By Rob Monk
A small field of 16 riders contested the criterium at Endeavour Street on Sunday Morning.
The race was influenced by the strong easterly wind which meant for half of each lap riders were pushing into a block head wind and for the other half were propelled by a roaring tail wind. The head wind sections began to sap the strength of the riders and by the 20minute mark Alex Gardiner, Juliet Haddow and Ross Henry were just hanging on.
Cycling has a number of rules. Rule #64 is “Cornering confidence increases with time and experience.This pattern continues until it falls sharply and suddenly.”
Young rider Ed Binnett was gathering confidence around the tight hot dog corners with every lap. Unfortunately, you don’t know how fast you can go around a corner on a bike until you go too fast. Ed hit the deck at the 30-minute mark and his race was over. Several riders were held up by the crash and had a lap out.
Immediately after the field came back together Brett Kennedy launched a solo attack and there was a general lethargy in the bunch. Kennedy seized his moment and quickly established a good break on the field. No-one seemed keen to work together to bring him back. Friends in the peloton are a powerful ally and Kenny has many.
Tom Reid tried to get across to Kennedy but was stuck in no man’s land for 20 minutes. With 10 minutes to go the next significant break occurred. Shane Stiles, Jake Hallyburton and Connor Bagot rode away in pursuit of Reid and Kennedy. They caught Reid on the final lap but Kennedy would not be caught and he took out an impressive solo victory. Hallyburton was too quick for Stiles and Bagot in the sprint for the minor placings.
A small gallery of pictures can be found on our Facebook page.
Racing continues with another criterium next Sunday at 8:30am. The location is dependent on the state of the current Burk St roadworks.
