On a day described by the majority of the field as tough and hard going, Carlos Riise powered around the circuit in spectacular style. He completed the distance in an awesome time of 1:50:50, convincingly winning gold by a massive two minutes nine seconds margin over second-placed Ray Wilson (Sandy Wallace Cycles).

The event was held in the vicinity of Invergordon, starting and finishing on the coast road at Alness and incorporating a stretch of the A9. The weather was pleasantly warm and dry but many riders found the strength-zapping south-westerly wind a problem on the way out to the southernmost turn at the Ardullie roundabout. More of the same strong head wind on the final nine miles along the coast made for a brutally hard finish.

Christine McLean was the fastest woman on the day and was presented with the gold medal in the women’s event. Despite the windy conditions she gained a new Scottish PB and set a Scottish women’s age record with her winning time of 2:02:59.

McLean, representing Shetland Wheelers, made the long journey down to Warwickshire to compete in cycling’s most popular event, where over 300 of the country’s top riders were all hopeful of a chance of a new personal best time.

This year the competition was held south of Birmingham on the busy A46 near the historic town of Alcester, where the clear sunny conditions saw temperatures rise to almost 30C.

Christine was seeded among the fastest riders in the 100-strong women’s field, which saw her start in the company of multi-distance champion Julia Shaw and Olympic medal winner Sarah Storey. McLean’s time of 22:46 secured her gold in her age group and earned her 11th place overall.

In the afternoon the men’s race was won by Michael Hutchinson with a ridiculously fast time of 18:37. Hutchinson had not lost a time trial in almost 10 years so it was no surprise when he won by almost a minute. Scottish 10-mile silver medalist Carlos Riise was also at the event, finishing second in his age group and 44th overall with a time of 20:58.

The previous Saturday Riise won a 25-mile time trial on a windy day near Aberdeen. He was up against 60 riders, crossing the line well clear with a time of 54:54.

The following day Riise rode against a field of 80 in a 10-mile time trial at Stirling. He won by a single second in a time of 21:15.

Over 150 riders had entered the prestigious event and the fact that it also incorporated the Jason Macintyre Memorial time trial gave it an added poignancy.

Champion time trialist Jason was killed while cycling on the A82 near his home in Fort William in January 2008, his death marking the un­timely end of a brilliant cycling career.

Fort William was a stunning setting with snow-covered Ben Nevis towering majestically over the proceedings on a beautiful, spring-like, calm day.

First off at midday were the women followed by the juniors and men with the last rider, reigning 10-mile champion Arthur Doyle, start­ing at 3pm. The route was the A380 from Fort William to Mallaig.

It was necessary to include a dead turn in the roadway which is never ideal especially for a championship as riders have the chance of being held up and the added risk to their safety when turning. However, the excellent warnings and marshalling by host club Nevis Cycles meant that a smooth operation was maintained throughout with no mishaps.

Despite its flattish appearance the course turned out a deceptive one with most riders expressing surprise at how hard they found it. Part of the problem was the poor quality of the roughened road surface but there was also a slight headwind and one or two undulations on the return leg to contend with.

McLean was unsure whether her preparation was adequate due to missing the previous weekend’s racing because of travel disruptions. She was the last woman off and despite a huge effort was unable to beat the pace of former Shetland Wheeler Mari Todd.

McLean won silver with her time of 23:38, 26 seconds down on Todd’s time of 23:12. There was then a gap of over a minute to the rest of the women’s field with the bronze awarded to triathlete Sian Tovey with her time of 24:40.

Riise took the silver in the men’s event with a finishing time of 21:10. He said he was “pleasantly surprised” at the result as he had not expected to do so well. However, his impressively fast time of 19:46 at a 10-mile TT in the Borders only three weeks earlier gave a good indication of his excellent early season form.

The winning time for the men’s event was 20:37, a new course record set by Doyle, while bronze medallist Alistair Robinson was a mere three seconds behind Riise with 21:13.

A prize presentation at the Corpach village hall followed the event with the medals presented by Jason Macintyre’s widow Caroline.

She was away racing in the lanes north of Dunfermline, close to the Knockhill racing track. The well-organised event attracted 70 competitors, all keen to stretch their legs in earnest after a long winter spent training.

The day was dry and bright though a little cool for the riders as they lined up at the start. The tops of the hills were still covered in snow but luckily all the ice had melted from the roads.

There was, however, a minefield of pot holes scattered around the course which helped keep the cyclists occupied.

The rolling terrain made it difficult to get into any sort of rhythm but that did not stop McLean from powering around the 26 miles route in a time of 69 minutes, a good four minutes ahead of her nearest rival.

