This was the final race of the summer series held on Sunday morning in quite mild but blustery conditions. A massive field of 74 riders rolled up for the race and the opportunity to grab double aggregate points to snatch the series; with no individual really dominating the series it was any ones chance to take it out.

Big bunches across the field with time gaps of 1 to 2 minutes and limit markers of 16 minutes made up the field. A few of the big hitters were missing from the scratch bunch leaving them with 7 riders and a tighter time gap of 2 minutes to the bunch ahead.

The stiff head wind for the journey out took the sting out of some groups as they struggled to get some speed out of their bunches. The back markers relished in the conditions putting on the pace into the wind and making up some valuable ground at the start.

With the tail breeze behind the field on the way to the turn around the field had the pace on making it difficult for any one to make too much ground. The 5 ½ min group caught the 6 ½ minute group just before the turn around and were being hotly pursued by the 4 minute group behind. The front markers had lost considerable ground to the rest of the field failing to take advantage of the big tail wind. The gaps between scratch, 2nd & 3rd had closed marginally with all bunches travelling quickly.

The combined 5 ½ minute group battled to maintain they’re slender gap with a lot of passengers and only a handful of riders willing to keep the pace into the head wind home. The 3rd scratch group worked well to catch 4th and push towards the combined 5 ½ minute group which only had 5 or 6 riders maintaining the pace.

At the exchange hill the combined 3rd scratch group were just 100 meters off the back of the combined 5 ½ minute group who still struggled for drive at the front. The limit markers had fragmented and were all riding on their own spread across the journey home. Scratch had too much ground to make up and was not going to reel in the rest of the field. With 2 kms to go, the combined 3rd scratch group got onto the back of the remains of the 5 ½ minute group and took control of the race.

A surge on the climb before the corner into the sprint had the stronger riders of the group well positioned for the sprint finish. With a strong ride and equally strong sprint for the finish, Andrew Creek took out 1st place just ahead of Mal Balnaves in 2nd, 3rd was David Cheal, 4th Theo Kapa, 5th Steve Spencer, 6th Dale Lowe, 7th Paul Dynon, 8th Leigh-Anne Dynon, 9th Peter Harper, 10th Brett Williams and fastest time was Trevor Watchman.

It was a tight finish in the aggregate with Tony Fitzpatrick 1st on 32 points, equal 2nd was Dave Cheal, Steve Spencer & Paul Dynon on 31 points, and Mick Angove in 3rd with 30 points. In the ladies aggregate Leigh-Anne Dynon took out 1st with 30 points, 2nd Wendy Bennett 21 points & 3rd Di Jane 19 points.

This was the second last race of the series and the last Wednesday night race, the final of the series being held on this Sunday 1st March at the Emu Creek circuit at 10.00am. 130 riders in total have entered and contested in the series with the largest field just tipping the 70 rider mark. Last nights race still managed to attract another large field of over 60 riders. The aggregate scores are tight with double points on offer and if you got a score of 10 points and over you’re in with a chance. Conditions last night were typical of the season with the traditional southerly wind picking up along the course and proving gusty at some times.

The back end of the field was very strong again with large numbers of riders at that level up for a hit out. The last few weeks has seen the numbers at the front end of the race a little thin making the handicapping at that end a little more difficult to sort. The very strong and in form scratch bunch were again given a big 3 minute gap to chase with 7 in their group and chasing 12 riders of second scratch. The rest of the field was of 4 mins, 5 ½ mins, 6 ½ mins, 8 mins, 12 mins & 3 limit riders off 17 mins.

The start of the race saw some of the groups work well together and take advantage of any opportunity to combine with other groups. The 5 ½ minute group started strongly merging with the 6 ½ minute group at the exchange corner and catching the 8 minute group half way down to the school. This combined group had managed to hold their gap ahead of the 4 minute group conceding no ground at the school. A much more organized and stronger second scratch group had the pace on and caught the 4 minute group at the school on the way out while scratch laboured behind not making any dent in the gap at this stage. The big gap obviously causing some headaches for the bunch.

The race had settled after the turn around with two major groups forming, the 3 & 4 minute group were sitting about 1 minute off the combined 5 ½, 6 ½ & 8 minute group. Still ahead was now only the two limit markers with a sizable lead and the 12 minute group who had made no impact on the limit group and would soon be accounted for by this fast moving bunch behind.

