21/08/2010
Race two of the spring Handicap series for the Warragul Cycling Club was contested at a cold and windy Cloverlea on Saturday. Given the conditions it was surprising that the scratch and chopping block riders could not prevail. Normally wind and harsh conditions favours the backmarkers. It turned out that numbers were the key to success. The two largest groups prevailed.
Outmarkers Seb Fontaine, Andrew DaBona, Greg Horbowicz and Kayla Lewis had nearly 20 minutes start on scratch. They struggled to stay together in the windy conditions. Seb proved the strongest with Kayla not far behind him. Next to start was Cy Monk with 16 minutes on Scratch. Cy would be forced to battle alone for most of the race.
The 10 minute group consisting of Ross Henry, Dave Ballie, Danny Dilger, Simon Baxter, Steve Lewis and Matt Kennelly were always going to be hard to catch. They were evenly matched and worked smoothly together for the first two laps. They were losing little time to the groups behind them on the road. By the third lap Dilger and Baxter were struggling to contribute to the pacemaking but they were able to hang on.
Off six minutes, last week’s winning bunch had Pete Finlayson, Jarryd Jones, Charlie Davine, Jayman Prestidge and Paul Yeatman. This quintet worked together effectively but were unable to make a significant impact on the group in front. Yeatman was forced to stop along Parkers Road on lap 1 due to a mechanical issue. It took him just over a lap to get back to his group.
The second scratch trio of Rob Monk, Scott Keeble and Daryl Anderson had four minutes on scratch. They were in trouble from the start. Daryl was unable to contribute to the pace making after half a lap and this left Monk and Keeble to battle into the head wind on the their own.
Off scratch Thomas Sandner and Shane Stiles were in a similar situation. Swapping turns with only two riders into the brutal block head wind along Parkers Road was tough enough in a large group but with only two riders to share the load the task for the backmarkers was impossible.
The 10 minute bunch had caught all the outmarkers except Cy Monk by the end of lap 2. They caught Cy along Parkers Road on the final lap but he managed to latch onto the back of them and was soon rolling through to assist in the pacemaking.
Dave Baillie was the first rider to break from the bunch in the run to the line. The group chased him down quickly and with two hundred meter to go Simon Baxter sprinted for home. Simon is returning to racing after a long injury layoff and his sprint lasted all of 50 meters. He was passed by Cy Monk and Matt Kennelly. Matt was too quick for Cy in the finish and took out the win. Cy came in second with Simon in third. Then followed Dave Baille, Ross Henry and Danny Dilger.
A minute later the six minute group was crossing the line. Pete Finlayson started the sprint after a surge from Jayman Prestidge with 500 meters to go. Paul Yeatman then took over and had a handy lead with 50 meters to go. He was about to sit up and coast, but Jarryd Jones came out of nowhere and according to Yeatman, was not able to get up. The judges awarded the sprint for 7th to Jones. These two were followed by Pete Finlayson and Charlie Davine. Shane Stiles took out the fastest time after towing first Thomas Sandner then Scott Keeble and Rob Monk around to provide him with an occasional rest as he chased the front makers in vain.
Next weeks race is at Cloverlea starting at 9.00 AM. Handicap racing is a great way to try Cycle racing and novices are welcomed to come along and give it a try. See you there next week.
For a second by second log of the 6 minute bunch’s race, have a look here.
