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43rd DAVID BELL MEMORIAL ROAD RACE

The classic monument in Scottish Cycling

What a fantastic day's racing! Gary Hand put in a superbly timed performance to outsprint Alistair Kay for the £500 first prize offered by Harry Fairbairn

With a superbly timed effort, Pedal Power's Gary Hand outsprinted York Cyclework's Alistair Kay to win the £500 first prize in the 43rd edition of feared David Bell Memorial Road Race. Taking in the hill roads used in the Girvan Three Day, including Nic of The Balloch and the Screws, the Davie Bell is arguably Scotland's hardest single day road race. The 43rd edition was no exception and thanks to the £500 first prize incentive offered by the promoting club's sponsor, Harry Fairbairn BMW, it was a superb field that assembled for the off.

The attacks started immediately after the neutral zone with the prospect of a cash reward for the first prime on Nic Of the Balloch. The climb stretched the bunch into a long bedraggled string, and it was Neil Cameron of Falkirk BC who the just pipped visiting Englishman Daniel Smith for the honours. With more than fifty miles remaining, noone forced the break and approaching the hotspot sprint the peloton was back together, much to the delight of the crowd gathered at Straiton. With a strong tailwind, Pedal Power's Kevin Barclay had to race at over 40mph to edge out Michael Nicholson and Phil Brown.

With the bonus prizes wrapped up the race now turned serious and it was Daniel Smith and Callum Wilkinson (Bicycleworks) who went on the offensive. Approaching the top of Blackies Brae they had built up a 1min 40 lead over their pursuers. With the worst timing Smith suffered a front wheel puncture on the descent of the Screws. Due to the dangers of the hill he was unable to receive service until Barr. Having worked with Smith until this point, Wilkinson now forged ahead alone. By the bottom of the Nic O Balloch you could have been forgiven for thinking that the nineteen year old had the race wrapped up. But it wasn't to be, some sterling work by Pedal Power bought the gap down, and by the summit the deficit was down to 30 seconds.

On the lower slopes of Tairlaw the trio of Hand, Kay and Scott MacRae reeled Wilkinson in, at which point Hand and Kay immediately attacked. From here on it was a game of team tactics as Hand left Kay to do most the work down the valley to the finish. Approaching the final sprint into Straiton, Kay led from the front, forcing Hand to dig really deep to sprint around to seal victory by less than a wheel's length.

Gary Hand was clearly delighted with his victory, praising his fellow competitors and the organisation of the hosts, Ayr Roads CC.

"I've come up through the ranks of Scottish Cycling and have ridden the event many times before, so its great to come back and actually win it. The organisation has been superb and obviously Harry Fairbairn's sponsorship money adds to the kudos!

"I was a bit nervous about Callum [Wilkinson] but I knew he had gone too far out. I could see the other riders were struggling so my plan was to keep it together until the Nic and then just go!"

Meanwhile runner up Alastair Kay was glad he had made the journey north, despite losing out on £400:

"I know some of these roads from the Girvan and really enjoy them. Callum did a really strong ride, I could see he was going well on the first climb and doing a lot of work into the wind. When we did go after Callum it wasn't until Tairlaw when we caught him. Gary wasnt able to help as he had a team mate behind so I tried to soft pedal. As it was a tail wind it seemed best to try sprinting from the front, I even gave it a full sprinters lunge but it wasn't enough! I really enjoyed it, its a great race and deserves a really quality field"

Ayr Roads CC hope to work together with the Scottish Cyclists' Union to establish a series of Scottish Classics for 2009. Having pioneered the now familiar super6 format of hosting a supporting 3rd/4th category race last year, the club had clearly benefited from the lessons learned and the event went by without hiccup. This achievement was credited to the organiser John Mason, who commented that while the 21st June might well be the longest day, but for him it was easily the 20th.

Meanwhile the hosting club were delighted to finally be in a position to award the David Bell trophy to their rider Kenny Armstrong. The event is so savage that no local rider has succeeded in finishing for five years! Tired, aching and sore, Armstrong's reaction: "I had a ball"!

