Dumbalk 20th August 2016

It was a cold and wet Saturday for Club racing starting from the Dumbalk Hall. With a reduced number of entries there was just one race with the riders riding out to the Grand Ridge Rd at Limonite and return. There was a steady north wind bringing showers through and the temperature was just 10C. The 12 starters were spread across 20 min with the two scratch riders – Brett Franklin and Will Lumby chasing 4 minutes to a quartet, 9 min to a trio, 14 min to a duo and limit. The course is lumpy as the riders head to Mirboo before facing a steep 4km climb to the turn.

By the time the riders reached the Turtons Creek Rd, some 13km from the start the lead to the limit rider had shrunk to just 7 minutes. However, Thomas Fitzgerald, riding from the 9 min mark had dropped his co-markers – Mark Bensley and Damien King and had almost caught the riders from the 14 min mark. Ahead he had a 2km descent and then the 4km climb to the turn and he is happy to tackle the hills.

The climb to the turn saw the scratch duo round up most of the field save for Thomas and Mark, however by the time they road back past Turtons Creek Rd there was just Brett chasing. Will had ridden a cyclo-cross race at Warragul on Friday evening and found the legs were just a little tired. Thomas had a lead of 1min over Mark with Brett a further 1.30 behind but with 13km and a choppy wind and some hills still to go.

Brett managed to chase down the leaders and in the sprint to the line it was Thomas Fitzgerald who took the honours with Brett second. Mark Bensley finished a further 1.45 behind for 3rd. Damien King kept chasing all the way back to claim 4th. Will Lumby rode home in 5th, Chris Rowe 6th, Bernadette Fitzgerald 7th, Kaleb Jans 8th, Tony Giles picked up a few places on the way back to grab 9th whilst Zach Stubbs-Teylor rounded out the top 10.

Next weekend the racing is scheduled for Sunday morning at 9.30 starting at Pound Creek. The seniors will be racing for the McIndoe Cup which is a scratch race event.

Lindsay

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