Approaching the exchange hill scratch was well out of the picture making no ground on the large group ahead. The combined 3 & 4 minute group had only a 100 meter gap to close to the combined 5 ½ minute group; the speed difference was marginal with both groups working well. The two limit riders were well on their way home and had a solid 3 minute gap.

Some ego’s came out on the exchange hill only to serve as a nuisance to the unity of the 5 ½ minute group who still held a solid 50 meter gap to the bunch behind. With the wind behind them and the speed difference still marginal between the two groups the gap was not being closed and remained around 50 meters for the run home. Just out of the corner and into the home straight the combined 3 minute group surged to just latch onto the back of the bunch ahead.

The two limit riders managed to stay away and take out the race with Ken Hamilton in first place with his second ride with the club; he was followed by John Kirkham in 2nd place. A couple of hundred meters back the stronger riders of the 3 minute group had managed to push themselves into position for the final sprint with Dave Fairburn 3rd, Terry Schintler 4th, Hudson Crothers 5th, Rob Gibson 6th, Tony Murphy 7th, Glen Farrow 8th, David Stokes 9th, Shane Thompson 10th and Fastest Time Tony Fitzpatrick. The scratch group only managed to put a 12 second dent into the 3 minute gap leaving the handicapper to ponder about the set up of the final race on Sunday.

Aggregate scores to date are:
Mens: Tony Fitzpatrick 31, Paul Dynon 30, Mick Angove 29, Justin Mollison 28, Christian Wakeling 26, Steve Spencer 26, Tony Jones 24, Dale Stemmer 24, Arnie Lindsay 22, Nick Shipp 21, Murray Rankin 21, Hudson Crothers 21, Darren McKellar 21, Bruce Tonkin 20 & Dave Kieth 20, and a swag of riders still with enough points to grab the lead for the series.
Ladies: Leigh-Anne Dynon 29, Wendy Bennett 20, Di Jane 18, and Sheridan Hall 16 points.

Please remember to get out and enter on time on Sunday so the handicapper can get the race organized and starting on time. There will be some snacks after the race and the mobile coffee van will also be in attendance. See you out there!!

Wednesday night summer series racing continues to grow in popularity with 66 riders competing for line honours. With a large field and a minority arriving late the handicapper’s role was going to be difficult right from the gun. Big bunches were right across the field with up to 12 riders in some groups.

Much to the handicappers and organisers dismay, around 8 riders failed to start with their bunch and were forced to ride off on their own or go with the next bunch; including some who were so late to the start line they were back more than two groups. This would prove costly for some groups after being handed a significant advantage of strong numbers to their bunch in an effort to help them bridge their time gaps.

With some disparity in ability within the groups as a result, there were a steady stream of riders being spat on the journey out. Combined with the tough windy conditions it was the end of the race for them. Some groups self destructed on the journey out shedding all but a handful of their riders only to be weakened to a point where they were an easy catch for the bunch behind.

With the strength of numbers up at the front end of the field the limit markers and the group in chase failed to get some rhythm and looked in trouble by the turn around. The 5 minute group had caught the remains of the 6 ½ minute group well before the turn around and they were then reeled in by the 4 minute group to form one large group shortly after the turn around. Second scratch failed to make any impact on the group ahead only marginally closing the gap at the half way mark.

After the recent success of the in form scratch bunch they were handed a 3 minute gap to close to what was intended to be a strong second scratch group of 12 riders. Scratch really didn’t get that well organised in the pursuit and struggled to rein in the large time gap.

The combined 4 minute group took control of the race even though they looked untidy and were certainly not smooth on the road. The exchange hill again proved to be breaking point for some of the riders with gaps forming and riders failing to cling on over the crest. With a lead too large to close the 4 minute group had control of the race. Scratch eventually caught 2nd scratch on the crest of the exchange, but were still too far back for any chance of a win.

The final sprint saw Dale Stemmer take out first, Paul Volk 2nd, Peter Harper 3rd, Paul Dynon 4th, Stuey Muller 5th, Mal Balnaves 6th, Andrew Hayhow 7th, Bruce Baldwin 8th, Darren Trickey 9th, and Gary Murdock 10th, Tony Fitzpatrick took out fastest time.

