I thought I’d check out what where the expression, “awa’ the Crow Road” came from before Davie and I headed for the Tour of the Campsies; ‘Crows take your soul to the hereafter it’s thought in many cultures and superstition.’
And on that cheery note we headed for Lennoxtown but not before I’d remembered the gear for a race report, it’s a while since I’ve done one; notepad, pencil, camera, start sheet – kindly emailed to us by organiser, Robbie Martin.
As Robbie’s ‘rider info’ explained;
‘The start line will be marked on the ground and there will be no shuvver.
One foot must be on the ground.’
A great word, wish I’d invented it.
Nathalie Jones of Glasgow Triathlon Club was first off with the girls forming an orderly queue, just past the bus stop, behind her as their time approached.
The Crow Road car park; where it was a bit chilly, the only time we’d feel a nip in the air on this glorious morning – and first man to catch our eye was #12, Craig Paterson [Edinburgh Road Club], looking the part and getting the gear round nicely, he’d eventually stop the clock with a 1:05:39 ride.
Before the race we asked Harry Tweed – a man who knows about these matters – who we should be keeping an eye out for.
His first choice was #30 Murray Lawson of Craig Grieve’s, Spokes Race Team, Murray you may remember was fastest up the East Lomond last year in the Hill Climb Championship but didn’t get the title.
Hiss 58:34 gave him fifth place today BUT he unshipped a chain and lost upwards of 30 seconds, finishing with oily paws.
To avoid the dreaded ‘all your pictures look the same’ syndrome and remind ourselves of the race route we headed off after Murray went through, stopping up on the moors where we snapped #39, Becky Storrie [Synergy Cycles], looking composed and who would run out best lady on the day and new female course record holder with 1:04:12.
We’d forgotten how fast and technical the descent off the moor is with some tricky corners and gnarly surfaces but the views are spectacular, here #44 Corin Haliday [Torvelo Racing] bombs down towards Fintry. Unfortunately when passing through Killearn Corin punctured and posted a DNF.
Fintry saw #49, Hamish Creber [Ryan’s Bike Surgery – Thomson Homes] fly past en route an eventual fourth spot with 58:32.
Fintry is a nice spot, we liked the calm and the dappled sunlight at the old Kirk and graveyard with just the swish of tubs and discs to disturb the Sabbath calm.
Drive on – it rolls and turns with more gnarly bits, we stopped atop a drag, beside a ‘prawn farm’ – and we all thought they came from the Isle of May.
Aaron King [Spokes Race Team] was on top of the gear; 11th place on 1:00:20 was the time keeper’s verdict.
Harry picked the winner when he mentioned Cameron Richardson [Road Club Cumbernauld & Kilsyth] he was off #67 with 56:03 as his time.
Unfortunately his passage past us coincided with Davie answering the call of nature and an artic arriving at the prawn farm, the camera had to get set aside and the seat in Davie’s car adjusted to let me get the Mini moved to calm the agitato artic driver – so forgive me if the rushed pic isn’t the best.
Cameron was world junior duathlon champion at the ITU Duathlon World Championships in Penticton, Canada in 2017 and confirmed Harry’s tip that the Cumbernauld man had been going well in training.
His 56:03 whilst rapid was shy of Mark Atkinson’s 2000 ride of 54:15 which according to the spread sheet of Campsies results kindly supplied to us by Tommy Banks is course record.
Off six minutes behind Cameron was AG2R feeder team rider, Scottish 10 mile TT record holder for his age group and Spokes rider, Oscar Onley, another of Harry’s tips, 13 seconds shy of Cameron’s time with 56:16 for an excellent second place.
Next stop Kilearn and we thought we’d won a watch with the coffee shop but; ‘cafetiere only.’
All those nice coffee houses in Edinburgh have spoiled me and I can’t drink that stuff – it’s what I imagine chain lube tastes like?