Tour de Freuchie Revisite
Great day for all concerned. Money details have yet to be finalised, but it was a good day for club funds. We hoped to have some pictures to add to this report and that may yet happen, but the key points are:
Eight teams took the field after work commitments forced two call-offs. (More on that in a moment). Each was led by a lady, with lap times better than some of the times achieved by all-male teams in previous years, followed by three male riders, respectively completing laps 2 and 5, 3 and 6 and 4 and 7 (but more on that too). Captain Karen led her team to a 1 hour 44 minutes and 3 second victory, with next best time 1:53:44. Fastest lap was 13:26.
But what’s all this about ‘more on that’? One of the work-disrupted teams was to be led by Kenny Crichton, who was told that he’d have to turn out for work on the Saturday and scratched his team only to hear on the Friday night that he would not be required. He decided that he would do his two laps on Shanks’s Pony (and raised an excellent level of sponsorship against his plan), turning in lap times of 32:4 and 36:21. A great effort. But what about ‘more on that too’? Scotty Birrell was hauled off to play football before he could embark on his second lap, so Kenny cycled it for him! What a star!
It turned out that he wasn’t the only Shank’s Pony rider either – Richard Blanchfield got a puncture and ran back to base to set the next rider on his way!
You’d think tracking times would be a dawdle. Just try it some time, as riders lose their numbers or collapse in a heap into the crowd before they reach the ‘official’ tape. Colin Drummond enlisted as co-timer and we had absolutely invaluable help from Lynne and Elaine, who identified riders as they came in and told us what team they belonged to.
We owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people, but especially to Dave and Rachael. Not only did Dave organise the event and Rachael and her team provide the food (I can vouch for the quality of the soup and the pies) – they each competed in the race – while the Leslie Bike Shop’s sponsorship added to the success of the day.
The disco at night was also a success – photographs to prove this are eagerly awaited.
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