In the Open event it was a decisive victory for The Cycling Academy’s Finn McHenry in a superb time of 35.28, well ahead of his nearest challenger…second year that TCA have taken the win but with a different rider this time around.
The Fenwick course is well known to just about every rider in the Glasgow area, starting on the old A77 just north of the village and heading towards the Malletsheugh turn. A quick drop down across the glen and then a left turn onto the Stewarton Road where the course rocks and rolls up past the reservoir and quarry before the final turn onto the Clunch climb…a savage way to end a time trial by sending riders up a hill!
Normally the wind is behind the riders on the way north and then in their faces on the run back towards Stewarton but this is the Fenwick plateau and it writes its own climatic conditions…the wind today was in the opposite direction and hard heading towards Glasgow but behind the riders on the arguably harder run south.
The early flyers were Jude Paterson (RT23) and Alison Roger (North Argyll CC) as they flew past our first positions, some 4 miles into the 15.5-mile course. Alison would go on to post a time of 44.09 and this held the top spot in the Women’s race for some time. She was pushed hard by Vanelli-Project Go’s Miriam Gilbride who finished just three seconds in arrears but they would both be eclipsed by Natalie Stevenson as she took three minutes out of them and finished in 41.03, a superb time and something we’ve come to expect from the Ivy CC rider.
The Junior Men always go well on this course and Beeston CC had brought two young riders aiming for the title. The win went to last man off Thomas Lewis in a time of 36.10, a twenty second advantage over his teammate James Sweeney who finished in 36.30. Rounding out the Junior podium was local rider Fraser Anderson in 43.55 riding for Johnstone Wheelers CC and competing on a road bike.
In the Senior Open event the first sub-40 minute time was posted by Dunfermline CC’s Craig Cochrane in 39.36 but it wouldn’t be long before times began chipping away at that mark. The host club’s Calum McVie (Torvelo Racing) would lower the target to 39.34 but just one minute later Alasdair Baillie (Velocity 44) would finish in 38.45.
These times were then smashed by Finn McHenry who had caught and passed five of the riders that had started before him. His time of 35.28 was over half a minute faster than the next best time set by Thomas Lewis in the Junior race.
The podium in the senior race was rounded out by Ryan Bunyan (Torvelo CC) and, according to the organizer, the most handsome man in Scottish cycling with a time of 36.28 and Chris Petrie (Aberdeen Wheelers CC) finishing in 36.46, just one second ahead of Nico Anelli (Real Guts Racing).
The prizes were presented by Scottish Cycling Board member Fiona Cockburn and there was a touching moment when, before the main medal ceremony, Torvelo CC’s Zosia Martin was finally able to receive the Championship jersey and medal for her Vets RR win in 2017. It’s a weekend of Championships with the Junior Road Race coming tomorrow at the Black Loch so be sure to stay tuned to catch all the action!