Alan Bingham overcame a first lap mishap, which would have undone many other riders, to take the gold medal in the Masters 40 race at the National Cyclocross Championships.
The Newry Wheelers man went into the title race as one of the favourites; the defending champion and having won six medals at Nationals in his career before yesterday’s contest.
His first came way back in 1992 in the junior men’s road
race in Stamullen, Co Meath, where he was 3rd behind Mark Hutton and Michael
Mulcahy.
And while Bingham left the racing scene for years after that early success, he remained a bike rider; just not competing.
Yesterday he kept a cool head on the first lap of five in the Masters 40 race when a minor crash resulted in a mechanical that forced him to throw his bike over his shoulder and run for a long time.
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“I had a mechanical in the first 500 metres. Someone ran into my rear mech and it went into the back wheel,” Bingham explained.
“I went
from the front to the back but
put the bike on my back and ran
to the pits. I passed about five or more riders on every bend by running.
“When I
came out of the pits I was 3rd
and all of a sudden on the first hill I passed Jason (Henry) and realised there was nobody in front.”
From that point, in the lead after a ropey start and with more than four laps to go, Bingham said he decided to ride from the front.
“That wasn't the
plan but I had no choice only to push on,” he said. “And once I got 20 seconds on Robin (Seymour)
I decided to try and hold that.
“But I tried to not go any harder and further into the red. The plan worked and I was over the moon with the win. I was so happy to take it.”
After claiming his nationals medal
in the junior road race in 1992 Bingham rode as the senior the next season;
competing in the Rás and being in contention in the Viking Trophy during the
new defunct Manx International Week.
However, he didn’t race the following season as he began an apprenticeship and his competing fell by the wayside for about five years.
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And while he later rode some open
races and the Newry club league, he never committed to it fully.
A stint riding mountain bike followed and while he rode some races he didn’t stick to that scene for long and competed in triathlon for about three years.
His racing there reminded him how much he missed the bike and when he went to help out at the Masters 40 national road race championships in 2013 he decided he wanted to get back into road racing action.
“I took a few spins out with the famous Des Woods and realised I had a lot of work to do. So as they say; head down ass up!” said Bingham of knuckling down to get back into condition at the time.
“I now ride my bike to and from work
45 minutes each way and I can add 15 minutes each way to it if I need more.
“It doesn't take much more time out of my day to get all the training I need. I only jumped into cyclocross four years ago and loved it from the first peddle stroke.”
Despite his unwanted contact with another rider early in
yesterday’s race in the Ballina CC promotion, Bingham was still fastest around
the first lap.
He was the only rider in the race, the largest of the
weekend, to dip below eight minutes for a lap; doing 7:59 on the opening
circuit.
That was six seconds faster than eventual runner-up, and Irish off-road cycling’s most decorated rider, Robin Seymour of Team Worc.
Barry Kellett (Dromara CC), who would eventually take the
bronze medal, lost 11 seconds to Bingham on the opening lap and five to
Seymour.
Bingham gained another 13 seconds on Seymour on the
second lap and put a further 27 seconds into Kellett.
On the third lap Seymour picked up his pace, but the gap
between himself and Bingham was still extended; by five seconds.
And while Seymour was faster on the penultimate and final laps – pegging back Bingham by seven seconds in total – Bingham ran out the winner by 16 seconds.
Kellett was another 2:05 back in the bronze medal
position. Seymour’s team mate Evan Ryan was 4th, Kevin Keane of St Tiernan’s
was 5th and Ronan O’Flynn (Quanta Scott Orwell) finished 6th.
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