26/08/2006
The largest field of the day was in A grade. Twelve fairly evenly matched riders stayed together for the first two of three laps around the shady creek circuit. Visiting Melbourne rider Graham Thomas rolled off the front before the final time up the Shady Creek climb. James Henry jumped over to him then Kane Walker, who had saved his energy for one big attack, jumped across to Graham and James. Dave Salton joined the two Juniors and this trio established a good break over the top of the climb. An organised chase group consisting of Geoff Thomson, Pete Finlayson, Brett Miller, Tim Lee and Shane Styles had to pull some big turns to pull the break back. From that point to the finish the fast men in the field, Geoff Thomson, Dave Salton and Brett Miller were keen to see the bunch stay together. Shane Stiles decided to get on the front and motor pace the field home to the finish. He had them all strung out for quite awhile but eventually they were able to get past him. Dave proved too strong in the run to the line with Thommo in second and Brett Miller in third.
In B grade Chris Beales, recovering from a broken collar bone, and Monique Handley seemed to be the strongest rides in the first two laps and they did the majority of work on the front of the field. Clint Hick and Paul Yeatman were also keen to push the pace at various stages. On the crucial third time up the climb the field was shocked to see Rob Monk move to the front for the first time in the race. His effort over the finial 400 meters of the clime broke up the bunch. Rob, Monique Chris and visiting Melbourne rider Greg Buckingham were able to get away and they hammered down the descent to ensure the chasers were out of the race. Monique Handley established a handy break with 3 km to go and Greg and Rob struggled to chase her down. Chris Beales jumped across the gap but Rob managed to just hang onto his wheel.
Beales caught Monique and kept going. He had Monique and Rob in the red zone and Greg was dropped from the break. Chris could not sustain the fierce tempo and now with Rob and Monique locked onto his wheel he was forced to lead out the sprint for home. In the run to the line Rob came off Chris’s wheel and took out the win. Chris was awarded second spot but Monique claims she was robbed. She thinks she got him by a tyre.
In C grade Steve, “The Doc” Hall made a rare appearance on race day. Regulars Ross Henry and Neil Walker should have known that they’d have to get rid of “the doc” before the final sprint but they couldn’t do it. Neil, Steve and Ian Wood fought out the final sprint. Steve was too quick for Neil with Ian in third spot.
Nine D’ graders took on two laps of the circuit and evergreen veteran Noel Mason again proved too strong. In second spot was the improving Sue Elsdon with C. Barker a minute back in third spot. The field was well spread out by the finish. There was over 10 minutes between first and last rider in D grade.
In the juniors Cy Monk and Tristan Walker battled out an epic sprint finish. Cy found himself on the front with 200 meters to go and waited for Tristan to jump first. Tristan established a good break but Cy was able to time his sprint well and just got in front on the line.
