History has it that the first cycling races at Highland Games were apparently held at Alva, not far from Crieff and went under the title of “Velocipede Handicaps”. Nowadays things have moved on a bit with the cyclists sitting atop precision built, light weight machines but still with the distinctive fixed wheel and perhaps more alarmingly – no brakes!! Cyclists clip their feet into specially adapted pedals so that if the wheels are going round, so too must their legs. This is why we keep you the spectators safely fenced behind the barrier fence.
We have several races for the adults at Crieff, some handicapped, some not. Handicapping as in the running events, is designed to allow all competitors to have the chance of coming in first by allocating a mark to each competitor. The fastest competitor based on past performances is put at the back and the very best is put on “scratch” which means the whole distance of the race has to be covered. When the handicapper gets it right (and more often than not he does) and all competitors cross the line together, the judges have got it all to do to separate them. If you look closely at the finishing line you will see one of the judges in an elevated position with a camera, there can be no room for error with results!