Full Results

Straiton 21st June 2008 11.00 am Commissaires: John Davies David Miller

Organiser: John Mason Catering: Beryl Lowther

1 Gary Hand Pedalpower.org.uk/ Endura RT E

2 Alistair Kay York Cycleworks E

3 Scott Macrae Pedalpower.org.uk/ Endura RT 2

4 Michael Nicolson Glasgow Wheelers 3

5 Callum Wilkinson Bicycleworks.com 2

6 Gordon Murdoch Pedalpower.org.uk/ Endura RT E

7 Philip Brown Velo Ecosse 1

8 Collin Humphrey Activcycles/ corbridge 1

9 Paul Rennie Dooleys RT 1

10 Colin Ash Anderson Racing 1

11 Alister Watts Granite City RT V1

12 Daniel Smith Team Lacuna 1

13 David Robinson NFM RT 2

14 Keith Smith Glasgow Wheelers 3

15 Stephen Russell East Kilbride RC 3

16 Niall Aitken Pedalpower.org.uk/ Endura RT 3

17 Steven Dunn Falkirk BC V2

18 Alan Thomson Glasgow Courier 2

19 Jason Roberts Glasgow Nightingale CC 3

20 Euan Pope Glasgow Couriers 3

21 Neil Cameron Falkirk BC 2

22 Kevin Barclay Pedalpower.org.uk/ Endura RT 1

23 Ben Abraham Velo Ecosse 3

24 Paul McInally EK Road Club

25 James McPake Falkirk BC 3

26 Eddie Cowle Stirling Bike Club 3

27 Kenny Armstrong Ayr Roads CC / Harry Fairbairn 3

28 Ray Turner Activcycles/ corbridge 3

29 John Brown Activcycles/ corbridge 3

30 Ian Willcox Unattached 3

Nic of the Balloch Prime

1 Neil Cameron Falkirk BC 2

2 Daniel Smith Team Lacuna 1

3 Colin Ash Anderson Racing 1

Sprint

1 Kevin Barclay Pedalpower.org.uk/ Endura RT 1

2 Michael Nicolson Glasgow Wheelers 3

3 Philip Brown Velo Ecosse 1

The 43rd edition of the classic David Bell road race took place on the 21st of June 2008.

As you will see from the route profile, it were rather hard!

The route is the same as that used for the 2007 Scottish Road Race Championships, but cutting out those torturous finishing circuits. We still promise you a fast descent down 'The Screws' into Barr, a quick sprint up the 'Nic o the Balloch' pass, followed up be a wee dander over Tairlaw Summit.

The David Bell Memorial race is run in honour of former club member, David E.T. Bell, aka 'The Highwayman'. He, probably more than anyone else, sowed the seeds of cycling interest in local people's minds from 1931 until his death in 1965. Writing under the name 'The Highwayman', he described countless scenes and wrote of thousands of incidents which make up the cyclist's day in his weekly column in the local paper, the Ayrshire Post . Since 1966 the club has held an annual road race in David Bell's memory. The course takes in Rowntree Toll where a monument stands to David Bell.

It is still possible to read about the exploits of The Highway Man through a collection of his work: The Highway Man In it you will discover startling accounts of post war cycling. Bell records his fears of how the new Forestry Commission will spoil the many wonderful views of the Coast and Galloway, images many current riders are finally enjoying for the first time. Although focusing on riding, his is a fantastic historical account of the period, in which Bell finds good fortune in someone willing to trade a replacement tyre on the Sabbath. A trained botanist, Bell had a great eye for natures detail. Perhaps best of all though are accounts of his curiosity, and adventures with his bicycle. Surely there is scope to call him Scotland's pioneering mountainbiker with his trips up Ailsa Craig and the Merrick accompanied by his steed. And this is not to mention his treks into wilderness to explore the names he has found on his 'Survey Map'; the Wells of Ree, the Deil's Dyke and so on. And can you believe it; in Bell's day the Fullarton Wheeler's were the strongest racing club in Ayshire

In recent years great Scottish Champion Cyclists including Evan Oliphant and the late Jason Macintyre have ridden to glory in the event

In the inaugural support event last year Ayr Roads were delighted to see one of our own junior members Tom Dempster, break away to a solo victory against a very impressive field

Full event details can be found on BritishCycling.org.uk webpage.