Cycling: Ayr team take part in Falkirk road race

Sep 18 2009 by Mike Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

AYR Roads Cycling Club / Harry Fairbairn BMW was one of only eleven club teams to start the Falkirk Team Road Race.

The 54-mile event was a new addition to the Scottish racing calendar, with a unique scoring system aimed at delivering the most finishing places.

In super conditions, Mark Skilling again battled with the big guns to finish 14th overall. Teammates Alex McAllister and Robert Kelly came agonisingly close to the finish, being pulled by the race commissaire during the last two miles, meaning Ayr Roads were not eligible for the team competition with only one rider finishing.

The club hill climb championships, which are run over a gruelling steep kilometre-long course on the Carwinschoch side of the Carrick Hills, takes place on October 4 starting at 10am. Current champion Trevor Wilson will look to best his winning time of 3 mins 7 secs. However, he will face tough competition from in-form Mark Skilling, and mountain biker Chris McConnell.

lAYRSHIRE CTC's next outing is an easy run on Sunday, September 27, from the war memorial at Crosshill. Susi Cormack will lead the group on a 25-mile meander round north Carrick with a lunch stop at Ladyburn Estate. Check www.cycleayrshire.co.uk

lTHE Ayrshire Coast Cycleway is one of the featured routes in the new BBC outdoors website. Details on www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors

The Clyde and Loch Lomond Sustrans route is also among the collection of nearby destinations.