Steve Beech has ridden two Milk Races and ten 12 hour races, so when he tells you that this year’s Scottish ’12’ was the hardest one he’s ever ridden, he knows what he’s talking about.
He’s also held the Scottish record, with 275.258 miles – set in the Glasgow 12 in 1991, until Joe Wilson updated it; that distance is however, still the Scottish vets record.
We asked him why he’s still riding 12’s – and winning bronze medals with 246 miles – at 58 years-of-age?
“Because I’m mad!
“I had a spell away from racing, 2001 to 2005 and when I came back, I joined Sandy Wallace. Joe Wilson and Ian Black were both riding the 12, so I rode too, for the team.
“This year, Joe didn’t ride (club sponsor, Sandy Wallace tells us that Joe and the team are considering an assault on the British 12 in 2009) nor did Ian – he’s had bad saddle sores all year – but I felt good in the 100 and decided to ride, to support the event, I wouldn’t like to see it disappear.
“I was 10 minutes down on Ken Kentley at one stage, but came back at him late in the day.
“At the end, the margin between us wasn’t much more than a mile; but to get that back I would have needed to know the position with an hour to go. It’s difficult to work out who’s doing what in the North 12; in order to keep the field together, they have riders miss legs.
“That makes it difficult to keep tabs and it also means that some riders aren’t having to do tough head wind legs.
“Chris Adamson (Musselburgh), rode well (4th), he wasn’t far behind me, but he benefited from missing a tough leg.”
In second place was Ken Kentley;
“I was hoping for a medal, so I’m happy with 248 and silver. After six hours I couldn’t eat, I felt terrible and just wanted to get to the finish.
“I could only take liquids, not even gels. The Invergordon course isn’t a bad course, but it was very windy – the leg back to Inverness was tough, it was a block head wind. At least it was dry and mild.”
For one reason or another, we didn’t manage to catch up with the winner, Shetland’s perennial Carlos Riise (above), the winner on 268.17 miles; but we did get an email from him;
“It was a hard windy day, not sure if I’ve recovered yet. Though I was surprised with my distance, I guess I must have gotten the position right on the day.
“A bigger surprise was Christine Mclean’s win, no specific training or long runs other than competing in a few 50’s and 100’s. That and her other gold SCU and CTT Vets medals has certainly given her a season to be proud of.”
Just like the man to play down his own achievment.
With Joe Wilson, Jim Cusick and Ian Black all giving the 12 a “by” the Shetand man has the Scottish BAR in the bag too.
Scottish 12 Hour Time Trial Championship – Result
1 Carlos Riise Shetland Wheelers 268.17 miles
2 Kenny Kentley Team Velo Ecosse 248.06
3 Steve Beech Sandy Wallace Cycles 246.86
4 Christopher Adamson Musselburgh R.C.C. 244.54
5 Euan Ritchie Angus Bike Chain 238.91
6 Stephen Blom Glasgow Couriers 235.46
7 Dave Millard Angus Bike Chain 226.21
8 Christine McLean Shetland Wheelers 225.86 miles
9 Louisa Edmonston Edinburgh R.C. 225.48
10 Alan Rose Deeside Thistle C.C. 223.54
11 Ian Wilson Deeside Thistle C.C. 215.64
12 John Anderson Glasgow Couriers 213.44
13 Peter McLean Elgin C.C. 212.03
14 Peter Crawley Deeside Thistle C.C. 211.82
15 Shelley Farrar Deeside Thistle C.C. 207.97
16 Ivan Laughton Deeside Thistle C.C. 202.92
17 Linda Reid Deeside Thistle C.C. 202.39
18 Keith Rowson Deeside Thistle C.C. 201.95
19 Sandy Whyman Deeside Thistle C.C. 201.80
20 Allan McCourt Deeside Thistle C.C. 192.94
21 Dave Kilshaw Deeside Thistle C.C. 191.67
22 Stephen Darling Deeside Thistle C.C. 189.76
23 Eric Malcolm Deeside Thistle C.C. 139.08
DNF Doug Haig Deeside Thistle C.C.
DNF Gary Reid Elgin C.C.
DNS Ken Ross Cromarty Firth C.C.
DNS Bobby Gilmour Glasgow Nightingale C.C.
DNS Barry Duncan Edinburgh R.C.
DNS Charlene Hamilton Deeside Thistle C.C.
DNS Al Sutton Elgin C.C.
DNS Ian Black Sandy Wallace Cycles
DNS Colin Sim Deeside Thistle C.C.
DNS Philip Duncan Deeside Thistle C.C.
Handicap
1 Stephen Blom 280.81
2 Peter McLean 278.02
3 Alan Rose 271.80
Vet on Standard
1 Christopher Adamson 27.85
2 Euan Ritchie 22.22
3 Linda Reid 11.74
Championship Women
Gold – Christine McLean
Silver – Louisa Edmonston
Bronze – Shelley Farrar
Championship Team
Deeside Thistle C.C.651.00
Alan Rose, Ian Wilson, Peter Crawley
Championship Team Women
Deeside Thistle C.C. 410.36
Shelley Farrar, Linda Reid
