Club’s golden milestone celebrated
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A LANCASHIRE couple were guests of honour at Caithness Cycling Club’s 50th anniversary dinner held in the Station Hotel, Thurso. Ian Marshall and his wife Marion, two of the four surviving founder members, travelled from their home in Bolton to be present.
Ian is still a very active cyclist and, in his speech, he recalled many interesting memories of the early days. He remembered being accompanied to races around Inverness by then club president and Thurso cycle shop owner Mack Mowat in his large Jaguar and of "drum-ups" in the country with Harry Hughes.
Despite being a small, outlying club, Caithness Cycling Club has produced four riders who have raced extensively for Scotland. Sandy Crawford won the Scottish 25 and 50 mile championships at the age of 18 in 1970 and went on to sign a contract to race in France with the Peugeot team.
Gary Paterson raced in Brittany for a French team when 18 years old and for the Scottish team from 1996-99. Alexander Ross rode for Scotland from 1998-2002. He raced on the continent, in South Africa and Saudi Arabia and was selected for the Commonwealth Games.
David Smith also raced for Scotland at 18 years old when he won the Junior Tour of Wales in 2003. He spent four years in France with a French club and rode for Scotland in the Tour of Britain in 2004 and 2005.
Marion Marshall presented the club’s annual awards as follows: 10 mile (youth) — Joe Spencer; 10 mile (junior) — 1 Craig Clark. 2 Ellie Spencer. 10 mile (women) — 1 Lorna Stanger. 2 Martine Hughes. 3 Ellie Spencer. 10 mile (senior) — 1 Andrew MacLeod; 2 Allan Sutherland; 3 Dave Morrill. Handicap league — 1 John Falconer. 2 Andrew MacLeod. 3 Joe Spencer. Youth points competition — Joe Spencer. 25 mile (youth) – Joe Spencer. 25 mile (women) – Lorna Stanger. 25 mile (senior) – 1 Allan Sutherland. 2 Dave Morrill — 3 Darren Bain. Tourist shield — Dave Morrill. Club person of the year – Allan Sutherland. Mack Mowat "25" Rosebowl – Tam Gordon (Dooleys Cycles, Glasgow). Hill climb (youth) — Joe Spencer. Hill climb (lady) — Lorna Stanger. Hill climb (senior) — 1 Allan Sutherland. 2 Darren Bain. 3. Dave Spencer. Track champion — Andrew MacLeod. Ladies trophy — 1 Lorna Stanger. 2 Martine Hughes. Senior best all-rounder (25,50,100 miles) — Alasdair Washington.