Rain, thunder, lightening and very dirty conditions had the handicapper thinking his job was going to be easy for this race as surely no one would be brave enough to venture out for a race? A very timid few approached the Emu Creek Hall with conditions still looking bleak. As time passed the weather appeared to settle and riders started to enter the race; 28 riders in total.

A very strong scratch bunch were given a 3 minute gap to 7 riders off 2nd, who were chasing bunches off 4 min, 5 min, 10 min and then two front markers on their own off 15 min and 18 min. With one try rider off the 10 minute group proving a little too strong for the bunch he proceeded to damage the group shedding part of the bunch before the exchange. The gaps tightened up on the journey through to the turn around with a couple of riders surrendering to the conditions on the way out. The 3 min & 4 min group came together around the turn around and still had a significant gap to close down ahead. The remainder of the 10 min group still held a significant gap and looked like they may be the winning bunch at that stage. Scratch had bridged at least half of their gap and was looking strong and well organized. The wind picked up and the weather started to turn dirty as the riders made their way home. The 3 min, 4 min & 5 min group came together just before the exchange to form one larger strong group. The 10 minute group self destructed with the try rider shedding his group one by one until he was on his own.

With the conditions turning for the worst and a lack of unity within the combined group, scratch started to bring them back in. The main bunch had managed to hold away from scratch at the top of the exchange hill and only needed to maintain the effort to sneak home for the win. The front markers had been all but reeled in by the top of the exchange hill. Scratch put in a massive effort to tag onto the back of the main group about 3 km from the finish line and propped for a spell to prepare for the sprint.

With a big kick for the line John MaCague broke away early to take out first place and fastest time. In a tight sprint for 2nd Justin Mollison took it out over Phil Sawyer 3rd, to Mick Angove 4th, Tony Fitzpatrick 5th, Tony Jones 6th and Paul Dalton in 7th.

Tony Fitzpatrick now holds a solid lead in the men’s aggregate as scratch start to dominate the series, and Leigh-Anne Dynon is well ahead in the Ladies Aggregate.
Tony Fitzpatrick 29, Mick Angove 27, Justin Mollison 26, Christian Wakeling 25, Steve Spencer & Paul Dynon 24, Tony Jones 22, Darren McCellar 21 & Nick Shipp, Murray Rankin, Arnie Lindsay all on 20 pints.

The ladies Aggregate led by Leigh-Anne Dynon 27, Wendy Bennett 19, Di Jane 16 and Sheridan Hall 15 points.

With three more races in the series and double points in the final race it is still any ones chance to take out the aggregate prize.

Good numbers again with 57 riders out for a race around the Emu Creek circuit. With not much wind about the pace form the front markers was likely to be on the rise. Last week saw the limit bunch get caught at the exchange and the handicappers gave them an additional 1 ½ minutes to help them home this week starting them off 16 ½ minutes. The front end of the field was a bit thin on it with the next 3 bunches of roughly 4 riders to a bunch riding off 13 mins, 11 mins and 9 mins. The rest of the field was abundant with riders of equal ability, making the grouping and time gaps a difficult task. With bunches of up to 10 riders they were off 6 mins, 5 mins, 4 mins & 2 ½ mins. A very strong scratch bunch was in chase with 6 riders in total.

The lack of wind saw the start of the race move through the exchange and to the Primary school with all groups pulling in ground on the bunches ahead as expected. 2nd scratch was at a disadvantage with 2 riders missing the start line. Those 2 riders were mowed down by scratch and spat by the first 10 Km. At the turnaround the gaps had come in and the race looked like forming into 3 larger groups. 9, 11 & 13 minute groups would soon be together. The 5 & 6 minute group were about to merge but still had some ground to make up ahead. Scratch caught 2nd just before the school on the way home and had 3rd accounted for about 1 km back from the exchange corner.

The combined 5 & 6 minute group were looking strong and only had 100 meters to bridge at the top of the exchange hill. The limit group had been reeled in at the top of the exchange hill at the same time. The back markers had a big gap to close only just starting the climb as the others were well over it. With 2 km to go the 5 minute group had caught the remainder of the field and held enough gap to prevent a fast finishing scratch bunch from snatching another win.