Carlos Riise was also competing in the popular early season event. The after effects of a cold meant he was a little off the pace but his 63 minute ride resulted in a top 10 finish.

Another keen cyclist from Shetland, Erik Smith, enjoyed the fine weather as he rode the course in his GS Metro club colours. The snow had interrupted his preparations but he was happy with his 89 minute ride.

Christine McLean receives the coveted Burma Rose Bowl. Click on image to enlarge.

An invitation to the Merseyside Ladies’ Cycling Association diamond jubilee prizegiving rounded off another successful season for Christine McLean when she had the honour of being presented with the beautiful silver Burma Rose Bowl.

The Burma Cup is awarded every year to the woman who has ridden the greatest distance in the 12-hour time trial event and therefore in addition to being 2009 ladies’ British champion in the event McLean qualified for the trophy.

The Burma Cup is so named because it was purchased by cyclists who had served in Burma during World War II, using the money remaining in the kitty of the Burma Cycling Club when the troops came home.

The trophy was initially awarded in 1947 for the ladies’ 25-mile time trial distance but in 1962 after much discussion it was agreed that the trophy be presented to the woman who completes the greatest distance in the 12-hour event.

For McLean it was a satisfying finish to a season which at one point she thought would be her last competitive one due to injuries sustained in road accidents earlier in the year. However, anger, frustration and then determination saw her battle back to fitness.

In addition to winning the British 12-hour title she won gold in the Scottish 100TT, silver in the Scottish 50TT and silver in the Olympic TT/Tour of the Trossachs.

McLean achieved personal bests in all but the 50-mile distance including British age records in the 10 and 30-mile distances and Scottish age records at all distances, a placing in the World Masters Championships, second in the ladies’ Scottish best all-rounder competition and sixth in the ladies’ British BAR.

Carlos Riise, Christine McLean, Mari Todd and James Millar entered the classic event of Scottish cycling, first held in 1943 and which riders from across the country to the town of Aberfoyle on the first Sunday in October every year.

It is an extremely challenging course which tests the rider’s ability to climb, corner, descend and suffer on the 28-mile circuit of rough, gnarly roads that encircle the heart of the beautiful Trossachs countryside.

In contrast to the previous day’s stormy conditions last Sunday developed into a glorious autumnal day and by the time the first rider got under way at 10am the frosty air was beginning to warm.

Starting at Aberfoyle the course takes the riders up the steep and winding Dukes Pass over the top where the spectacular view is wasted on the cyclists as they concentrate on descending around the hairpin bends to the shores of Loch Achray.

The route then follows the undulating Invertrossachs road to Callander, another climb across to Thornhill finishing up with a tough eight mile stretch of ups and downs, left and rights and some of the worst road surfaces imaginable. A rising headwind added to the challenges of this remaining stretch.

A 100-strong field of riders had entered the event which also incorporated the Olympic Time Trial Championship and a competition for the hill climb timed from the start of the course up to the top of the Dukes Pass.

Christine McLean, last year’s women’s gold medal winner and women’s hill climb record holder, was up against strong competition from former Shetland Wheeler Mari Todd, who has had an outstanding season and excels at these technical, sporting courses.

Despite beating her 2008 hill climb record McLean lagged seven seconds behind Todd at the top and then her more tentative tackling of the descent with its sharp bends and leaf strewn surfaces lost her more time compared to Mari’s expert, fast and fearless downhill ride.

Nevertheless McLean was extremely pleased with her ride which she completed in 1:19:19, earning her the silver medal over five minutes ahead of bronze medallist Sarah Gleave (Glasgow Nightingales CC).

Todd, who now competes for Sandy Wallace Cycles, rode a superb race, not only breaking the hill climb record but also the course record itself. What a shame she isn’t still riding for Shetland.

Carlos Riise powered up the Dukes Pass faster than the previous year in a time of 14:40, placing him seventh fastest for the hill climb. However, his cautious descent lost him time.

He swept around the rest of the course and completed the circuit in a very respectable 1:12:48, finishing overall 13th, an excellent result seeing as the course is a far cry from his typical straight and flat time trialling courses.

James Millar, now riding for Dooleys Cycles but once a Shetland asset, started slower than Riise with a hill climb time 15:14. But Millar’s familiarity with tackling the fast and tricky downhill section meant he was able to reclaim some time, finishing 12th in a time of 1:12:28.

This was a hard and challenging event but successfully completing it gives riders a satisfying feeling of achievement. The old cliché a test of man and machine could have been invented for the Tour de Trossachs.

The scale of the whole event was huge with hundreds of top amateur cyclists from across the globe descending on the  town of St Johann in Tirol.

