16/12/2012
By Sharon Gordon
The first race of the women’s Cykel Grand Prix kicked off at Casey fields on Sunday. Before the girls left Warragul, team captain Kaylene was so keen to leave Chilli Cycles at 10am precisely that she locked half her team in the bike store and drove away. She realized soon after that she may need their help in the race and decided to return and pick them up.
The weather promised a wet track and it delivered. Registration gave us a good chance to eyeball the rest of the field, and we were excited to see NRS teams and sprinters with legs that even Danny and Andy would be jealous of.
A total of 17 riders donned the local kit, and the 2.2km time trial prologue to decide placings meant tactics were needed. We all settled on the ‘take it easy or you’ll find yourself in division 1 along with the pros’. It seems all understood this except Shell Scurr (3:39.803), and Leanne Coupland (3:47.927) who operate on the ‘all or nothing principle’. Lou Clarke (4:00.115) took the team brief to heart and even stopped pedaling on the home straight. The entire team managed to qualify for division 2 meaning we had the capacity to completely barricade the course and move forward like a SWAT team.
Tara Donegan and Cathy Cooper did extremely well in their first race in the novice section, with Cath working hard and finishing with the bunch. Tara put in a massive effort and lost touch with the group half way through.
In the division 2 race, it was on from the start. The team plan went out the window as the large 50+ field made for several near-misses. Early in the race Kaylene, Kate Prestige, Rachel Dawson, Rachel Kimber and Lou Clarke got themselves near the front early on.
Vicki bell, Leanne Coupland, Danielle Reidy, Renee Patrick, Sharon Gordon, Donna Gibson, Annie Pryjmak, Adele Whelan, Gita Walker and Shell Scurr cruised in the middle of the pack slowly jostling for position. Around half way through Donna, Renee, Annie and Gita got spat out the back, as the pace increased yet again. Around 5 minutes later, Adele decided shed had enough of living life by the rules and went rogue into the mud holes off the road. Momentum shot her sideways back onto the track and Sharon had no time to engage her childhood BMX skills and miserably failed to bunny hop over, sharing that gravel sandwich with whelan.
The remaining team members looked strong as they sheltered themselves for the final 15 minutes. Prestige and Scurr worked hard on the front with 3 laps left, allowing Vicki ding-dong bell and Kaylene to rest their legs for the final lap. Shell regretted her time trial effort and lost the bunch along with Kimber 2 laps out. Lou Clarke hid her tiny body amongst the sprinters and held in well with the bunch. Coming into the final turn, Kaylene made her move around the outside, winding up her sprint with elbows out Zvonko-style and finished 4th in what was a 37.68 kph average speed for the day. Ding-dong shocked herself by finishing near the front, closely followed by Prestige and Dawson, who stopped to help her fallen comrades mid-race.
A wonderful day of racing with admirable rides from each team member. A big thanks to Chilli, Joe Patrick and Karlis for supporting the team.
Missing – Leanne and Adele — with Cathy Butterworth Cooper, Shell Scurr, Rachel Dawson, Vicki Bell, Louise Clark, Kate Prestidge, Gita Walker, Annie Pryjmak, Donna Gibson and Sharon Gordon.
