26th August 2006

The Return of the 100 Mile Sponsored Cycle

Saturday 26 August saw the return of the OIGA 100 mile sponsored cycle. The last time it was run was 2000 and it was a major fundraising event for OIGA and went a long way to help to pay for teams to go to the Island Games. With the next Island Games being in Rhodes, this was the opportunity for teams to make a big dent in their costs. This time the event was centred on Picky and the OIGA held a car boot sale at the same time so that teams could run a stall and make some extra money.

The event was organised a little differently to the ones originally promoted by Andrew Wilson. The original route went from Kirkwall to Burwick and then back to Kirkwall, on to Stromness, up to Birsay and back to Kirkwall. A long day in the saddle. This time it was organised into 33 mile laps around the west mainland and missing out the hills. The route had been selected with the help of the Orkney Triathlon Club and they also assisted by putting out signs and doing a lot of the administration.

The route this time went from The Picky Centre to the Harray Road, up to Dounby, left and down to the Brodgar Road, and then back to Kirkwall and a lap around the Peedie Sea.

The turnout was less than the organisers had hoped but despite this 20 riders set off through the day to complete their chosen distance, either 33 mile (1 lap), 66 miles (2 laps) or 100 miles (3 laps). There was some good racing (although it was not a race) and some good stories when the cyclists returned.

The first incident came just after the start of the first event. Ian Rushbrook was doing 33 miles but because of other commitments later in the day wanted to start with the 100 milers. The team manning the tent at Picky received a call from him after just 10 minutes. He had a puncture. A car was quickly despatched and he was back on the road with repairs complete.

The star performer seemed to be Fraser Balfour. His wife called him a hero. Kirsty, his daughter, also taking part, said he likes the challenge. Despite falling off his bike and at one time losing a pedal, he made up time by getting a tow (not literally) in the slipstream of a combine and completed the 100 miles in a very respectable time of 6 hours 32 minutes. Not bad for an old guy. Will his younger brothers try to beat his time next year? We’ll just have to wait and see.

The finish line was outside Picky and anyone sprinting for the line did so over speed bumps. These were hard on saw limbs and even harder on the other sore bits. Next year it is hoped to have the finish nearer the road. It may not eliminate the speed bumps but at least there will be less of them.

The first sprint finish came when Mark Harrison and Keith Farrer made the final turn into the finishing straight and headed for the line. They had been cycling together for the whole 100 miles at an average speed of just under 20 miles per hour. They were side by side until the last few metres when Mark got half a wheel ahead. Unfortunately the excitement got too much for the official cameraman and he pressed the wrong button and missed the shot of the day. Sack him!

Another eventful finish came when Torquil Clyde and Amy Cromarty headed for the line at the end of the 33 mile event and raced for second place. The shout went up “No!” at the moment that Amy realised that Torquil was getting ahead of her with just a few metres to go. Nevertheless it was a gritty performance from Amy. The rest of the volleyball team gave equally gritty performances with Kirsty Balfour and then Claire MacInnes combining to produce the best team performance.

Trophies had been sponsored for the event and were presented by Alma Balfour at 4pm at the OIGA tent. The results were as follows:

The Volleyball team were Amy Cromarty, Kirsty Balfour and Claire MacInnes.

One other trophy was presented by Alex Clark from Cycle Orkney and will be presented to the person who raises the most sponsorship from the event. However, that will not be known until all the money is received.

Volleyball was the best represented team at the whole event. They put up riders in the cycle, they took a stall at the car boot sale and they operated a car wash for the whole day. This really is a “can do” team.

The placings for the distance events were as follows:

100 Mile

1st Mark Harrison 5.16.44

2nd Keith Farrer 5.16.45

3rd Sandy Kerr 6.09.35

66 Mile

1st Alex Clark 3.55.58

2nd Craig Shearer 4.07.23

3rd Kieran Henderson 4.16.13

33 Mile

1st Robbie Bruce 1.52.36

2nd Torquil Clyde 2.03.45

3rd Amy Cromarty 2.03.46

The OIGA are planning for this to be an annual event and so any suggestions about how to improve anything (e.g. sacking the photographer) will be welcomed. If you are interested in taking part, keep Saturday 25 August 2007 clear in your diary.

This is the last of the outdoor fundraising events this year but it will not be the end of the fundraising. Plans are already in place to keep the Island Games Association busy raising funds for Rhodes right through the winter.