Kissavos Cup 2002
Janet Innes (Stirling Bike Club's Foreign Affairs Reporter!!!)
 Following
a successful trip out to Cyprus in February a reduced squad
of Iain Nimmo (Merlin-Rocklobster) and Jonothan McBain (Pedal
Power) headed out to Greece along with Team Manager Steve
McEwan also sponsored by Merlin-Rocklobster on Thursday 9th
May to contest the Kissavos Cup. The event was made up of
two separate races which both carried UCI E1 World Ranking
points.
The first race started from the small village of Anatoli on the southern slopes of 2000m Mt Kissavos which is situated Northeast of Larisa and is seperated from the tembi valley by lower Olympus. The route headed round the west side of the mountain taking in around 1000m of climbing on the 59 Km point to point course. The Helenic Cycling Federation had done an amazing job on the organization, as you can imagine the difficulties involved in marking out a course of this length with large sections on single track Goat trails. They had enlisted the help of 17 outriders on off road Motorcycles and a Helicopter was also in place to follow the proceedings.
 With
a strong field of 78 riders, it was looking like a good race
for our two riders from the gun with Iain leading a break
of three up the first steep 200m climb and Jonothan looking
comfortable in the top ten. The race passed through the village
of Spilla, before continuing on to finish in the small seaside
town of Stomio, situated on the North side of the Mountain.
Iain had been positioned third only 2 miles from the finish
line but lost out on the final descents to take fourth in
a time of 2hrs 20 mins and only 15 seconds down on the podium
place. The finish straight saw Jonothan 20 yards down on eighth
place where he showed his pedal power putting in an excellent
sprint to pinch the place. Rider manager McEwan retained his
credibility after a recent bout of Pleurisy with a finish
just outside the top 20.
The next day saw race two start from the previous days finish line and head out round the east side of the mountain. Although this race was shorter at 43Km and not as technically demanding as the previous day, the climbs proved brutal with the first ascent going from sea level to 500m in only 5 km and the second major climb go up by 300m in less than 3km. The field had changed slightly for this event with some fresh legs in the pack. The eventual 1st and 2nd placed riders had also not featured on the Saturday as they had been in attendance at another race with a larger prize pot. Amazing when you think the pot for the two days at our event totaled £5000.00
  The
race got off to a steady start along the sea front with both
Iain and Jonothan well placed going into the first climb where
the strength of the field became apparent as both riders slipped
back outside the top ten. The race took in some amazing scenery
and passed through the villages of Karitsa and Melivia before
finishing in the town of Agia. Iain managed to pull some places
back with a good steady ride to take 8th place only two minutes
off the Podium in a time of 1hr 53mins. While Jonothan pulled
off another sprint finish securing 18th place and hit the
deck hard in a slide after crossing the line. This proved
to be a good move though as a team of young female first aiders
moved in on him and the damage was not too serious. Well,
not as serious as me, (Iain's girlfriend) thrashing him at
pool! Steve finished 26th.
 So
a very successful weekend in all with Iain taking 4th and
8th while Jonothan secured 8th and 18th. with UCI points down
to 20th place both riders picked up valuable world rankings
not to mention invaluable experience.
A big thanks has to go to the Helenic Cycling Federation and everybody involved for their warm friendly hospitality and the effort everyone must have put in to produce the outstanding two days of racing.
 After
the weekends racing the riders were lucky enough to spend
four days chilling out in the peninsula of Kasandra in Halkidiki
which is home to some of the most amazing scenery and has
an extensive network of off road trails. It is a must for
an early season MTB holiday, any later than May/June and its
too hot. The temperature for our stay was in the low 30's.
It is a fairly cheap destination with one week self catering
at around £200.00. There are however drawbacks, the
locals keep bees at the side of the trails and there are thousands
of them, you should also remember there are snakes here and
don't be tempted to hire a motorbike, they come down a bit
harder than your MTB as Iain found out. Mount Olympus is also
only a 3hr drive away with an extensive array of trails on
its 3000m peaks and surrounding mountains. The locals are
extremely friendly and mostly speak reasonable English.
Janet Innes
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