The Shetland Wheeler’s main discipline is the time trial and the 20 kilometre out and back course ran along a valley floor squeezed between towering mountains, basic­ally flat but featured one nasty seven degree hill just before the turn.

Conditions were dry, still and sunny with temperatures soaring into the 30s by midday. McLean was number 307 out of over 700 riders set off at 30-second intervals throughout the day and with the roads closed to traffic the area around the starting ramp was packed solid with riders and spectators.

The standard was very high and despite an excellent performance, her time of 29:13 placed her nine seconds outside the time of the bronze medal winner in her age catagory and just over 30 seconds from the top podium finisher Janny Kleinjan of the Netherlands.

Only 10 days before the event McLean had been crowned British 12-hour time trial champion and in retrospect she felt she was capable of more had she given herself adequate time to make the transition from the more endurance type training to what was needed for this far shorter kind of event.

The following day McLean took part in the World Masters Road Race, quite a daunting prospect as she had not taken part in a road race for almost two years.

The circular route took the riders up a succession of climbs and through some spectacular scenery before finally dropping down and finishing in the centre of the town of St Johann. Again the weather was hot and sunny with very little wind.

McLean started very gingerly, keeping well clear of the initial rush and panic following the starting gun, but soon got into a rhythm up the climbs and latched on to a group of riders who worked together throughout the race.

She said it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, especially as she led the group into the final kilometre on the finishing stretch. However, without the training and experience in road racing she was unable to contest the sprint for the line but still managed to finish a respectable 15th in her category.

At the awards ceremony in the evening a delighted McLean was awarded trophies for her  finishing positions in both the time trial and the road race.

Her first hard effort was in the Forres 10-mile time trial on the flat but not very fast B9089 between Kinloss and the village of Roseisle. A slight crosswind and a heavy surface kept the times slower than expected, but McLean’s 23:55 earned her the prize for first woman as well as giving her fifth overall in the main open race category.

The following day she rode in a 50-mile time trial on the roads around Stirling, with 65 competitors having near perfect conditions which helped produce a good crop of personal best times.

McLean once again made excellent progress, pacing her efforts to cover the maximum distance in the shortest possible time. Her impressive 2:05:35 not only resulted in a comfortable winning margin over the rest of the women’s field, but gave her a new Scottish 50-mile age record.

The competition was held on open road course around the B817 Invergordon coast road and the busy A9 between the Nigg and Ardullie roundabouts. It involved covering a 50 mile circuit twice.

Unfortunately for the riders there was a strong westerly, strength zapping wind to contend with and although this helped on the return it never gave back what it took away in terms of speed and energy, although Carlos’s dinner plate-sized, 60-tooth chain ring was certainly beneficial for getting the maximum power out.

On the positive side it was relatively warm and the wind did die back slightly with the one or two cooling showers that passed through. The tough conditions did prove too much for some though as out of almost 50 riders at least 10 pulled out and did not finish.

Christine was happy with her performance having completed the distance in 4:28:23, more than seven minutes faster than silver medallist Sarah Gleave (Glasgow Nightingales) and almost 1hr 3mins up on the standard time for her age catagory.

Carlos was one of only two riders who succeeded in completing the 100 miles in below four hours.

He put in a superb ride with a time of 3:56:10 and so it was a cruel blow that such an excellent performance should be beaten to gold by a mere four seconds with Ian Black (Sandy Wallace Cycles) finishing in 3:56:06.

Christine McLean retained the gold medal in the women’s race while Carlos Riise won the silver medal in the men’s event.

The competition was held on open road course around the B817 Invergordon coast road and the busy A9 between the Nigg and Ardullie roundabouts. It involved covering a 50 mile circuit twice.

Unfortunately for the riders there was a strong westerly, strength zapping wind to contend with and although this helped on the return it never gave back what it took away in terms of speed and energy. Carlos’s dinner plate-sized, 60-tooth chain ring was certainly beneficial for getting the maximum power out.

On the positive side it was relatively warm and the wind did die back slightly with the one or two cooling showers that passed through. The tough conditions did prove too much for some though as out of almost 50 riders at least 10 pulled out and did not finish.

Christine was happy with her performance having completed the distance in 4:28:23, more than seven minutes faster than silver medallist Sarah Gleave (Glasgow Nightingales) and almost 1hr 3mins up on the standard time for her age catagory.

Carlos was one of only two riders who succeeded in completing the 100 miles in under four hours. He put in a superb ride with a time of 3:56:10 and so it was a cruel blow that such an excellent performance should be beaten to gold by a mere four seconds with Ian Black (Sandy Wallace Cycles) finishing in 3:56:06.