A large bunch sprint saw Paul Dynon take out 1st place followed by Dale Stemmer in 2nd, Tony Murphy 3rd, Leigh-Anne Dynon 4th, Roger King 5th, Steve Auld 6th, Peter Harper 7th, Jenny Farrow 8th and Bruce Tonkin 9th. Mick Angove with another strong ride took out fastest time.

Fine conditions greeted the 51 riders at the Emu Creek circuit, the traditional southerly breeze still strong enough to impact on the race. With a lot of the riders similarly matched the task of grouping the bunches and time gaps was made more difficult. A few of the scratch strong men still having a lay off left the handicappers wondering if the remaining scratch riders had the speed to reel in last weeks winners off 2nd scratch. With only 4 riders off scratch they opted to tighten the gap to 1 ½ minutes and chasing nine riders it should have been a difficult task? In front of the 1 ½ min group were bunches off 2 ½ mins, 3 ½ mins, 4 ½ mins all with 8 riders each. The rest of the field were made up of bunches of 5 riders off 7, 9, 12 and 15 minutes.

The strong head wind took the string out of the front markers who surrendered a lot of ground to the rest of the field on the way out. Scratch got down to business and worked hard making solid time on the field ahead. Aided with the benefit of numbers the 2nd, 3rd and 4th scratch bunches didn’t get organized well enough to utilize that advantage and by the turnaround scratch had accounted for 2nd and were only metres off 3rd, with the 4th & 5th bunches only another 30 seconds away.

A strong head wind and solid grind up to the Primary School had the forward groups wishing they had used the tail wind better on the journey out as the pace went out of their groups. At Eppalock Primary School scratch had caught the 3 ½ min group and were 100 metres off the now combined 4 ½ min & 7 min group. As scratch could see the rest of the field ahead the pace steadied as they drove into the head wind along Axe Creek Road.

At the exchange scratch had only some riders from the 12 & 15 minutes groups left in front who were all caught by the top of the hill. With a surge of speed on the way up the hill only a core group of stronger riders remained for the final stretch home and the chance for a win.

With a solid kick up the final hill and into the corner for the sprint Justin Mollison launched himself away from the field in a strong ride to take out first place and fastest time. Mick Angove was in 2nd, Tony Jones 3rd, Terry Schintler 4th, Tony Fitzpatrick 5th, Stuart Muller 6th, Geoff Bennett 7th, Arnie Lindsay 8th, Vin Obrien 9th, and Paul Dalton 10th place.

The recent success of the scratch group has seen the riders move up in the aggregate scores making up a pretty diverse group at the top of the table.
On 23 points is C Wakeling & T Fitzpatrick. S Spencer on 22 points. M Angove 21 points and T Jones & D McKellar on 20. N Shipp 19. A Lindsay & M Rankin 18. J Mollison & D Kieth 17 points.

In the ladies aggregate; L Dynon leads on 21 points followed by W Bennett 17 points, Di Jane 16 points and Sheridan Hall 15 points.

With the Tour Down Under in full swing and a large number of riders over in SA watching the race, the numbers were slightly down on previous weeks. 42 riders still managed to get out for a race. The numbers were pretty thin at the front of the field and scratch was missing its two strong men, John MaCague & Nick Shipp. After posting a win last week scratch were pulled back 30 seconds giving 2nd scratch an opportunity to perform. The field was still made up of 9 bunches, starting at 16 minutes, then followed by 13 mins, 10 mins, 6 mins, 5 mins, 4 mins, 3 mins, 2 ½ mins and then scratch.

The traditional head wind was ever present at the start slowing the pace to the exchange. 2nd scratch moved quickly to take advantage of the short time gap to the bunch ahead and get the assistance of extra numbers, grabbing 3rd before the exchange. The 5 minute group made good time on the 6 minute group and latched onto them before the Primary School while the 4 minute group self destructed and were caught well before the turn around. At the turn around the front bunches had lost considerable time to the rest of the field and had only closed the gaps between themselves marginally, any benefit of merging was going to eventuate before being caught.

