25/10/2008
Warm conditions greeted Warragul Cycling Club riders on Saturday as they took on the Shady Creek Circuit.
In the combined A and B grade race the bunch remained in tact for much of the first two laps with Shane Stiles and Kane Walker sharing the majority of the pace making. Tim Lee and Pete Finlayson found the pace the bit tough. On the final time up the Shady Creek climb Kane Walker launched an attack and no-one could go with him. Callan Barker tried but popped off 200 meters from the top. This left Kane to time trial on his own with a bunch of four riders chasing him. Stiles powered the chase group along the downhill then flat run to Sthurs Road and they got to within 50 meters of Kane but that was as close as they would get. Stiles hunger flatted and Kane put the pace on and opened up the gap. At the finish Kane Walker won by 37 seconds from Thommo in second, Callan third, Stiles fourth and Mark OakleyBrowne fifth.
C grade was a mixture of young, up and coming riders and seasoned veterans. On the first lap the veterans were happy to let the young guys stretch their legs on the hill. Youngsters Aaron White, James Lalor and Jarryd Jones looked strong on the climb. The group rolled through turns well on the flat and as the pace picked up towards the end of lap one the first attack of the race had a telling effect. Rob Monk, sensing some of the young guys were doing it tough on the flat picked up the pace taking Neil Walker with him. This caused an immediate split. Neil and Rob quickly established a 15 second break and Dave Bailey and Aaron White had to dig really deep to bridge over to them. At the bottom of the hill Dave Bailey lost contact leaving only Aaron, Neil and Rob in the lead group. This trio worked together on the climb and descent. It was clear that Aaron was struggling so Rob attacked on Sthurs road leaving just Neil and Rob in the lead. The pair drove hard all the way to the finish. Rob tried to shake Neil with a long lead out to the sprint but Neil would not be shaken and made it two from two for the Walker family on the day. Rob was second, Aaron third, James forth, Dave Bailey fifth. Then followed Karen Munro, Jarred Jones and Paul Kennedy. Rob and Neil took solace that they had the better of the young guys on the day but they know it will only be a matter of time before James, Jarryd and Aaron will be leaving them behind.
The youngest juniors staged a good match race over one lap. Cy Monk and Ruben Hudd Bailey were able to stick with the combined C grade bunch for much of the lap. They sprinted together at the finish. Cy just got over the top of Ruben on the line to take out the win.
There is no racing next week but a training ride will leave from the Bicycle Super Store at 8.00am. Next race is Darnum on the 8th of November.
