The Dundee Wheelers 50mile Road Race takes place at Meigle again on Saturday 19th July. It's a Cat 3 / 4 race, full details are available at British Cycling.

I'll be heading down from Inverurie if anyone wants a lift.

Cheers,
Alasdair

sorry manny, I'll be buggered after the Caithness stage race and the Black Isle GP.

I'd heard they did funny things up there.......

I heard it was mostly to sheep too............................

You don't wear a fleece and say 'baa' a lot do you?

buggered, but not literally.

Alasdair, you reckon I'll still get an entry? I was going to be doing the 100m TT on the Sunday, but cant really face the south deeside road twice in one month.

Cheers min

Ross

Hi Ross, worth a phone call!

Cheers

Ross, got the start sheet through this morning. There are only 40 names on the list (me, Dave Vinten, and Chris Whittle from DTCC). Last year if you remember there were about 80 on the line!

See you there???

Three Deesiders made it down to Meigle for the race today - Chris Whittle, David Vinten, and Alasdair McGill. Also there from Aberdeen were Veli-Matti Raikonnen from GCRT, Malcolm Grant from Ythan, and Gilbert Runcie from TCG. A decent turnout from Aberdeen in a field of 60.

Things were nervous from the start, and our DTCC boys moved through the bunch towards the front of the pack. Unfortunately one of the ERC guys was all over the road and no-one was surprised when he touched the wheel of a Pedal Power rider and a big pile up ensued. Unfortunately for me, I was on Veli's wheel and only a couple back from the crash. With nowhere to go I was on the road and my bike was mangled. Before we'd clocked up our first mile my race was over. Chris was more fortunate, although it required a bit of off-road riding in the verge.

Things apparently settled down after this with the wind making it difficult for any breakaways. One rider did get away on the second lap, a strong lad from Glasgow Wheelers, and despite the combined efforts of the bunch he managed to stay away and win by over one minute.

The main bunch rolled in next, led by Veli who won the sprint for second (despite being caught up in the crash and having to sprint to get back on) with Chris a very credible fourth. David Vinten finished in the bunch with the same time.

So, apart from my crash, it was a good day for Deeside. I'd like to thank all the Aberdeen guys for their concern for me at the finish. I was bashed and bruised, but fortunately no serious harm was done.

Chris was on his way south after the race to Glasgow for another race tomorrow - he's having an excellent season and it's great for the club to have someone consistently in the prizes nationally.

Alisdair, glad your not hurt to badly. Headed off pretty quickly to get up the road after the finish but it was a fair smash you and the others had, I just managed to dodge around it. Didn't actually know you were down until Gilbert said. Velli came back on like a rocket. Quite a few dodgy moves going on in the first few miles and it continued until the bunch was stopped on lap 2 by the comm for white line issues.

I think a neutralised section would have helped, a few folk were riding flat out from the go to stay with it and thats what made it so nervous.

Malcolm

Thanks Malcolm. It was bl**dy frustrating - I'd felt good during the week and was looking forward to a good race today.

There were a few things the organisers could improve - a neutralised section is always good, and I heard about how the commissaire stopped the race whilst a breakaway was up the road.

Good luck for the emergency services champs!

Alasdair