carson Team Leslie Bike Shop/Bikers Boutique V 0:53:57
17 Andy Torrance www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk V 0:53:57
19 Gavin Shirley www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk S 0:53:59
20 Peter Ettles Sr Sandy Wallace Cycles V 0:54:07
21 Allan Mill Sandy Wallace Cycles S 0:54:23
22 Andy Cowie Moray Firth Cycling Club V 0:54:45
23 Kenneth Darling Hawick CC V 0:55:01
24 Finlay Young Equipe Velo Ecosse/Montpeliers S 0:55:03
25 Nick Tryon www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk V 0:55:11
26 Greame Hay Stirling Bike Club V 0:55:16
27 Paul Mc Lafferty Glasgow Ivy CC S 0:55:24
28 Mark Ewing West Lothian Clarion CC V 0:55:25
29 Derek McMillan St Christopher’s CC V 0:55:43
29 Robert Mclean Angus Bike Chain V 0:55:43
31 Drew Sharkey TheBicycleWorks.com S 0:55:45
31 Jonathan Hunter Aberdeen Whs CC S 0:55:45
33 David McLellan www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk V 0:55:47
34 Sean Gray www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk V 0:55:59
35 David Harter Forres CC V 0:56:12
36 Peter Ettles Jr Sandy Wallace Cycles S 0:56:14
37 Norman Skene Granite City RT V 0:56:26
38 Brian Mclellan West Lothian Clarion CC S 0:56:32
39 Angus Wilson Dundee Thistle RC V 0:56:38
40 Keith Robertson Granite City RT V 0:56:40
40 Andrew Scott Musselburgh RCC S 0:56:40
42 Callum Finlayson Forres CC S 0:56:58
43 Kevin Lackie Moray Cycle Racing Team V 0:57:16
44 Ross Laidlaw www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk S 0:57:26
45 David Millar Glasgow Couriers V 0:57:26
46 James Trevor Hull Thursday RC V 0:57:27
47 Ian Condie Dunfermline CC V 0:57:28
48 Randle Shenton Team Swift V 0:57:29
49 Joe Nicolson Aberdeen Whs CC S 0:57:31
50 Stephen Davidson Perth United Cycling Club V 0:57:40
51 Greg Quinn Deeside Thistle CC V 0:58:04
52 Sadiq Mir West Lothian Clarion CC S 0:58:08
53 Anda-Jay-Burgess Sandy Wallace Cycles F 0:58:09
54 Neil Dawson Sandy Wallace Cycles V 0:58:13
55 Brendan McCabe Aberdeen Whs CC V 0:58:15
56 John Blunsdon Deeside Thistle CC V 0:58:32
57 Andrew Kilpatrick Team Right Move Windows V 0:58:36
58 Michael Spalding Granite City RT V 0:58:41
59 William Bunyan Dunfermline CC V 0:58:45
60 Keith Nettleton Deeside Thistle CC V 0:58:55
61 Steve Beech Sandy Wallace Cycles V 0:58:56
62 Iain Watson Aberdeen Whs CC S 0:58:57
62 Mark Tandy Deeside Thistle CC V 0:58:57
64 Christine McLean Shetland Whs CC FV 0:58:58
65 Chris Adamson Gala Cycling Club V 0:59:02
66 Robert Kelly Ayr Roads Cycling Club V 0:59:09
67 Mike Gordon Cromarty Firth CC S 0:59:24
68 Jennifer Taylor Equipe Velo Ecosse/Montpeliers F 0:59:27
69 David Wards West Lothian Clarion CC V 0:59:42
70 Stewart Gordon Dunfermline CC V 0:59:44
71 Master Andy Brown Stirling Bike Club YM 0:59:54
72 Conan Abel Aberdeen Whs CC S 1:00:08
73 Brian Thomson Team Leslie Bike Shop/Bikers Boutique V 1:00:14
74 Graham Jones Edinburgh RC V 1:00:16
75 Lynsey Curren Glasgow Couriers F 1:00:24
76 Geoff Smith Glasgow Couriers V 1:00:34
77 Victoria Hunter Sandy Wallace Cycles FV 1:00:37
78 Derek Stewart Deeside Thistle CC V 1:00:38
79 Neil Anderson Deeside Thistle CC V 1:00:53
80 Andy Duncan Ythan CC V 1:01:02
81 Peter Robertson Forres CC V 1:01:15
82 James Meek Team Leslie Bike Shop/Bikers Boutique V 1:01:17
82 Hector Nicolson Moray Firth Cycling Club V 1:01:17
84 Mike Giles Ythan CC V 1:01:20
85 Malcolm Young Deeside Thistle CC V 1:01:22
86 Eric Davidson Moray Firth CC S 1:01:33
87 Stuart Turvey Sandy Wallace Cycles YM 1:01:37
88 Gordon Smith Deeside Thistle CC V 1:01:48
89 Colin Sim Aberdeen Whs CC V 1:01:52
90 Bob Taylor Dooleys CRT V 1:01:52
91 Mark Heady Aberdeen Whs CC V 1:02:11
92 Craig Mcgowan Pedal Power RT S 1:02:27
93 Miss Toni McIntosh Ayr Roads Cycling Club F 1:02:33
94 Craig Ward Ythan CC JM 1:02:34
95 Jean-Baptiste Pose Deeside Thistle CC V 1:02:45
96 Ian Grant Deeside Thistle CC V 1:02:49
97 Warren Crombie Edinburgh RC V 1:02:54
98 Ashley Pearson Deeside Thistle CC FV 1:02:58
99 James Reid Dunfermline CC V 1:03:12
100 Colin Allanach Ythan CC V 1:03:17
101 Hywel Williams Deeside Thistle CC V 1:03:33
102 Iain McLeod Denny Road Club V 1:03:41
103 Alistair Speed Fife Century RC V 1:04:27
104 James Whyman Aberdeen Whs CC S 1:04:41
105 George Grant Forres CC V 1:04:54
106 Ross Hayworth Aberdeen Whs CC V 1:05:05
107 Alan Solway Kennoway Road Club V 1:05:16
108 Douglas Cowie Forres CC V 1:05:29
109 Polly Tandy Deeside Thistle CC F 1:06:20
110 Carol Middleton Ythan CC FV 1:07:50
111 Jackie Laing Deeside Thistle CC F 1:08:19
112 John Hunter Aberdeen Whs CC V 1:08:38
113 Gavin Laffoley Fife Century RC YM 1:08:57
114 Stewart Mitchell Deeside Thistle CC V 1:09:29
115 Kara Griffiths Deeside Thistle CC F 1:10:06
116 Fred Turvey Sandy Wallace Cycles V 1:11:07
117 Becky Watson Deeside Thistle CC FV 1:12:15
118 David Mitchell Perth United Cycling Club V 1:16:08
119 Joe Thompson Angus Bike Chain V 1:17:24
Mens’ Team
1 www.Dooleys-Cycles.co.uk (Grant/Doyle/Gibson) 2-36-56
2 Paisley Velo RT (Peacock/Murdoch/Kennedy) 2-37-11
Womens’ Team
Sandy Wallace Cycles (Anda Jay Burgess/Victoria Hunter) 1-58-46
Other Awards
Vet on Standard
Derek Stewart (Deeside Thistle CC) 1.00.38 [+17.03 on age std at 76yrs]
Youth
Andrew Brown (Stirling Bike Club) 59.54
