24/05/2008

Perfect conditions for Warragul Cycling Clubs road championships encouraged a large rider turnout. Over 30 cyclists participated in various divisions of races around the Lillico circuit. The circuit is 11 km long and contains enough undulations to keep the riders paying attention but no climbs that are long enough to really split the bunches.

The first group away were the Open men’s division. The group of six seemed content to race at a restrained pace and it was clear the race favourites James Henry and Kane Walker were keen to watch each other rather than try to force the pace. It was not until lap 3 that Kane made an attacking move up the “Drive In” hill on Copeland’s Road and established a handy break. Kane rode for three quarters of a lap off the front in the breeze with mainly James chasing with a little assistance from Paul Yeatman and Brenton Jones. When Kane was caught the group definitely “sat up” and waited for the sprint finish. In the sprint Paul Yeatman tried to sneak off the front with 800 meters to the finish and for a moment the big guns looked at each other as no-one wanted to chase across the gap. Eventually Kane took up the chase and caught Paul 300 meters before the line. The field had a quick rest then headed for home. James Henry had ridden a conservative race and had too much zip for Kane while Brenton Jones was not far away in third place. Matt Keneally and the improving Tristan Murut were not too far behind the winners. Well done to James on being the open club champion.

The second group to start was the Master 1,2 and 3 group. These riders are aged between 30 and 45 years old. Shane Stiles decided that despite giving the open group 2 minutes head start the Masters should catch and pass them by the end of the race. He plan came to fruition sooner rather than later as the old blokes caught and passed the open men in the first half of lap 2. By the time they caught the open men, Tim Lee and Paul Kennedy had already been shed from the bunch. After the catch Rob Monk decided it would be easier to sit on the back of the open race than follow the Stiles train around. Steve Muggeridge hung in a little longer but was soon a retirement. Shane, Brett Rollinson and Darren Williams kept the pace on and ended up beating the open men’s time by five minutes. Shane took first place from Darren and Brett with Rob Monk a distant forth as he chose to ride with the opens.

In the Masters 4, 5 and 6 race it was always going to be a battle between the rapidly improving Thomas Sandner and the ever consistent Geoff Thompson. Thommo and Thomas cleared out from the big field with a lap to go and fought out an epic finish. Thomas got the jump on Thommo and looked to have held him approaching the line but Thommo lunged and the judge could not separate the two of them on the line. A dead heat. Neil Walker came in third about 2 minutes later.

In the Junior race James Lalor finished in front of Aaron White with Jarred Jones in third, Cy Monk forth, Joe Patrick fifth and Renee Patrick sixth.

In the women’s race Karen Munro was too strong for Tammy Patrick.

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Tags: championships, lillico

12/04/2008

Warragul Cycling Club members enjoyed nearly perfect Autumn conditions for Saturday’s scratch race at Lillico.

In  A grade the pace was on from the start as Shane Stiles was keen to stretch his legs in the leadup to the big Mt Baw Baw race next week. His pace on lap one was too much for James Henry who was feeling flat from a big week training on the mountain. Shane managed to shake Geoff Thompson, Tim Lee and Paul Yeatman on lap 3 and a surprise attack at the beginning of Number One road saw the rapidly improving Brenton Jones lose his wheel. Shane rode the final 8 kilometres on his own to take out a strong win. Brenton took out second with Thommo in third and Paul Yeatman in forth.

B grade rode 3 quick laps. Dave Bailey forced the pace up the hills and Ross Henry was never afraid to go to the front and force the pace. On lap 2 Bailey attacked on the rise along Bloomfields road and Neil Walker was able to go with him. Ross and Rob Monk were gapped slightly and had to work hard to get back onto the wheel. The last lap was still ridden at a steady pace but Bailey was unable to shake his opposition on the hills. In the turn into the finishing straight Ross tried to surprise the field with by jumping for home early. Rob Monk chased the move down while Neil and Dave waited for the sprint. Bailey jumped for home first with Rob quickly onto his wheel. With three hundred meters to go Rob went for home and quickly gapped Bailey. Neil Walker had conserved his energy well though and managed to sprint past Rob within meters of the line to take out a strong win. Rob second, Dave third and Ross forth.

