Merlin rider Iain Nimmo received an early Christmas Present on Sunday as he
was gifted the final round of the Kinesis Scottish Cyclo-Cross League. With
League leader, Stephen Jackson (Glasgow MBC) out of the Country and 2^nd
placed Dan Whitehead missing, Nimmo required a win to leap from 3^rd
spot and take the Overall League title. As the first lap got under way it was
down to the in form pairing of up and coming under 23 riders Gareth Montgomery
(Ride On) and Bruce McLeary (The Edge) to take the day win and block Nimmo from
lifting the League title.

Montgomery got off on a flier leading out the first lap with a 5 second gap
to a chasing group of McLeary, Nimmo and Stirling rider Kenny Kentley close
in fourth. During the second, Nimmo and McLeary were back on Mongomeries wheel
with Kentley losing the pace. While Nimmo opened a small gap going into the
3^rd McLeary had a costly slip at a wall jump, the Castle Douglas
man’s back wheel collided with the wall he was about to jump and crushed his
rim. This left the solo chase to Mongomery who was now trailing Nimmo. On the
fourth lap and 20 minutes gone Montgomery punctured near the end of the lap
and was forced to take a bike change, this proved costly as Nimmo gained a 30
second advantage and saw his chance to open it up. The gap grew as the clock
ticked and Nimmo crossed the line with a two-minute advantage covering 13 laps
to clean up in the Scottish Cross season. Kentley retained third spot to claim
his first podium place of the season whilst James Melville of Glasgow United
claimed fourth. Montgomery’s second place was not enough to clinch a league
medal, the Ride On man had to settle for 4^th overall whilst Jackson
slipped back to silver and Aberdeen man Whitehead held Bronze.

The woman’s race saw the return of Scottish Champion Ruth McGavigan, on the
start line for her first League race, the Pedal Power rider was never challenged
as she powered round to lap the small woman’s field and crashed through the
finish line sustaining a heavily bruised hip (which I’m sure the Doc will sooth).
A real boost for Scottish Cycling was the young talent of ‘Youth’ rider Catherine
Niblock (Rik’s Bike Shed) who laid down some stern warnings to the girls for
next year as she stormed home in second place among the senior woman. Christine
Allan took third which was enough to secure the overall League Victory. Fiona
Walker took overall silver and McGavigan bronze.

Scotland’s future hopes in the off road stakes look good with Junior rider
Douglas Shearer (Stirling Bike Club) showing a sharp performance improvement
this season, the Wheels of Callander rider stormed round to take victory in
the Juniors and finished best in a sprint finish with James Melville to cross
the line 4^th among the seniors. In the Youth event Kevin Barclay
(Edinburgh Racers) is also proving a very strong young rider who looks well
in control of his cross bike, both these riders finished the year with a double,
taking both the Scottish Championship and League titles in their relevant categories.
Also riding well in the youth category is Dumfries lad Ian Niblock who impressed
the crowd with a strong second place riding a Mountain Bike in his first Cross
race of the League.

A massive prize list was on offer on the day with Alpine Bikes of Glasgow providing
the day prizes, mostly dispatched in a free raffle from day entries. Kinesis
and Stirling Bike Club provided the League medals and trophy. A Kinesis Cyclo-Cross
Frame and Fork combo was raffled using all the series entries and the proud
winner was Glasgow’s Andy Gowan. A big thanks also goes to Hardie Bikes / Wheels
of Callander / Pedal Power / Sandy Wallace Cycles for their League assistance
and prizes.

The League has been a big success with increased entries and most notably a
massive increase in the number of Cyclo-Cross bikes in use, three years ago
Scottish races saw only two or three cross bikes turning out whilst Mountain
Bikes were regularly clearing up in the results, this has changed recently with
the top finishers in all rounds this year on dedicated Cross bikes and more
than half the field running skinny tires and curly bars. Racing has seen a great
boost in the last couple of seasons thanks to the help and sponsorship from
Scottish Bike Shops and companies like Kinesis and SiS, with continued coverage
from the general media and increased support from the Union and our Cycling
Clubs, Scotland will produce off road Champions on a bigger scale.

Top League Standings

SENIOR

WOMAN

JUNIOR

YOUTH

Full results are available on the Stirling Bike Club site.