2023 Subscriptions Ramsay Posted September 7, 2009 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 Was up at Aviemore for the Cairngorm cycling festival at the weekend. Only did two of the four events, but thoroughly enjoyed them both (well, sort of...). Cairngorm Hill Climb - Saturday I had been planning to do this since I first heard about it in 1992, so after a 17 year wait it was as hard as I thought! Basically a 9 mile course, with 5 miles on a gradual rise and the last 4 up the main climb. I went off far too fast and suffered on the actual hill. Ended up finishing in 12th (with a time of 30:17 - the winner was 26:49), out of 37 finishers, so not too bad. Will hopefully not wait another 17 years to do it again and will also try and beat the half hour. KIncraig APR - Sunday For some unknown reason, I was put into the scratch group for this race, with a field of about 50 and a 10 minute gap to the first group on a 28 mile course!!! As you can imagine, it was full gas from the start and I managed to do enough at the front, but not too much (although some said after that I had done much more than my fair share - still not learning!). With about 8 miles to go, we were just about to catch the rest (all in one group) when a big acceleration threw four or five from the scratch group (including me) out the back. With a fresh tailwind all the way to the finish, the main bunch slowly moved away. However, after another mile or so, they had not got more than about a minute gap and were just in sight on the straights, so myself and two others that were dropped, got together and started to do some work. We slowly caught up (rarely dropping below 30mph) and within the last half mile I jumped onto the back of the main group (which was still moving at over 30mph!!!) My re-joining of the bunch was short lived, as the uphill sprint finish started 30 seconds after I got there and I hadn't time to recover from the huge effort in catching. Anyway, finished at the back of the main bunch, just a couple of seconds down from the winner. Great work out and a reasonable wee course, and considering I hadn't done any form of road race since the end of June, I was happy! Might consider doing all four events next year, as the atmosphere is great. Would recommend it to all. Cheers, Ramsay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2024 Subscriptions Darryl Gunson Posted September 7, 2009 2024 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 Well done Ramsay. DG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions P McDonald Posted September 7, 2009 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 Sounds good Ramsay, now you're back in the road race groove are you tempted to do the TLI races at Rothesay or Callender? cheers PMcD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.