Tour Doon Hame Premier Calender
Over the Easter weekend I was racing the Tour Doon Hame. This is a brand new event, organised by the same committee who brought us The Girvan 3 day. The relocation of the event to Dumfries required a new name, and The Tour Doon Hame was taken from the locals of Dumfries; The Doon Hamers…
I was riding this event with my road club the Glasgow Wheelers. I was in a team of 6 riders; two young riders Robert Hassan and Dougie Young, Keith Smith, David Smith and Jason Roberts. We have had some pretty good results recently, and where looking to get stuck into the race. I was using the event for an overload weekend and to add some zip and speed to my legs. Also if the opportunity presented itself I would be going for results and break aways, as well as the others. The young guys where here for experience and to see what Premier Calender racing was all about, and it turned out that they where the riders that excelled. Matthew Kipling was also guesting for the Glasgow Wheelers.
The first stage was around 75 miles. Three loops where used. One big, two medium and a finishing circuit. The pace was fast and the racing controlled with the big teams going for the bonus sprint seconds to extent advantages and not break aways. This was the theme for the weekend and produced a lot of tactical and hard racing. It could be seen as a little negative, however it did add a dimention to the racing anbd kept the pro’s on their toes. I was doing my best to stay near the front, and was glad to see most of the Glasgow Wheelers up there too. Going into the finish after the big lap I had a go slipping off the front with a group, but it was going no where. On the first of the medium laps I puntured, there was a bit of chaos going on with other punctures and riders being shelled. I managed to get a wheel not long after puncturing from Corley Cycles and made it back into the bunch easily enough. Onto the second medium lap the racing started to kick off a bit more and I struggled to move up. The road was either blocked kerb to kerb or lined out. I had to stay where I was and suffered towards the back of the race and rolled in around 80th, unable to contest the sprint (I would have struggled anyway to be fair!). Bad news of the day was there was crash early on taking down a number of riders and as far as I am aware nobody was seriously injured. Unfortunatly for us Keith punctured not long after the crash and couldn’t recieve Nutral Service as the car was blocked and servicing other riders. (In road racing riders can normally swap wheels after puncturing and then follow the car back to where they where in the race. This is to make sure no one looses the race on a mechanical failure and is the same for everyone to keep the playing field level.) He didn’t get a change for 4 or 5 minutes and then lost a lot of time over the stage as he couldn’t rejoin where he was in the bunch. I was happy to see Evan Oliphant get second on the stage though, but it looked like a difficult task for him to topple Chris Newton who was flying; Matt Kipling was our highesat finisher in 10th. The young guys (Robbie and Dougie) had ridden exceptionally well, holding their position at the front of the fast moving peloton for the duration of the stage despite being tiny guys. Great job and very impressive! For us, recovery was now the priority and we headed back to the hotel to chill out, get some food, and sleep.
Stage two was the ‘Queen Stage’. One big 96 mile loop from Dumfries through Castle Douglas and the round and back to finish in Castle Douglas main street. There was a number of descisive sections on the race route and the wind and hills came into play. I was hanging tough in there through all the cross winds and hills until around 85 miles gone. Over the final King of the Mountains prime I dropped my chain shifting down to the little ring when just about on my limit. The race was kicking off right then with Marcin Bialoblocki attacking to split the race as previous winner of The Girvan. Once i remounted my chain there was no chance of me getting back on terms and I was content to ride home and save as much energy as possible for the final stage. Once again Robbie and Dougie showed the best performances of the Glasgow Wheelers and made the front split, Dougie unfortunatly punctured out of the group. Matt sprinted well again taking ninth on the stage. Chris Newton won the stage. I was a little disappointed with my road form; I seem to be lacking short bursts of power and every time I’m doing them it’s sapping me of energy. It’s not something I’m naturally good at, and I haven’t been training it too much as it’s not a priority right now for me. I was just trying to focus on the job in hand, getting some fast hard miles in the legs to build on for the MTB season.
The final day was a grim prospect. Rapha Condor Sharp would defend Newtons lead by setting a relentless tempo from the start and Endura Racing, Motorpoint/Marshalls Pasta, Sigma Sport/Specialized and the other teams would make it as hard as possible for them. The wind was blowing and rain was lashing down. The first part of the stage was uphill and head/cross wind making things difficult. I was holding my position well up front. Dougie and Matt suffered puntures at the worst possible moments and Keith was dropped when a rider in front of him was dropped on a descent and he couldn’t get by. I was still hanging tough past half way and the bunch was at around two thirds of the size. When climbing a KOM I took a feed from the side of the road, I didn’t have much choice as I needed it pretty badly. I lost my position in the group and had to spend some energy in the wind. Over the top and in the line the bunch got pinned in the left gutter in the cross wind. A rider in front was dropped in the wind but persisted on riding in the left meaning riders had to come around and close a 10 metre gap in the howling wind; had they moved over when they dropped the wheel or even just before there would be no issue. I was on my knees and never made it across the gap. The race convoy came around me and I tried to get back into the bunch but failled. At Castle Douglas with 30 miles remaining I climbed off and finished (or didn’t finish) the race in the car. Robbie Hassan was the star of the day finishing in the front group. Dave Smith had been with him having finally found his legs, but was brought down in a crash. Jack Bauer won the stage with a gutsy 30 mile solo attack, but missed out on the overall by a handful of seconds to Chris Newton.
Full event reports, results and pictures can be seen here http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20100403-Tour-DoonHame-Home
So the first ever Tour Doon Hame was done and dusted. A hard 3 days of racing, over 200 miles of hard riding for me in the bank and job done. UK racing has gona a bit mad this year with a number of full time Pro’s and it’s been difficult to compete with them. Hopefully this will improve the sport overall and more opportunities to go pro in the UK will occur. I recon we could see Robert Hassan and Douglas Young in those pro jerseys in the seasons to come.
I’d also like to say I was sorry to hear of a serious injury to a rider at the Easter 4 Day in the North East of England. My thoughts are with the rider and his family and I hope he makes a full recovery.
Rab
