I for one imagined that Kyle Gordon’s 2018 Scottish 100 mile time trial record of 3:36:10 was going to be ‘on the shelf’ for a long while.
But records are there to be broken and Spokes Racing Team’s Lee Rosie did that very thing in the Scottish 100 Mile Time Trial Championship on the fast, rolling dual carriageways south of Stonehaven up in North East Scotland recently, taking two minutes from Kyle’s time with a stunning 3:34:10 ride.
But wait a minute; them Spokes boys are roadmen, they aren’t meant to be long distance time testers are they?
We caught up with Lee to hear his story…
Congratulations on a great ride Lee, give us the basics about yourself first please.
“I’m 21 years-old, from Stonehaven and work as a mechanical engineer.”
I believe you came to cycling from triathlon?
“It was from swimming, actually – I used to use cycling as a cross-training exercise but eventually I got tired of ploughing up and down a swimming pool, staring down at a black line and got into the bike seriously.”
Why Spokes Racing Team?
“I got to know guys in the sport and Daniel Kain mentioned to me that Spokes was a good set up.
”I had a word with Craig Grieve, the man behind the team; I attended one of the team selection camps and was accepted.”
The ‘100’ is an event which has rather ‘faded away’ and not one which many young men tackle these days?
“I knew from my training that it’s an event that would suit me and in road races after three or four hours I’m still riding strongly so I thought I would ride and see how it went.”
What was your pacing strategy?
“I knew roughly what watts I could push for three to four hours, it was a headwind down to the Strathcathro turn and a tailwind back (we covered the course twice).
“I pushed harder into the headwind and used the tailwind to recover, I averaged around 300 watts.”
What about hydration and nutrition?
“Staying in Stonehaven I had plenty of roadside support with friends and family handing up drinks and food but what was just as important was getting bottles of water to pour over my neck – it was a really hot day and keeping cool was a big factor.”
When did you realise the record was possible?
“Before the start I never imagined that I’d get close to it but knew that on a good day it was possible for me.
“After the first leg into the headwind I was up on Kyle’s pace and still had the tailwind to come so I knew then that it was possible.”
Tell us about your bike.
“It’s a Giant Trinity. I rode a tubeless deep section carbon front and a tubular rear disc.
“Tubeless is good because you have much less chance of ‘pinch flats’ but due to supply issues I had to go with a tubular rear – and it’s pretty fast.
“I like to pedal so I just ride a 56t ring – a lot of the time trial guys ride a 58, 60 or 62 – with an 11-up cassette.”
[Right enough, a 56 ring is small compared to 2016 Best British All Rounder, Richard Bideau’s 66x 11 ! ed.]
Who coaches you?
“Robert Lindsay, he’s the son of former top Aberdeen road and time trial rider, Sandy Lindsay [a rival of the writer’s ‘back in the day,’ ed] he’s not well known in the general cycling world but is a bit of a local legend.
“He picked me up during lockdown and has been coaching me ever since, prior to that my training wasn’t really structured at all.
“I do intervals in the week when I don’t have so much time due to my work commitments and get the big miles in on the weekend if I’m not racing.”
You did a rapid ‘25’ in the CTT National, 50:14 for fourth, that along with your rapid ‘100’ must set you up nicely for the Scottish BAR?
“I think I may have dipped under 50 minutes that morning on Westferry had I not been baulked by cars at the roundabout turns, and whilst the BAR isn’t something I had thought about, yes I’m going to look at what ‘50’ I can ride for my third qualifying time.”
That ‘25’ came the week after the ‘100’ was the distance out of your legs?
“Yes, from my background in swimming I’ve built good recovery and in stage races I feel stronger as they go on.”
But you’re not just a time trial rider, you were 10th in the Scottish National Road Race and rode the Rás in Ireland?
“That’s right, and I have two British Cycling Premier Calendar races coming up; the Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix at Ampleforth Abbey and the Beaumont Trophy in Northumberland.
“Earlier this year I got round the Lincoln Grand Prix and was 30th in the Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic.
“The standard in the Premiers is very high, they’re hard races but my experiences so far tell me that going the distance isn’t a problem to me.”
What else is on the agenda?
“Apart from the Premier Calendars I have the North East District 10 mile Championship coming up, I’d really like to dip under the magic 20 minutes.
“Then, as we were discussing earlier I’ll be looking around for a fast ‘50’ for the Scottish BAR.”
Will we be seeing you in action at the Tours of the Campsies and Trossachs?
“I should think so…”
We look forward to that, it’s great to see a young ‘roadie’ upsetting the time testers – just like the ‘old days!’
