AYRSHIRE Cycling Clubs were well represented on Sunday at Plean Country Park, Stirling where they took part in various Cyclo Cross races.

Promoters of the event, Stirling Bike Club had redesigned the course, offering a more challenging circuit than last year. Ayrshire interests lay in the Women's and Men's Masters Category races, where friendly rivalry was expected to offer exciting races for the riders and their supporters. The new course was found to be a technical one requiring good bike handling skills in muddy conditions, particularly on the corners. A number of riders experienced falls, which affected their ability to challenge the leaders. In the Women's event, Lorna Sloan of Walkers Cycling Club, Kilmaurs won her category and in the other Women's event Aileen Fisher of Ayr Roads/Harry Fairbairn CC took fifth place with another Ayrshire rider, Janet Tait of Dooleys CC placed fourth. The winner of this race was Helen Gorman of the promoting club.

In the men's race, Ayr Roads fielded three riders, Fraser Tait, Bobby McGhee and Alex McAllister. Recent results indicated that it was going to be a hard fought race. Fraser, who finished in 11th position two weeks ago at Inverness was hoping to do well, but Alex McAllister who won Gold at the British Cycling Time Trials Championship some weeks ago was still in good form and with Bobby McGhee getting some late miles in, he too was hoping for a good result.

On the day Fraser was the fastest Roads rider.

Fraser just missed out on a top 10 finish and recorded another 11th place. Alex who was the fastest in his category, chose to compete in a lower age category and yet still managed to secure a 20th spot, with Bobby just behind. The winner was Neil Raitt of Angus Bike Chain. There were no Ayrshire finishers in the Seniors race, which was won by Chris Buchan.

The event was a precursor to the Scottish CX Championships which will be held in Fife on Sunday, this will be followed by Round One of the Super Quaich Series of races staged at Rozelle Park, Ayr on the 9th December.

One thing that can be said about Ayr Roads is their commitment to supporting the local communities during their club runs throughout the season.

On Sunday the main club run took to East Ayrshire roads by way of Dundonald, Tarbolton and Mauchline. They enjoyed a well-earned rest at the Dumfries House tearoom before heading onto home roads by way of Skares, Sinclairston and Drongan.

Spare a thought though for a real bunch of cycling enthusiasts led by David Hill of The Roads club who took part in the Night Rider event - a circuit of Castle Semple Country Park in Renfrewshire. David was accompanied by 40 other hardy souls last Friday night for the all-nighter event, which finished at 1am on Saturday.

Meanwhile Bobby McGhee grabbed some late miles with a short tour of southern roads starting from Lincoln and finishing in Middlesbrough via the Humber Bridge, Hull, Scarborough and Whitby. Bobby clocked up a nice 250 miles during his journey.

Grant Young a member of Ayrodynamics Tri Club and Ayr Roads won himself a Gold Medal in the Aquabike event in Ibiza last week and in nearby Majorca, Malcolm Inch of the Roads Club tackled the mighty Sa Calobra Climb of the Tramuntana Mountains.