Images: Moving Still Images
Words: Kenny Pryde
Carol Scott went to the 2019 World Masters track championships in Manchester with her VC Astar team mates to win the team pursuit. She came home with a Points race world title – and a pursuit medal too.
Like so many other ex-racers, you're never truly an 'ex-racer.' Which is to say that deep down the competitive urge is only ever dormant and, for 2019 Masters world Scratch champion Carol Scott, it was that desire to compete and race which compelled her to get back into training 30 years after her first race in 1977. “I joined the Law Wheelers as a schoolgirl and did a lot of 10-mile time trials on a fixed-wheel bike, which is why track racing didn't bother me. I actually broke the Scottish schoolgirl record in 1978. I did a 27-48 on a 76-inch fixed on the Westferry course, but someone else improved it before the end of the season and I never got my name in the SCU handbook!” she laughs.
Clearly undaunted by this early 'setback,' Scott carried on racing as a student with the Musselburgh RCC - “I got to know Andy Laing and Andy Matheson's back wheels really well, I got such a pasting every weekend on club runs! But I did time trials and Ray Harris would take a women's team to stage races once in a while. Ray was way ahead of his time in training and nutrition and he did a lot for women's cycling,” insists Scott.
In the end, around 1992, Scott was distracted by marriage and motorbikes and hung up her wheels for a while but, like so many long-standing cyclists, never fully left cycling. “I fancied a shot of track racing, so I joined the City of Edinburgh RC in 2002 because they were a big track club and I got going again.” Scott is being modest, since, by 2004 she was winning Scottish track titles in 500m time trial, Scratch and Points events. In 2005 Scott won no fewer than three titles, was runner-up in the 500m time trial and took bronze in the Women's individual pursuit.
There was another break – this time caused by a prolapsed disc which saw her struggle just to ride. “I was in agony, so I stopped in 2008. I kept trying to ride but it was to painful and I sold all my bikes and kit – well, except for my good road bike!”
Again, once a cyclist, always a cyclist and Scott couldn't quit. “I wanted to keep fit so in 2014 I started doing a bit on a Wattbike and then riding a mountain bike and my back felt OK. I ended up going out for an hour, then an hour and a half and it was OK. That was it, I was back.”
At which point, Scott went to the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome to do her accreditation and met Alister Ogg, founder member and coach of the VC Astar club.
“If it hadn't been for Alister I'm not sure I would have gone to the World Masters. In November 2018 he asked me if I would be interested in a team pursuit and I told him I needed to see how fit I was first. I rode the Scottish track championships and did OK (she got bronze in the individual pursuit – Ed.) and that was the seed planted.” Scott joined the VC Astar and the target for 2019 was the Masters World championship team pursuit.
The British Masters championships in June 2019 saw her and her VC Astar team mates pick up a healthy haul of medals and, more than that, post a series of performances that gave them all the motivation to participate in the World Masters championships in October. Wins in both the individual pursuit (F55-59) and Points were clear signs that Scott was going well.
Scott didn't know any of her VC Astar-Anderside team mates (Donna Clayton, Gillian Anderson, Alison Winship Mackay) but she cites the team camaraderie as a key element. “That's one of the pleasures of riding, that's what makes it worthwhile. You are all quietly encouraging each other to train. It doesn't take much, but you don't want to let each other down, so when the weather is bad, it helps motivate you to get out, following each other on Strava and commenting. It all helps.”
It helped Scott and her team mates take a silver medal in the F45-54 category, while Scott went on to claim gold in the Points race. “I celebrated a bit, maybe two pints of Guinness,” laughs Scott, mindful that there's the Scottish national track championships to come before she can have a break. “Then it'll be back on Swift for winter training and thinking about defending those titles. I mean, we'll have to keep going, right?”
Inspired to give track cycling a try?
The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow offers a full accreditation programme.
This article was written by Kenny Pryde, a Glaswegian journalist and author who has been writing about cycling since 1987. He edited Winning Magazine and Cycle Sport and has contributed to the Guardian, Scotsman, Herald and - for one week only in 1991 - l'Equipe.
