Come N Try Racing Night

By Jayman Prestidge

18/10/2014

Come N Try Racing events at the Warragul Cycling Club allow anyone with a bike to turn up and have a go at racing. The Club has scheduled such an event once a month over Spring and Summer and encourage all cyclists to come and learn some new skills in a safe and inclusive environment.

The women’s turnout was the best in three years with twelve taking to the start line across two grades. In the women’s only race Sharon Gordon finished extremely well with a solo breakaway for the entire last lap. She had watched other women like Annie Pryjmak, Kaylene Champrionere, Pam Benstead and Kerryn Milner all take a turn to try and get away up the road. When she attacked just before the bell rang for the final lap she created an immediate gap, that would not be bought back by the fellow racers. Agostinal Pol, Kristen Thiele, Linda Tubnor and Louise Leighton all had a great race and picked up plenty of tips inreadiness for their next event!

The junior race was fantastic! Lachlan Jagoe, Charlotte Benstead, Felicity Waddell and Thomas Ingleson rode under the watchful eyes of two experienced riders, with focus being paid to learning how to corner effectively, swap turns at the front of the bunch and also sprinting for the finish line. Felicity Waddell has been riding on the velodrome and her sprinting skills were terrific in the middle of the race when she beat Thomas and Lachlan to the line for the intermediate sprint. Charlotte was cornering at a solid speed and held Felicity’s wheel until the last two laps.

Thomas was too strong and took the overall win over Lachlan, Felicity and Charlotte. Terrific effort kids!

The men’s C Grade race was a tightly contested affair with numerous attacks off the front of the bunch. All were chased down with Duane McDonald always either in the mix or commanding the troupes to work. Steve Muggeridge is finding some form, and along with Andrew Jackson, Brett Kennedy, Nicole Summerfield, Abby Taylor and Alanah Abbott, made for a strong and competitive field. In the final sprint Brett Kennedy was clearly the fastest of those in the race and sprinted to a clear victory ahead of Rob Waddell and Duane McDonald.

The men’s A and B Grade fields were combined. Jayden Manitveld was back for his first race in some time due to extra-curricular activities, and was joined by fellow young riders Will Lumby, Cyrus Monk and Jo Patrick. For the older men in the field like Rob Monk, Pete Whelan, George Tambassis and Zvonko Maric, this meant hard, fast and lung busting racing!

On the third lap Jo Patrick and Matt Parkinson attacked at speed from the corner and created a 50 metre gap before anyone in the bunch listened to the screams from Rob Monk. “Go, Go, Go….you’ve just let the two fittest men in the field attack and you haven’t done a bloody thing!” His cries were met with no response, and at that point, the race was over and done with.

The bunch never caught Parkinson and Patrick, who worked strongly together to stay away for the next 45 minutes. In fact, they were so committed to the breakaway that they effectively ended the efforts of the chasing bunch when they were lapped with 5 minutes of racing left.

Jo Patrick sat up in the last 150 metres and Matt Parkinson took another victory for the 2014 season. Cyrus Monk finished third.

Racing is on next Saturday at 2.00pm. For all details on the Club’s events please see them at warragulcyclingclub.org.au

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