Lynch and Hamilton take overall honours in weekend cycling festival
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The Caithness Festival of Cycling, promoted by Caithness Cycling Club and supported by Sinclair Bay Subsea, was blessed with warm, breezy but dry weather and resulted in some excellent times.
Event one on Saturday afternoon was the Mack Mowat Memorial “25”, held in memory of the club’s first life president who ran his gas-lit cycle shop in Thurso’s Olrig Street from 1932 until he died in 1980, aged 85.
With a brisk south-west crosswind, conditions were not fast but five riders beat the hour, led by local rider Andrew “Hamper” MacLeod in 55 min 28 sec. Second was Orcadian Thomas Lynch, with Ross-shire’s Vince MacLennan third. Wick’s Stuart Anderson scored a personal best with a fine 59.06 for fifth place.
First lady Olga Hamilton (Orkney CC) set a new course record by 57 seconds with a time of 1hr 3 min 47 sec, followed by Rhoda Kennedy (Caithness) and Jo Donaldson (Orkney).
Alasdair Washington continued his hip-replacement recovery to take the veterans' (age standard) prize with a new Scottish record for an 82-year-old.
Unluckiest rider was race favourite Alasdair Munro (RT23) who punctured at the turn.
Results: 1 Andrew MacLeod (CCC), 55 min 28 sec; 2 Thomas Lynch (OCC), 56.41; 3 Vince MacLennan (Ross-shire RCC), 57.50; 4 David MacIvor (West Lothian Clarion), 58.10; 5 Stuart Anderson (Wick Wh), 59.06; 6 Edward Atkinson (Elgin CC), 1.0.15; 7 Hamish McAllan (CCC), 1.1.21; 8 Kevin Thomson (ECC), 1.1.27; 9 Graeme Clyne (WW), 1.2.56; 10 Olga Hamilton (OCC), 1.3.47; 11 Mark Dowell (OCC), 1.4.31; 12 Rhoda Kennedy (CCC), 1.5.10; 13 Neil Croy (OCC), 1.6.27; 14 Alistair Miller (CCC), 1.7.25; 15 John Falconer (CCC), 1.8.07; 16 Jo Donaldson (OCC), 1.8.49; 17 Alasdair Washington (CCC), 1.9. 29; 18 Sandy Christie (CCC), 1.10.07; 19 John Jones (SVTTA), 1.12.37; 20 Debbie Simmons (CCC), 1.14.43.
The following morning it was again mild and breezy but Alasdair Munro and “Hamper” MacLeod stormed round to average over 28 mph, each just 10 seconds off their best and Alasdair only two seconds off the course record, set by Alexander Ross in 2002. Thomas Lynch edged out Stuart Anderson for third place.
Rhoda Kennedy was on top form to win the ladies' prize and take 23 seconds off the course record that she set last August, while Olga Hamilton and Debbie Larnach were just 16 and 18 seconds behind. Alasdair Washington again took the veterans' prize, with another Scottish age record.
Results: 1 Alasdair Munro (RT23), 21 min 03 sec; 2 Andrew MacLeod (CCC), 21.20; 3 Thomas Lynch (OCC), 22.27; 4 Stuart Anderson (WW), 22.49; 5 David MacIvor (WLC), 23.24; 6 Kevin Thomson (ECC), 23.44; 7 Edward Atkinson (ECC), 23.47; 8 Hamish McAllan (CCC), 24.22; 9 Graeme Clyne (WW), 24.45; 10 Rhoda Kennedy (CCC), 25.12; 11 Innis Mitchell (East Sutherland Wh), 25.17; 12eq Aiden Love (CCC) and Olga Hamilton (OCC), 25.28; 14 Debbie Larnach (CCC), 25.30; 15 Adam Smith (CCC), 26.31; 16 Alistair Miller (CCC), 26.42; 17 Matthew Lynch (OCC), 27.06; 18 John Falconer (CCC), 27.07; 19 Jo Donaldson (OCC), 27.08; 20 Alasdair Washington (CCC), 27.17; 21 Roger Broughton (CCC), 27.35; 22 Steve Payton (RRCC), 28.30.
The final event was the Loch Calder Hilly, over a scenic but very tough course. Alasdair Munro again scorched round for a two-minute win over Stuart Anderson, with David MacIvor in third place.
There was a close tussle for the ladies' prize with Olga Hamilton getting a 20-second verdict over Rhoda Kennedy, with Debbie Larnach close behind. Innis Mitchell took the veterans' award with Hamish McAllan in second place.
Results: 1 Alasdair Munro (RT23), 26 min 07 sec; 2 Stuart Anderson (WW), 28.26; 3 David MacIvor (WLC), 29.34; 4 Thomas Lynch (OCC), 30.01; 5 Hamish McAllan (CCC), 30.45; 6 Aiden Love (CCC), 31.02; 7 Olga Hamilton (OCC), 32.02; 8 Rhoda Kennedy (CCC), 32.20; 9 Innis Mitchell (ESW), 32.39; 10 Debbie Larnach (CCC), 32.56; 11 Matthew Lynch (OCC), 34.54; 12 John Falconer (CCC), 35.34; 13eq Graeme Morgan (CCC) and Jo Donaldson (OCC), 36.08.
The overall weekend results were very close with Orcadian Thomas Lynch (1h 49m 9sec) taking the men's honours from Stuart Anderson (1.50.02) and David MacIvor (1.51.08) and with Olga Hamilton (2.1.17) narrowly taking the women's award from Rhoda Kennedy (2.2.44). The veterans' prize went to Hamish McAllan with John Falconer second.
Earlier in the week the club’s Tuesday evening time trial was the Mount Pleasant Hilly, over a tough 13-mile circuit. Wick’s Stuart Anderson had a clear win from Colin Earnshaw and Aiden Love.
Results: 1 Stuart Anderson, 34 min 58 sec; 2 Colin Earnshaw, 38.03; 3 Aiden Love, 38.52; 4 Adam Smith, 40.22; 5 Sandy Christie, 40.44; 6 John Falconer, 41.56; 7 Phil Cartwright, 42.44; 8 Graeme Morgan, 43.26; 9 Roger Broughton, 44.37; 10 Iain Miller, 48.32.
Two days later Andrew MacLeod travelled to Kildary for the Moray Firth “10” and posted the excellent time of 21 min 15 sec for fourth place, behind Alasdair Munro (RT23) who won with the superfast time of 20.21.
