Alan Spokes believes that overzealous officialdom may have cost him another national title – but that his subsequent anger gave him an “adrenaline” boost as he finished second in the men-nine time trial at the Masters Road Championships at East Gippsland, Victoria.
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The Tamworth Cycling Club veteran was left seething after the implementation of a last-minute Union Cycliste Internationale rule change, which he was unaware of, meant he had to reduce the length of his handlebar control, by “cutting them off”, to make them compliment.
He said that meant he was unable to reinstall the control properly and had to “sort of hold them” during the race, while the time spent making the bike compliant severely reduced his warm-up. Despite this, he finished only 11.5 seconds behind John Horsburgh, of Peloton Sports.
He said: “So, it was a difficult ride. But I was that cranky about the whole thing, I think it probably gave me increased adrenaline.”
He added: “I’m quite happy, don’t get me wrong – you can only do what you can only do. And I was quite happy with how I went, considering my lead-up to it.”
Spokes said the ICU rule change, effective as of Monday, resulted in a “hell of a kerfuffle” pre-race.
“The UCI may have changed the rules … but Cycling Australia didn’t have to enforce those rules on old men three days later, and old women as well,” he said.
Despite the problematic nature of the race, it was another national medal for an evergreen competitor who won six European races as a professional and who went on to win multiple national masters gold – his chance of redemption at these championships coming on Friday in the 58.6 kilometre road race.
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Spoke, whose son Sam is also a former professional cyclist, continues to give back to a sport that has given him so much. “If I can ever help a young person, or even older people, who come into the sport, I try and help them, to promote the sport,” he said. “My joy is seeing someone do well in the sport.”
Three other TCC members also competed in the time trial. Fraser Ashford and Steve McMahon came fifth and sixth in men four, while Katrina Ashford came seventh in women two.