In C grade the young guns James Lalor and Jarred Jones battled out an epic sprint finish. James just triumphed with Jarred second and Tammy Patrick third. Cy Monk took out the D grade race.

Next week’s race is the Baw Baw Classic. Over 100 cyclists from all over the state will converge on Warragul this Saturday to ride to Jindivick, then Neerim South, Noojee and up the mountain. The last 6 km to the summit of Baw Baw are rated as one of the toughest climbs in the cycling world. Good luck to all competitors. Just finishing this race is a tremendous achievement.

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Tags: lillico, scratch

02/02/2008

The first road race of the summer season was a handicap at Lillico. Riders would race 4 laps of the 10.1km circuit. First away with 10 minutes head start were Cy Monk, Geoff Gatt, Tristan Marut, James Lalor and Anthony Lalor. This group completed the first lap in a respectable 19’42”. With 4 minutes on the scratch men were Ross Henry, Dave Baillie, Neil Walker and Phil Bechal. They completed their first lap in 17’24”. Next away 2 minutes in front of scratch were Rob Monk, Paul Yeatman, Callan Barker and Darryl Anderson. This group struggled to make an impression on the 4 minute bunch. They completed lap one in 17’10. The scratch bunch consisted of Club Champion Kane Walker, Chris Beales, Mark Oakley Brown and Geoff Thompson. They sizzled around lap one in 15’45”. It was clear that the scratchies were going to triumph.

The scratch bunch caught the two minute riders early on lap two and thankfully the paced slowed enough for the slower riders to stay attached. The combined group completed lap 2 in 17’15”. They had Neil Walker and Ross Henry in their sights only 35 seconds up the road. The D graders were slowing. Their second lap was completed in 21’30 and it was clear they would be caught. By the end of lap 3 all the bunches were together. In the lead bunch Kane Walker was noticeably absent. He’d driven the A grade hard so maybe he had tired and dropped out thought the other riders.

At the beginning of the final lap Kane reappeared. He’d had a massive chase. After puncturing and getting a new wheel he’d had to make up two kilometres on the bunch. He sat in for a while to recuperate. Around the sharp bend into Bloomfields Rd, Chris Beales put in the first serious attack. This split the field. Only Mark Oakley-Browne, Thommo, and Kane Walker could go with the surge. Kane despite the puncture and chase still had the power to dominate the sprint for home. He used the downhill run around the final bend to open up a commanding lead. Thommo finished well for second, Beales third and Mark fourth. Kane’s time for the 40.4 km was 1-07’17″.

Special mention needs to be made of the effort of Geoff Thompson to be back riding. Thommo was hit by car travelling at 100km an hour on the freeway less than 6 months ago. He was airlifted to Melbourne in a critical condition with broken legs, femur, ribs and vertebra as well as other internal injuries. He was in a medically induced coma for two weeks. Such are his recuperative powers that within 4 months of the accident he was back on the bike. The day after they took the neck and back brace off he started riding on the road. Saturday was his first formal race back. He raced off scratch and finished second overall. Welcome back Thommo.

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Tags: handicap, lillico

29/09/2007

Numbers were down to 12 due to the windy conditions and a certain footy grand final.  Due to this all grades completed 4 laps with B and C starting together and A grade heading off 10 mins later.  A fall on the drive-in hill slowed the B/C group who were caught at the top of this hill with just under a lap to go.  Shane Stiles and James Henry took off at this point.  The lone remaining C grader beat a few of the B graders home. Next week there is a bunch ride on Saturday and the Morwell to Glenmaggie Hcp (10am, Morwell Rec Centre) on Sunday.

