Cyclists Dine Out at Picnic Point

08/05/2004

Cramps, mechanical failure and some steep terrain took their toll on the Warragul Cyclists as they stomped on the pedals around Jindivick on Saturday. Two courses were combined to provide a challenge for the cyclists. The first and shorter Fishers Rd circuit required some rapid gear changes on ‘the wall’, whilst the longer and higher Jindivick loop pushed lung capacities to the maximum. The weather was fine but the terrain was tough.

First away was A-Grade with two laps of the Fishers circuit split in the middle by one lap of Jindivick awaiting them. Thomas Sandner was licking his lips on his favourite circuit as the seven made their way up the first of the many rises. Despite Danny Dilger’s claims to the contrary, the first lap wasn’t exactly hot taking 24:10 to complete (20 seconds faster than c-grade).

With Danny gone, the hills of Jindivick and some pushing from John McKenzie would cut both Matty Malacarne and Steve Twining adrift from the remaining four cyclists. As they crossed the start finish, a faster 20:25 lap of Fishers Rd awaited them before the final sprint.

With the pace winding up from a long way out, Thomas looked to have the legs as Jason Kruger and John gave it their all. Scott Keeble was coming home strongly but suffered massive cramps and literally collapsed on the line ditching the bike in the process. In the end Thomas prevailed in a time of 1:37:34 ahead of John McKenzie, Jason Krueger and Scott Keeble.

B-Grade had the same course to look forward to but a different course of events would unfold. Having studied the Tacticians Guide to Cycling the night before, Peter Bailey threw the book out and stormed up the first hill, only to be reeled in before ‘the wall’. A reluctance to share the workload produced a modest pace for the first lap at 24:17.

On the way to Jindivick some fast moving Lamborghinis and some more erratic moves from Peter added to the interest but no one was getting clear. As the group climbed into Jindivick the first decisive split occurred. First Garry Wishart and then Chris Beales lost contact with the front four. Trying to overcome their oxygen debt they set about extending the gap on the descent.

Despite being 500meters off the back it only took a couple of corners for Chris to rejoin the bunch which was now working well together on the flats. To the surprise of everyone, Garry put in a tremendous solo performance to rejoin the bunch and then ride off the front on the home straight. Garry had no petrol left in the tank however and jumped off at the start finish with one lap to go.

Chris Beales was again dislodged on the wall and again worked hard to rejoin a bunch that was trying to lose him. Wayne Chester was doing more than his share of the work at the front and as the bunch turned left for the last time, Justen tried to coax some different jerseys to the front.

Steve Sandner and Wayne did some of the lead out work for the sprint but Pete couldn’t get past Wayne’s wheel to finish second. Justen needed a bigger gear but finished third ahead of Chris and Steve (1:41:21).

C-Grade completed their first lap of Fishers Rd in a handy 24:30. An unnamed source reported that Rob Monk had the race stitched up until his derailleur broke during a flurry of gear changes on ‘the wall’. This left him to hit the showers early and the Good Samaritan who picked him up to cop a speeding fine. A strong Luke Whitmore rode away from the group on their final lap of Jindivick but couldn’t put a big enough gap to make it a decisive move.

It was on the way up to Jindivick that the bunch went its separate ways. Luke Whitmore, Mike Brown, Glenn Fisher and Luke Hanley put a gap to the rest and it was this group that would contest the final sprint. Rejoining Luke on the flats the bunch wound up behind him for the home run. Mike grabbed Glenn’s wheel and found the perfect gear to score the win ahead of Glenn, Luke Hanley and Luke Whitmore (1:18:27). One and a half minutes later Alan Beveridge crossed a further 1:44 ahead of Terry Kelly and Steve Hall. Vic Spunner and Michael Pridmore finished off a tough race.

D-Grade completed a controlled ride to telegraph road and back before embarking on a lap of Fishers Rd. New rider Trent Brown pedalled away up the first hill but soon found out what everyone was talking about when he climbed ‘the wall’ and everyone got back on. The bunch was happy to exploit Trent’s lack of experience allowing him to do the lion’s share of work around the back of the course. He, along with Kim Spunner couldn’t go with the pace on the home straight and Bill Frew danced on the pedals to finish first in a time of 1:09:52. Dave Axford, Roger Bell, Alan Hauxwell and Noel Mason crossed on the same time.

Kim, Trent, Damien Brown, Emma Beveridge and Paul Kennedy all put in a solid performance to finish. Bunch Riders Jo Hanley (44:30) and Wendy McLean (51:03) rode strongly with the group on the Telegraph Rd ride and enjoyed the conditions and the workout.

Congratulations to all who got out to do some exercise, chat with friends and enjoy the outdoors.

Results

A-Grade

  1. Thomas Sandner (1:37:34)
  2. John Mackenzie
  3. Jason Kruger

B-Grade

  1. Wayne Chester (1:41:21)
  2. Peter Bailey
  3. Justen O’Connor

C-Grade

  1. Mike Brown (1:18:27)
  2. Glenn Fisher
  3. Luke Hanley

D-Grade

  1. Bill Frew (1:09:52)
  2. Dave Axford
  3. Roger Bell

Bunch Race

  1. Jo Hanley
  2. Wendy McLean

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