The Youth Tour of Scotland was absolutely brilliant. That is what I was going to write but I was told I needed to do more so here goes.
I was so excited when I was told that I got into the Glasgow Riderz team for the youth tour of Scotland. I was even more excited about the fact that I was one of only 2 youth B males to be riding the youth tour.
Saturday – 60 km road race around the roads of Forteviot. The start was delayed because we had to wait for the 12.30 bus to come through the start. I was on the last row of the grid when the whistle went I got a very good start and moved up the bunch nicely. The race was soon stopped due to a crash in the neutralised section. When the race started again everyone was a little less nervous so the start wasn’t as fast. I stayed with the bunch for 99% of the race, it was only in the last half a lap where I got distanced a bit and just to make it worse I got stuck behind a crash and that was it I had no chance of getting back on at that point, so I kept riding to limit time losses. I finished this stage in 38th place out of 80 riders.
Sunday – Stage 2 45 minute Crit around Perth town centre. After breakfast we made the bottles for the day ahead it was then into Neil’s car and off to Perth for stage 2&3. At the start of the 1st Crit I just missed out on gridding by one place. The start was fast & furious but I got a good start and moved up the bunch well again. I was always going to be on the back foot in the crit’s because of my youth B gearing. So I was always second half of the bunch, I would always move up in the corners and the move back down after because I didn’t have enough gears. A small group eventually got a bit distanced from the pack and we all continued to work to limit time losses. I finished this stage 33rd on the stage and moved up a bit in GC to 34th
Stage 3 – Another 45 minute crit (how fun)
stage 3 was after a very relaxing break spent working on my tan lines. I actually got gridded this time as I had moved up in GC after the last stage. This was another very fast stage. It went much the same way as the first maybe just a little bit slower. The stage was abandoned 30 minutes in due to a big crash coming out the last corner caused by a car parked just after the exit of the bend. While we waited, everyone was running around to get us water as it was so hot. The result was taken from the positions on the lap before the crash so I finished the stage in 30th and stayed in the same place on GC.
Stage 4 – 40km road race
Stage 4 was a relatively easy circuit with an absolutely brutal short sharp climb on the school grounds (which looked like snoopy dog, trust me) I was gridded quite far up after the previous days stage. I got another good start and moved up the bunch again and stayed in for 2 or 3 laps and then got spat out the back and rode most of the stage on my own and ended up finishing in 48th and moving up one place on GC to 33rd.
The Youth Tour of Scotland was a great experience (even if we didn’t get to eat sausages and bacon at breakfast.) And I hope to get the chance to ride it again next year. Huge thanks to Neil Macleod, I could not have managed it without his help and advice. Thanks also to Braveheart and Glasgow Riderz for giving me the opportunity!
Jack Cruden
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