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Tags: handicap, lillico

11/08/2007

Warragul Cycling Club members braved cold and windy conditions on Saturday to compete in the Lillico Wines Points race. The points race format involves riders contesting a sprint for points each 5km in a 40km race. It is fast and furious racing.

In A grade Shane Style and James Henry battled out most sprints with Shane taking the lead out position and making sure James had to hang on for at least 400 meters to win a sprint. Mark Oakley Brown stuck on all race and managed to take the final sprint. Shane took most points from James with Mark in third spot.

The B grade race was started a brisk pace with Dave Bailey trying to make it hard for the sprinters by pushing the pace on the hills. Rob Monk won two of the first three sprints but could not stand the tempo on the hills and dropped out. Callum Barker also struggled with the early speed and retired. Visiting rider Duncan Orr was keen to take off 500 meters from the sprint lines which made it tough on everyone. He managed to get some second placings but Matt Kennelly did well to stay with him on most occasions and took out 4 of the 8 sprints to claim overall victory. Tied for second spot was Dave Bailley and Duncan Orr. Trev Rollinson hung in there for the whole race and finished fourth overall.

In C grade Graeme Patrick battled it out with the wiley Wayne Tunks for most of the sprints. Tunksey won two sprints to Graeme’s four. Tammy Patrick finished third overall.

Cy Monk took all the points in D Grade.

Next week’s race is a Gippsland combine race at Darnum. Big fields are expected so get there early.

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Tags: lillico, points

19/05/2007

Warragul Cycling Club members hit the road circuits again on the weekend. After two months of criterium racing it was back onto the open roads and hills. This week’s race was staged at Lillico and sponsored by Lillico Wines.

A-grade had the largest field of the day and young guns Kane Walker and James Henry were out to ensure more senior riders like Luke Hanley, Geoff Thompson, Wayne Chester and Jason Kruger would not have an easy afternoon. There efforts proved too much for Chris Beales who was dropped and retired early. Try as they might though Kane and James were unable to shake the chasers and after 5 of the 6 laps Kane was out of water and energy so decided to finish early. James kept going and in the sprint finish he was too quick for Luke Hanley and Jason Kruger. Thommo rolled gently into forth spot.

In B grade Tim Lee, Brett Rollinson and Ross Henry did the lions share of the pace making for the majority of the race. Tim and Brett forced the pace up the “drive in” hill on the second third and fourth laps and each time had Paul Yeatman and Matt Kennelly hanging on for survival. Rob Monk was also in difficulty on the hills but managed to save energy on the flatter sections by staying at the back of the bunch. Matt Kennelly lost contact with the bunch near the top of Bloomfields road on the fourth lap. Luckily for Paul and Rob the stronger riders seemed to have little energy left to really force the pace on the last lap. Ross tried to get away the final time up Bloomfield’s road but was quickly chased down. Round the home turn the bunch was together but Tim Lee tried a surprise move and went for home with one kilometre to the finish. Ross Henry immediately took up the chase with Brett and Rob locked onto his wheel. Ross got the bunch to within 30 metres of Tim, then Brett took over. With 300 meters to the finish Rob Monk went for home and was forced to pass Tim in the gravel as he weaved and weakened. Rob held his advantage to the line. A fast finishing Paul Yeatman took second with Brett in third position.

The C and D grade bunch combined but Geoff Gatt was in no mood to keep them together. He took off at breakneck speed and Pam Benstead and Brian Munro were quickly having difficulty staying on with the others. Brian’s day got worse as he punctured on the second lap. Gatty rode the others off his wheel and Dave Axford, Karen Munro and Steve Evans worked together to try to bring him back. In the end he was just too strong. Gatt first, Axford second and Steve third.

Next week we start the one day classics. The race will start at the Bonlac factory at Darnum and after a number of laps of this 8km circuit riders will head for Shady Creek where the race will finish on top of the Shady creek climb. A mountain top finish is always tough. Members are also reminded that track racing starts at 7pm sharp each Thursday night. Be there.

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Tags: lillico, scratch