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Scottish Cyclo Cross Championships
2001
Organised by Glasgow Mountain Bike Club
Glasgow Mountain Bike Club put on an excellent Cyclo Cross
event on Sunday 9th Dec. at Sighthill Park, Glasgow. The course
as set out by Steve Jackson was a testing one which took in
most of the park paths and climbs as well as using routes
handmade through trees and shrubs.
The event got off on time at 12 noon and the initial lap
was used to settle the riders and to familiarise them with
the course under race conditions.
 Jammy
Johnstone ran out of words, so for a wee change he showed
us his breakdance routine!
Throughout the race commentary had been given by Jammy Johnston
and he had even carried out an interview with Fiona Walker
as she was pushing her bike up one of the steeper climbs.
How he managed to get polite answers from an exasperated
Fiona
at such a time was down to Jammy's own brand of "tact
and diplomacy".
On the second lap it was clear that riders were starting
out where they had left off from last years event with Frederick
Moristian leading Iain Nimmo (Rock Lobster/Stirling BC) by
approximately 7 seconds with George Buchannan a further 3
seconds behind. By the third lap positions were all changed
and Buchannan was leading Moristian with Nimmo trailing.
The women were putting up a good show with Ruth McGavigan
(The Edge) leading from Sahara Gilliam (GMBC) and Paula Hynd
(Midlothian RT) .
As the race entered the halfway stages, Nimmo had regained
the lead from Moristian and now had a 20 second cushion. The
course only seemed to be cutting up at the bottom of a steep
decent and the mud was now 6 inches thick here, causing some
riders to stick and fall off.
The youths competition was a well contested one with Robert
Wardell (Sandy Wallace Cycles) being closely followed by Alistair
Millar (Full Mental/Riks Bike Shed). In the Junior category
things were not so good as there were only two competitors
one of whom broke his chain right at the start and retired,
while the other junior only lasted through one lap before
retiring.
After an hour Nimmo had extended his lead over Moristian
to over two minutes while Buchannan had been overtaken by
Chris Murley (Sandy Wallace Cycles) and was a distant fourth.
McGavigan had lapped all other women up to Gilliam who was
still in second place in their competition. The positions
did not alter on the last lap after the hour had been reached
and the riders were given a well earned cheer as they crossed
the finish line.
The event had been advertised as the Scottish Cyclo Cross
Championship but very few riders (only 7) entered on time
and theChampionship had to be cancelled as a result as late
entries and day memberships are not permitted for Championship
events.
However the organisers and Peter Siebelt in particular had
amassed sponsorship from Alpine Bikes and USE Bike Components
of over £450 for the event and this was spread out amongst
the winners of the various classes, one of which was for riders
of single speed bikes which normally would have put their
riders at a disadvantage, but with the mud and slippy terrain,
proved to be no disadvantage at all.
Report by Iain Sinclair
David Wardell was awarded the Junior title as he was the
only Junior riding when he retired with a bad chest after
the other two Juniors suffered mechanicals
A very big thanks to all those that helped and raced (results
by David Jamieson and PS) - As most of you know we decided
to go ahead with the Champs despite the efforts of David Nisbet
to wreck the race and no I didn't try and make up my own rules
as I was speaking to SCU members for guidance as you will
see by the article in the www.24-7mtb.com
site. I don't want to bore you with the details but 51 riders
entred prior to the 1 week cut off as advertized by the SCU
but by then David Nisbet was hell bent on enforcing the 2
week rule and in the end only 4 SCU members entred on the
day. I am sure most of you can make up your own minds about
how worthy the 4 people who won are of being called Scottish
Champion.
Thanks once again and have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year.
Pete
Race Results
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