The combined 5 & 6 minute group had worked well up until the turnaround until a glimpse of the combined 2nd scratch group, which gave some of the riders a heart failure as they surrendered and stopped working to keep them at bay. With only 4 riders maintaining the pace the combined 5 minute group was caught 1 km back from the exchange corner. Scratch still had a solid 1 ½ minutes to close and were looking out of it at this stage. The front markers were all under 1 minute ahead and would be accounted for on the exchange hill.

With no where to hide on the journey up the exchange hill and a solid cross wind to contend with, only those in good position and some strength managed to make it through with the main bunch. 2nd scratch were well and truly in control of the race at the top of the exchange with scratch too far back to make any challenge and the rest of the field accounted for. The pace remained solid through to the finish line; Tony Fitzpatrick took out first place with a solid ride followed by Arnie Lindsay 2nd, Hudson Crothers 3rd, Terry Schintler 4th, Christian Wakeling 5th, Noel Knight 6th, Dave Bakes 7th and Paul Dynon 8th. In a tight sprint for fastest time Trevor Watchman just piped Mick Angove on the line.

This was the first race back after Christmas on the Veteran Cycling calendar; conditions were excellent for racing with temperatures not too warm. A stiff southerly breeze, as usual, was still there to greet the riders off the start line. 53 riders turned up to contest the race and the collection of riders would predominantly fill the back end of the field.

The two limit riders started off 15 minutes and were pursued by a large bunch of nine riders off 10 minutes. With the rest of the field made up of bunches of roughly 8 riders they were off 7 min, 5 ½ min, 4 min, 3 min, 2 min, back to a solid bunch of 5 off scratch.

Conditions were tough off the start with the head wind quite strong until the exchange, where all of the bunches took advantage of the tail breeze through to the turn around to try and hold their gaps and not concede any ground. Scratch had made some good ground on the 2nd scratch group who would be caught just after the turn around. The rest of the field had managed to only marginally close the gaps to each other with no bunch looking dominant at this point.

At Eppalock Primary School the gaps had closed in significantly across the field with riders being shed from their bunches and the head wind home testing the strength of the groups. Scratch were motoring along and looking well organized with the support of 2nd scratch and 3rd about to be accounted for. The 5 1/2 & 7 minute group had combined and were closing in on the 10 minute group. The combined scratch bunch caught the 4 minute group 1 km back from the exchange and were still looking strong but still had 2 groups and limit to reel in.

Dave Kieth riding off limit rode away from his co marker at the Primary School and was still holding a solid lead at the top of the exchange hill with scratch still back at the exchange corner. The 5 1/2 , 7 & 10 minute groups had combined at the exchange corner and had a good 40 second lead on scratch. The scratch bunch turned it on up the exchange hill with only a couple of riders managing to hang on. This burst of speed saw them put 30 seconds into the combined group ahead who were eventually caught 3 km from home. With only Dave Kieth off limit left to reel in, he still had a ½ km lead and 3 km to go. With the pace on scratch caught Dave around the turn into the home straight.

With a strong tail breeze to lift the speed into the sprint Nick Shipp put in a strong ride for first place and fastest time to hold off Trevor Watchman who threw everything at him in a bid to win. It was Trevor in 2nd followed by Tony Fitzpatrick 3rd, Carl Harris 4th, Andrew Pascoe 5th, Mick Angove 6th, Justin Mollison 7th, Mal Balnaves 8th, and Arnie Lindsay 9th.

Very warm conditions kept a lot of the riders away with only 40 riders still braving the warmer weather. A solid group of back markers rolled up and the front end of the field was a little thin forcing the handicappers to use time gaps to even up the odds. Four riders off limit were given a solid start off 15 minutes followed by 2 small groups off 9 & 6 minutes, behind them the stronger groups off 4, 2 ½ , 2 minutes and then 5 riders off scratch.

The start saw several riders across a few of the groups miss their bunch and force them to chase or drop back a bunch impacting the performance of some groups. The journey through to the exchange had the added assistance of a tail wind pushing the speeds up quite high. The expectation was for the 2minute group to reel in the 2.5 minute group and work together to hold back the strong scratch bunch, but it wasn’t to be? Scratch had taken 1 minute out of 2nd scratch by mid way down axe creek road and 2nd had not made up any time on the 2.5 minute group who were slowly making ground on the bunch ahead. The turn around had limit holding a massive lead but they’d shed one rider and soon after had lost another. The 9 minute group had made next to no ground on limit with Trevor Pell and Di Jane combining well to keep them at bay. Scratch had grabbed the remains of the 2nd scratch bunch and had their sights on the rest of the field.

