25/09/2004
Warragul Cyclist Tim Lee finally defeated the shadows that have haunted him since joining the Club two years ago as he fended off fatigue and a fast finishing bunch to claim his first ever Club race win. The victory came thanks to a clever counter attack with 5 km to go, as the peloton paused briefly to recover from constant attacks from Garry Wishart and Peter Finlayson. In other grades, strong form continues for Thomas Sandner in A grade, Paul Yeatman in C grade and Sean Porter in D grade, each claiming their second win in as many weeks.
This week’s Club racing was held at the Stuhrs Road Circuit of Shady Creek, which attracted 23 riders to the course despite the conflict with another, slightly grander, sporting event at the MCG. Riders were greeted with clear skies, a strong south-westerly wind across the course and one very determined magpie waiting for struggling riders at the top of the Nilma North-Shady Creek climb.
The A grade bunch were the first to set off for three laps of the 17.2km circuit. Welcoming Josh Akarsu back to town, the pace was steady for their first lap and with no real action the bunch stayed together. Unable to sustain the calmness for too long, Thomas Sandner stirred things up on the second ascent of the hill as he followed an attack by Akarsu, driving the pace over the top and destroying the chances of Steve Twining, Jason Kruger and John Salton. The magpie at the top of the hill took advantage of the strung-out pack, concentrating his efforts on Salton. Due to a mechanical, Salton was forced to retire at the end of lap two. By lap three, the positions were more cemented with Sandner keeping Akarsu on his toes. Behind them Kruger was pushing hard to claim back time on the lead duo on behalf of Twining, who happily sat downwind of Kruger’s efforts. Out in front, the pace eased towards the finish as the two played cat and mouse for the prime pre-sprint positions. Sandner showed the bigger grimace in the end to crawl across the line just ahead of Akarsu. For the final podium place, Twining passed Kruger at the line, giving a nod of thanks for Kruger’s efforts for most of the race.
In B grade, the bunch cruised around their first lap two minutes down on the A grade pace thanks to Chris Beales’ bee in his bonnet. Beales had been enjoying the sights so much he managed to secure part of the countryside as a bee became lodged in a key air shaft of his helmet. His attempts to dislodge his companion caused fellow competitors to give him a wide berth and the brunt of a few jokes. Unable to remove the buzz he was forced to retire at the end of the first lap. The pack picked the pace up slightly for the second lap but by the start of the final lap they remained together. It wasn’t until the back stretch along the Nilma North flats when Pete Finlayson and Garry Wishart issued attack after attack on the bunch, straining the chase resources of the crew keen to protect their interests. Lee kept an eye on proceedings, protecting himself in the wind and ensuring he was up the front to monitor the action. Turning into Darnum-Shady Creek Road he went out on a counter attack with Wishart, and drove the pace hard. Finding himself on his own with such a lengthy lead out, he backed himself for a shot at the finish and continued on solo. The chasers simply ran out of room to reel in the tiring Lee as his climbed the final stretch to the finish. Geoff Thomson brought the chase pack home for second place, followed by Wishart.
With numbers down in the C grade bunch and more unavailable thanks to marshalling duties, the bunch welcomed the return to racing of Steve Hall and Michael Pridmore. Pridmore and Paul Yeatman kept the pace moving steady in the cross-wind sections of the course in their first lap as the Hall and Monique Hanley sought any form of wind protection from a small echelon. On the second lap the pack was again steady on the climb, but Yeatman lost touch as Hanley moved into tempo pace over the final metres. The momentary break from the bunch was more than costly as the magpie seized on the one-on-one chance with Yeatman. The skirmish cost Yeatman a few holes in the back of his helmet and although shaken, he began the descent fired up from the incident. Meanwhile, Hanley, Hall and Pridmore pushed the pace along the Nilma North flats until lack of match fitness caused Pridmore to lose contact. Hall and Hanley continued to swap turns in front, but as they race wore on their efforts became more fatigued. Behind them, the figure of a pumped-up Yeatman could be seen getting bigger and bigger. A surge up the small rise with 3km seemed enough to keep Yeatman from closing in but without much fight left they were caught by the gully with 600m to go. Hall went hard to give Yeatman no chance for recovery, but Yeatman was onto the manoeuvre and pushed on, leaving both Hall and Hanley in his wake. Hanley pipped Hall by centimetres to claim second place.
The D grade field was given a mix-up early as usual race controls were only applied for the first 5km. Helmut Korab took advantage of the situation by riding clear of the hill and continuing hard down into Nilma North. Behind him, Sean Porter feared a long solo chase and chased down Korab to catch him by the Nilma North flats. The two made it their own race as they also swapped turns and put distance on the remaining riders. The main bunch was able to regroup at the top of the hill but not before the over-confident magpie had a brief battle with Glenda Pridmore. The two groups were content to focus on the riders in their own bunch, as Korab and Porter increased their lead. Towards the end of their final lap, Korab took the chance from the gully into the finish straight, taking advantage of his climbing prowess over Porter to claim the win. Porter finished second with a few minutes ahead of the main bunch. Lawrence Maskill’s selfless lead-out efforts for the bunch went unrewarded as the shrewd Steve Jackson and Rod Atkinson flew out from behind her wheel to fight for the final podium place. Jackson placed third ahead of Atkinson, followed by a verbally frustrated Maskill.
Fine weather if forecast for next Sunday’s launch of the new Warragul Cycling Club recreational riding group and junior track program. Both group launches will be held at the Warragul Velodrome on Sunday October 3 rd from 10:30am . Interested riders will be able to sign up for 2005 memberships on the day, enabling new members to have 15 months worth of cover for the price of 12 months. Assistance with bike set-up, riding tips, and information on the benefits of joining the Club will available from regular Warragul Cycling Club members. The recreational group will host three rides in the afternoon catering for all riding and fitness levels. Each group will meet for coffee at Darnum before finishing the ride back at the Velodrome. The junior Club track program has been set up to assist developing the skill and experience levels of juniors interested in the excitement of track racing at the Velodrome. Juniors should express their interest in attending to Phil Gallagher at Bike Land prior to Sunday.
