That Kyle Gordon character is threatening to take over our website; what with his Commonwealth Games adventures, ‘25’ championship win, ‘50’ championship win and competition record – and if that wasn’t enough he’s gone and won the ‘100’ championship too, taking 10 minutes off competition record with a dazzling 3:36:10 ride – some 16 minutes clear of silver medallist, Stephen Williamson.
We had to find out more…
Congratulations, Kyle, a sparkling ride – but when we spoke to you after the ‘50’ you were expressing reluctance to ride the ‘100’?
“That’s true but a number of folks – especially Mark McGhee and Jon Entwistle – worked on me, telling me I should; ‘go for it.’
“Mark dared me and Jon did a lot of preparatory work for me, looking at the course, telling me how to ride it and crunching the numbers.
“It’s eight years since I rode one and I went exactly an hour faster!
“And you know, I didn’t enter until right on the closing date.”
Tell us about the course and the weather.
“It’s based on the A92, two laps between Stonehaven and Stratcathro, it’s up and down; that second lap was hard and in the last five miles my legs were screaming.
“The first lap was easier, I was strict with myself over the first 50 miles; I planned it that way to keep it steady.
“My body doesn’t respond well to changes of pace and I wasn’t sure how it would react over that distance.”
How did you judge your pace?
“I rode largely to average speed; I knew that the existing record average speed was 26.4 mph so my plan was to keep the average above 27 mph.
“I achieved that on lap one and then opened up in the last 30/40 miles, finishing with 27.9 mph.”
What gears did you ride?
“My usual 58 x 11-25, I was up and down the block, it’s an undulating course so I was concentrating on holding my style.
“I was conscious that I didn’t want to change pace and risk cramp.”
What about nutrition and hydration?
“I made sure I was eating within 25 miles, I was drinking Beta Fuel with electrolyte tablets added and eating energy bars – I can’t do gels.”
Any ‘bad patches?’
“No, none but as soon as I got off my bike at the race HQ I cramped up!
“During the ride I was disciplined, making sure I was riding in a way that I could sustain and avoiding changes of rhythm.”
Who was the race back-up team?
“Just my dad on the day but I have to extend thanks to everyone who has helped me this year; my parents, Jon Entwistle for helping me to break his ‘100’ record, my coach Peter Ettles and his wife Anne, and everyone in my club, RT 23.”
Tell us about your preparation for the ‘100.’
“You remember I said I did a full dress rehearsal for the ‘50’ – riding the whole course?
“I decided to do an 80 mile ‘try out’ out for the ‘100’ on the A9 ‘50’ course, 12 days before the champs.
“I was on my race bike in full race kit but 30 miles in I caught a kerb with my pedal and crashed heavily – I was carrying that injury right up to the race.
“I had to see my physio for acupuncture and massage – but in the week when I was doing my stretching and exercises, I must have gone too deep with the tennis ball on my shoulder and had to go back to the physio again.
“But on the morning I said to my dad that I felt good – my mind set was that I was going to enjoy it; if I won, that would be great and if I didn’t then it would still be a good experience.
“I took that mental state into the race with me and actually found the ‘100’ easier than the ‘50’ – I loved it.”
You must have caught a few riders, travelling at that speed?
“I caught everyone who started in front of me – 21 riders, I think?”
We were looking out for you at the road race champs at Cromarty…
“It was a good hard 70 mile work out for me but I started to cramp up and didn’t want to jeopardise my chances in the ‘100’ – that was the bigger picture, so I was DNF.”
How were you next day?
“Sore! I was at my physio’s and had a good rub but I’m still sore.”
You must have it in mind to ride a ‘100’ down south on a ‘drag strip’ just to see what you’re capable of?
“I was speaking to Stephen Williamson, who was second, he has a lot of experience in riding long time trials down south and he was urging me to do that, get down there and see what I could do on one of the fast courses.
“But it’s difficult if you don’t have the knowledge of the courses and events.”
What’s next on the agenda, the CTT ‘10’ champs?
“No, I’ve had a holiday weekend booked for the weekend of the ‘10’ since last year.
“There’s the SC TTT Championship then the SC Omnium Championship and in September I move to Glasgow and join the Scottish Performance programme for the track.
“I hope to ride the UCI track events we rode last season in Portugal and Switzerland.”
And you still have time to get a ‘12’ in, down south.
“Look! The only reason I rode the ‘100’ was because Mark dared me and Jon put so much time into helping me.
“There’ll be no 12 hour for me!”
Only joshing, Kyle. Congratulations again on a stunning ride – 10 minutes off comp. record – wow!