From Eppalock Primary School through to the exchange scratch accounted for each bunch ahead one by one. Some heavy traffic and surrendering riders caught a couple of the stronger back markers off guard as they were put out the back; a move that may have made a difference to the end result? At the exchange corner all had been consumed by scratch except for the two limit riders still away by a solid couple of minutes. With scratch in chase the heat and the pace took its toll on the field seeing the majority drop off the pursuit and slowly meander home.

Di Jane managed to outwit Trevor Pell and dominated the sprint for first place, Trevor took out second place. About 1 minute back was scratch with Tony Jones just beating Mick Angove for third place and fastest time, they were followed by Nick Shipp in 5th place, Arnie Lindsay 6th, John MaCague 7th, Hudson Crothers 8th, Glenn Farrow 9th and Ric MaCintosh in 10th.

This was the final race for the year in the Wednesday night series, the racing will resume again on Wednesday the 13th of January.

Another Wednesday night with mild conditions saw 50 riders turn up to test themselves. We had a north westerly breeze making the race a little more interesting providing riders with some assistance on the journey home. After tightening up the field last week the handicappers opted to follow the same train of thought but give some added strength of numbers to the back end of the field in a bid to see them get closer to the highly successful middle groups. Limit were given 4 riders and 16 minutes to get them rolling, they were followed by 4 riders off 11 minutes, then 5 riders off 7 minutes and behind them were 6 riders off 6 minutes, followed by 4 minute, 3 minute & 2 minute groups all with 8 riders each and then scratch with 6 gun riders.

With the gaps very tight some of the groups came together relatively quickly and well before the turnaround. The 6 & 7 minute group had combined just after the exchange on the journey out, and the 2 & 3 minute group had done the same. The additional numbers in the 2 & 3 min group proved to be less helpful at times and slowing the speed of the bunch. Scratch had pulled in just over 1 minute to the combined 2nd & 3rd scratch group at the halfway mark and only 1 minute separated the 4 minute group from the chase group and the group they were in pursuit of. Limit held a commanding lead and looked the likely winners at this stage and the 11 minute group were close to being reeled in also.

Coming along axe creek road on the way back all of the groups had the assistance of a tail breeze making it more difficult for anyone to make up any ground. Limit were still well ahead, the 6 minute group had combined with the rest of the groups ahead and held only a 40 second gap back to the 4 minute group. Scratch were very close to the combined 2 & 3 minute group and still had at least 1 minute to close ahead of them. The 4 minute group tagged onto the back of the combined forward bunches with about 2 km to go and limit had fragmented with only 2 riders trying to defend their lead less than 100 yards ahead. Scratch had caught and shed the 2 & 3 minute group had were powering hard to close the gap to the leaders.

Into the home stretch limit finally surrendered with only 200 yards to go and left the sprint for a win up to the combined 4 minute and forward bunches. Scratch put in a massive effort to bring them in but fell short by about 30 seconds. Murray Rankin on his shiny new bike took out first place in a very strong sprint for the line clearing the field by 20 yards, 2nd was Leigh-Anne Dynon, 3rd Christian Wakeling, 4th Darren McKellar, 5th Sabrina Smythe, 6th Gary Murdoch, 7th Chris Weatherit, 8th Steve Auld, 9th David Cheal and fastest time was John MaCague with an average speed of 42.5 Kph.

Good conditions have again attracted a large field of 60 riders to the race. After last weeks results and in a bid to give the back markers a better chance, the handicapper went about bringing the field back in pulling the previous weeks winning bunch back by 2 minutes. The rest of the field were dragged back at least a minute to ensure a closer race. Limit remained off 18 minutes but were strengthened up by another rider; in chase were bunches off 12 min, 9 min, 7.5 min, 6.5 min, 5 min, 4 min, 3 min, 2 min & scratch.

