13/10/2007
Many Warragul Cycling Club members were put off by the cold wind and grey skies so numbers were down for Saturday’s race. It was decided to run a handicap around the harsh Fishers Road circuit.
First away with sixteen minutes head start over the A graders, were regular C graders Paul Kennedy and Graeme Patrick. Rob Monk joined them having his first race start after a fall 5 weeks ago. Next to go were the B grade quartet of Dave Baillie, Callan Barker, Trevor Rollinson and Neil Walker. They were giving the C graders 8 minutes head start but had 8 minutes start on the scratch men. James Henry, Shane Stiles, Kane Walker and Chris Beales would chase the field while juniors Cy Monk and James Lalor would only ride 2 laps of the 13km circuit. They started 5 minutes behind scratch.
The C grade trio worked well together. Graeme, Rob and Paul shared the work and never looked back. They passed the juniors before the end of the second lap. The B graders struggled to stay together on the hills and this lack of organisation lost them valuable time. The A graders were flying. On lap one they took 4.5 minutes out of the C graders and nearly 3 minutes from B grade. By the end of lap 2 the A graders could see the B graders. They had made up over 6 minutes of their 8 minute handicap. B grade was also making ground on C grade but the C graders still held a 5 minute 40 second advantage with just a lap to ride. The B graders were caught at the worst possible spot for them; half way up the Fishers Road Wall. Shane Stiles and James Henry hit them fast and hard on the wall and no-one could go with them. This left Shane and James alone at the head of the chase group. Callan Barker tried valiantly to bridge the gap but just couldn’t make it.
At the head of the race the C grade trio was still working like a well oiled machine. No-one in the trio missed a turn for the whole race. As they swung onto the Old Princess Hwy it was clear they would not be caught. In the sprint for the line Graeme Patrick just held off a fast finishing Paul Kennedy. Rob Monk was content with third. In the race for fastest time of the day James Henry just beat Shane Stiles. The scratchies covered the 41.5 km in a little over an hour. They averaged just over 38km/h for the race.
Next weeks race is a criterium around the streets of Trafalgar as part of the Battle of Traf festival. The race starts at 10am with registration open from 9.00 am.
Three of Warragul Cycling Clubs junior riders will contest the finals of the State Schools Championships as part of the lead up to the Herald Sun tour. The race is a criterium round the Shrine and Arts Centre in Central Melbourne and will take place next Saturday morning. We wish Kane Walker, Callan Barker and Cy Monk all the best.
