Jacobite Chase #2, tli Crieff

[Guest Jim Daly]

About 55 starters for 2 laps + finishing climb totalling about 55miles. 2 groups were planned with E, 1 & 2nds in the scratch group. Later revised to 3rds in the scratch. Conned by Jimmy Rae who agreed to 3 groups and then reverted to 2 with a 12 minute gap.

 

Matt in group 1 and me in a group of about 20, including R Creber, A Doyle, G McGarrity and P Brown. Tour of the Reservoir had cut the field from 120 to 100 and flicked a few to Crieff.

 

I sat at the back until the bottom of the hill. Group 1 had split and were gathered in by a six man break before the top and then before the bottom of the descent 2/3rds round the 1st lap.

 

I positioned myself ok on the climb but when the break went I was left at the front of the bunch and was content to stay there for approaching a mile. But I had misjudged the length of the climb. It goes on forever. By the end of the steepest part onto the false flat moor, a wee gap had formed to the bunch and 75m to the break. It was more or less solo tt time again in windy conditions to the tough steep climb to finish on road to Balloch.

[Darryl Gunson]

Well done for hanging in with that sort of company Jim. No disgrace at all to lose contact. They are, afterall, mostly elite riders or as strong as. Having said that, it's all valuable experience and your fitness can't be that far off.

 

Darryl

[Guest Jim Daly]

Some photographic evidence that Matt and I were doing our best to uphold the good name of The Johnstone Wheelers:

 

Matt in painful close-up approaching the line http://pbpb.fotopic.net/p57211540.html

 

Not quite sufficient pixels to show how hard I'm trying to make contact at the top of the Comrie Moor climb with Phil Brown

and the Dooley & Plowman-Craven break http://pbpb.fotopic.net/p57209456.html