The tighter gaps presented more opportunity for the bunches to come together and dominate the race. Conditions were such that there was no real advantage for any of the groups on the night; rather than the traditional hard slog home. On the journey out the 4 & 5 min groups had combined as had the 2 min & scratch bunch, whilst the gaps had tightened considerably across the field. At the halfway mark scratch were exactly 9 minutes behind limit and on track to reel them in. The journey home saw scratch account for the 3 minute group and the combined 4 & 5 minute group grab the 6.5 minute group as well. At the exchange hill there was less than 1 minute separating the now 2 large groups with a fragmented field still working ahead and limit yet to be caught. The stronger riders of the combined scratch group put in a big effort to try and close the gap but with the strength of number in the bunch ahead it was only just out of reach. Coming into the home stretch was the entire field with limit holding a 15 second advantage to one large bunch of riders from the 4 minute group forward and then the scratch group only 30 seconds behind them.

Wendy Bennett put in a solid ride to roll Dave Kieth and take out first place, Dave of course in second. Steve Spencer took out the sprint for the next bunch and grabbing third place, and in doing so streaking away in the aggregate contest. 4th was Paul Dynon followed by Mick Anderson in 5th, Christian Wakeling in 6th, Sheridan Hall in 7th, Gary Murdoch 8th, Darren Trickey 9th and Ricky (every week) Lovel in 10th. Fastest Time went to Justin Mollison with an ave speed of 41.8 Kph.

Another large field of 55 riders hit the circuit this week, and after last weeks huge numbers there was an expectation of even more given the mild conditions on the evening. Smaller bunches and tighter gaps was the formulae for the race this week in a bid to even up the opportunities. Once again, a very classy scratch bunch turned out to take on the field; punished heavily last week because of the sheer numbers and strength of the bunch the handicapper gave them some relief choosing to bring the gap to second scratch back to 3 minutes. Tow limit riders were again off 18 minutes with most bunches being made up of six riders at 13 min, 11 min, 9 min, 8 min, 6.5 min, 5 min, 4 min and 3 min.

Although conditions were mild there was still that slight head wind to kick off with through to the exchange where the tail breeze offered only some slight assistance. The 3 & 4 minute groups combined early with the 3 min group catching them at the school on the way out. At the turn around limit were still away but the 8, 9 & 11 min groups had merged and had gain some pace with numbers. The 5 min group had not made ground on the bunch ahead and was caught by the combined 3 & 4 min group soon after the turn around. The return home saw some of the riders start to struggle and drop way from their bunches as the stronger riders stepped it up a notch. Scratch still had a good minute to close at the school and the task became harder as the combined 3,4 & 5 min bunches started to work steadily ahead. Once the groups had combined across the field the pace had lifted and the gaps would be too big for any of the chase bunches to close.

The final sprint for the finish saw new rider Dave Chival take out 1st followed by Gary Leech in 2nd, Bruce Tonkin 3rd,Liegh Anne Dynon 4th, Peter Harper 5th, Sandy Angelletto 6th, Sam Smaggars 7th, Darren Trickey 8th. Fastest Time was Nick Shipp off scratch and first unplaced lady was Aileen Obrien.

With conditions not quite as hot as the previous week the race attracted much larger numbers, a huge field of 66 riders turned out to contest. The large number of entries and the relatively short time frame to put the race together had the handicappers scratching their heads and looking for the right answers? As it turned out they had opted for fewer bunches with very large numbers, some bunches of 10 in the mid field. Limit again were given another minute starting off 19 minutes, followed by a 14 min, 12 min, 7.5 min, 6.5 min, 5 min, 4 min bunches and then a gun scratch bunch of 8 riders. Perhaps the strongest veteran scratch bunch seen at local races for some time, chasing a four minute gap in a short race, they’d certainly need to be well organized and have the pace on.

With the breeze coming from the north the traditional head wind start was not to be and although the heat didn’t appear like it was going to be a factor it was definitely hot out on the road. The big time gaps ensured that none of the bunches were going to come together too easily on the journey out to the turn around. The 12 minute group had combined with the 14 minute group at that point and was closing in on the 2 limit riders who would be caught by Eppalock Primary School coming home. The 4 minute & 5 minute group had come together before the turn around also but were not making too much ground on the groups ahead. Scratch struggled to reel in the big groups ahead where the benefit of numbers forced the average speed well above the 40 km mark.

