Scottish
Criterium Championships, Glasgow Green
Sunday 16th September, 2007
by Ed Hood
It was like one of those American cop movies, where
the old detective takes the young buck under his wing and together
they buck the system – veteran Andrew Davies (the bicycleworks)
and junior Hamish Creber (Sandy Wallace) rode away from the field
in the opening laps of Saturday’s Scottish criterium championships
at Glasgow Green, with the wily Davies taking the gold medal, one
hour later, in front of a big crowd, there to see the finale of the
Tour of Britain.
There were 50 riders on the sheet to face a flat
but wind-swept and technical circuit around the narrow tarmac roads
which criss-cross Glasgow Green.
The rain which had fallen earlier in the morning
was kept at bay by the wind, but the circuit was treacherous in places
– as Gary Hand (KFS) would discover, later.
The first move of the day was the one that took
the spoils, as Davies and Creber eased-clear of the bunch, at first
it looked as if the move would be nullified, but lap by lap the two
built a lead. David MacDonald (Square Wheels) was with them initially,
but never really settled into the strong, purposeful rhythm that the
other two soon found.
Andrew Davies (the bicycleworks) follows junior
Hamish Creber (Sandy Wallace)
Behind, organising the chase wasn’t proving
easy; Gary Hand and last year’s criterium championship runner-up,
Arthur Doyle (Ivy) were two of the first to realise the danger, but
on the narrow circuit with tight corners and slick surface, fortune
was favouring the brave – two riders could work much better
together than 22.
Graham McGarrity (Edge)
As the laps ticked past, Paul Rennie (Edge), Andy
Matheson (Musselburgh) and Graham McGarrity (Edge) all showed at the
front, but there would always be a ‘lull’ and the momentum
would be lost.
Paul Rennie (Edge)
The two leaders had no such problems, Davies, low
and flat-backed, looking every inch the successful track rider he
was in the 80’s and mountain biker Creber, more upright and
with a physical style, on paper not a good blend, but both had commitment
and kept hard-at the job in hand, pedalling gears noticeably smaller
than most of the chasers.
Hand and Kevin Barclay (Plowman Craven) tried to
get a chase together, but as is usually the case in situations like
these the bunch was happy to hunt them down, but not carry-through
with the job and chase the leaders. Barclay would try again, later
in the race with Ross Creber (Trek) - brother of leader, Hamish –
but with no more success.
Kevin Barclay (Plowman Craven) trails Ross
Creber (Trek)
Well before the finish, it was apparent that the
race was won, as the two leaders lapped stragglers and got the tail
end of the bunch in sight.
Davies and Creber were happy to maintain their
advantage and not risk getting caught-up in the chaos that ensues
when groups merge as one is lapped.
The wind was sending leaves scurrying across the
circuit and the tarmac was beginning to dry, but not enough to prevent
Gary Hand from coming-down on the right-hander into the finishing
straight [below].
In the bunch, thoughts now were on the bronze medal
as Paul Rennie launched a series of attacks to try and distance himself,
he was caught each time, and it was Doyle who finally got the gap,
taking Paul McInally (East Kilbride) clear with him.
Rennie saw the danger and bridged across, McInally
was unable to hold the pace and Rennie and Doyle [above]
got down to the job of taking the bronze.
At the line, it was Davies giving a somewhat ‘camp’
victory salute, maybe he was embarrassed to win; he shouldn’t
have been, it was a great ride.
Creber took the silver and Rennie bludgeoned a
mega-gear down the straight to take the bronze, with Doyle fourth.
Quotes of the day:
Andrew: “Before the
start I had thought about having a go early, the circuit was very
greasy, so it was a lot safer to be at the front - the gap just grew
lap on lap. I didn't see the point in lapping the bunch, that would
have just ended-up in confusion. I wasn’t sure about the sprint,
but I knew whoever was first around the last corner would win; I made
sure that was me! My last championship win? I guess that would be
the mountain bike title back in the early 90’s.”
An ‘oldie-but-goody’, for sure!
Paul: “It was maybe
a bit of a ‘soft’ break, that’s no disrespect to
Andrew and Hamish, both rode very well, Andrew has the experience
and Hamish has the enthusiasm, it was a good ride. I think that the
feeling in the bunch when they went was; ‘it’s too early.’
But it was a treacherous surface and hard to organise a chase due
to the nature of the circuit. When I saw Arthur get the gap, I knew
that if I got up to him, then he’d work with me and we’d
have a good chance of staying away - that’s how it worked-out.
I have to go now; I’m playing golf at 3.30!”
Golf !?!
