Report: Perth United Cycling Club 2Up TT
Sunday, 5th September, saw a new open 2-Up team time trial event hosted by Perth United Cycling Club. The weather was kind, with the rain and high winds of the previous weekend being replaced by a perfect warm sunny morning with a moderate easterly breeze.There was a really positive response to the event, with a total of 23 teams, from clubs right across the country. As well as a strong entry from the home club, there were teams from as far away as Kelso in the South and Shetland to the North.
1st Place Overall - Stuart Moran and Steve Cairns (Perth United CC) - one receiving prizes, one at finish line.
There was a home win by Perth United's top team of Stuart Moran and Steve Cairns; a first win in an open event for the Perth club in some time. Their winning time of 36 minutes 45 seconds, (at an average speed of 26mph) was just quick enough to beat Veli-Matti Raikkonen and Ali Watt of Granite City RT by 4 seconds. The nature of the course gave a fairly even chance to both dedicated time trialists and the road race specialists from Aberdeen. The local boy's familiarity with the course may have given them an edge, but perhaps Veli and Ali will be back next year to close the gap. Third place in the overall event ranking went to the Glasgow Wheelers pair of Jon Clarke and Kristoff Aksnes in a time of 37:38.
Above: Stuart Moran and Steve Cairns finishing.
The win was a deserved reward for Stuart and Steve who are both having a great season. They have been turning in increasingly impressive results in time trials across the country, as well as battling head to head for the Perth United club championships. The combination of Stuart's climbing skills and Steve's power over the flat sections proved to be ideally suited the route.
2nd Place Overall - Veli-Matti Raikonen and Ali Watt (Granite City RT)
The 16 mile course started in Bridge of Earn and travelled straight out to Dunning with a return leg along the Invermay Road. The first part of the course has some long, slightly uphill drags followed by a more technical undulating section with some tricky turns. Once the riders reached Dunning the pace picked up as they returned down the long sweeping sections of the Invermay road, but that was followed by a couple of short sharp climbs that caught out some of the visiting teams. The final part of the course is normally a very fast finish, but it was into a headwind on Sunday making the riders work hard all the way to the line.
3rd Place Overall - Jon Clarke and Kristoff Aksnes (Glasgow Wheelers)
There were more prize winners on the day in other categories. In the Combined ladies/gents team event, the pre-race favourites Carlos Riise and Christine McLean of Shetland Wheelers came home first, almost 5 minutes ahead of the next placed team of Steve Nixon and Ros Carey from Perth United. In the veteran (over 40) and pacer event, Phil Brown (Velo Ecosse) and John Kermode (Dundee Thistle) saw off the challenge of Richard Egan and Alan Robertson of East Kilbride RC. There were also spot prize (nearest to pre-determined times) wins for Ally Little and Rab Connelly (Perth United), Karen Breneman and Colin Russell (Edinburgh Road Club) and Jim Hall and Steve Beech (Sandy Wallace Cycles).
Ladies and Gents Team Winners - Carlos Riise and Christine McLean (Shetland Wheelers)
Veteran and Pacer Winners - John Kermode (Dundee Thistle) and Phil Brown (Velo Ecosse)
A full set of results from the TT can be viewed here
The organisers would like to thank all the volunteers who came out to marshal and help out at the event, and hopefully the race will now be regular fixture in the cycling calendar.