The 6.5 & 7.5 min bunches combined just before the exchange corner and still had a good 2 minute gap to close ahead. The combined 4 & 5 minute groups were trailing by at least 1 minute and scratch had only made up a couple of minutes on them also. With a fast finish and big gaps remaining, the 12 & 14 minute groups were set for victory. In a big bunch finish 1st was Greg Barklay, 2nd Tony Gellatly, 3rd Christian Wakeling, 4th Bruce Tonkin, 5th Sam Smaggars, 6th David Collwell, 7th Gary Leech, 8th Aileen Obrien, 9th Mellissa Chiappazzo, 10th Trevor Miles and fastest time was John MaCague.

The sweltering 38 degree heat for the day failed to keep 45 very keen riders away from the race. With the temperature still in the mid 30’s at the start of the race it was always going to challenge some of the riders. Last weeks race saw limit being caught well before the race end, so a let out was on the cards this week. Two limit riders were off 18 minutes followed by bunches of six riders off 13 mins, 11 mins, 8 mins, 6 mins, 5 mins, 3 mins, and then back to scratch.

The start saw riders heading off into a moderate head wind through to the exchange before getting some assistance from a tail wind. The 8 minute group looked good on paper and with an extra rider in their bunch and some experienced campaigners to organize the group they were going to be hard to catch. The heat & testing conditions saw some of the riders surrender before the halfway mark and weaken the drive of their bunches. The five riders off scratch put in a powerful performance to be snapping at the heels of a pretty classy 2nd scratch bunch of seven riders just after Eppalock Primary School on the way out; bridging a three minute gap in 12 kms.

The journey home had the 8 minute bunch working well together holding off the chase group and reeling in the 11 min, 13 min & 18 min groups by the exchange corner. Scratch had combined with 2nd and accounted for the 5 min & 6 min groups at the top of the exchange hill. With scratch still approx 1 min off the lead group the gap would prove too much to close in the distance they had left. The leading 8 minute group had shed some of the slower riders off the back and combined well lining up for a sprint finish.

Steve Spencer returning back to racing after a brief spell managed to grab 1st place followed by Sheridan Hall in 2nd, Glenn Farrow 3rd, Noel (Knobby) Knight 4th, Steve Auld 5th, Bruce Tonkin 6th, Christian Wakeling 7th, Daniel Barry 8th. 1st Unplaced Lady was Aileen Obrien and fastest time was taken by Tony Jones in a tight sprint with Justin Mollison.

The first race of the series certainly pulled in some riders keen to test their form against the circuit. 58 riders in total entered the race and I would say just as many out having a look at the event. We had a large number of new riders, some returning back after a lay off and others out for their first run. Conditions on the evening were mild but as expected with a stiff head wind to start off the race. The large number of riders had the handicapping group scratching their heads and deliberating for some time in an attempt to make the first race a close contest.

10 bunches made up the field with limit given a big start at 16 minutes followed by bunches at 13mins, 11 mins, 9 mins, 7mins, 6mins, 5mins, 3 mins, 2mins & Scratch. With the race underway the respective bunches journeyed through to the telephone exchange and up to Eppalock Primary School gradually making ground on each other. The 9 minute group were working well together holding a good average speed to keep the 7 minute group at a safe distance. The 5 minute group had progressed close to the 6 minute group by the turn around and the strong scratch bunch had the hammer down and had pulled in 2nd scratch at the half way point and shortly after had accounted for the 3rd scratch group. The 9 min, 11min, 13 min and limit bunch all came together on the exchange corner seeing some of the weaker riders falling off the back. The back markers in chase had almost all combined but were still a good couple of minutes back. Into the final stretch the pace off the stronger riders in the 9 minute group forced more to surrender from the field leaving about a bunch of 10 for the final sprint. About 1km to go and one rider jumped away from the field, with no one prepared to give chase, he managed to pull of the win with 50 meters to spare. The remainder of the group contested for the minor placings with scratch in hot pursuit only 40 seconds back. A pretty impressive result for the handicapper in the first race of the season.

(apologies for the first names missing – didn’t have all the details)