Second Sunday of road cycling for the juniors produced another great morning plus some new riders. Lots of seniors away at Bright for racing but still had some seniors to ride with the juniors and give them some advice and support. The riders had 2 races – a 6 lap (4.8km) handicap and a 3 lap scratch race. For the new riders on mountain bikes, this was a new challenge.
For the first race, Stephen Spencer advised the new riders on mountain bikes – Trent and Ryan Beggs – could keep up with him so the handicapper Steve Wilson went with that and put all three riders at a start of 3minutes. However, after the first lap, the handicapper realised he had been conned as Stephen quickly dropped them and pedalled consistently for the finish. Chasing behind was Kate Geary on 2minutes and Bastian Jefferies on 1min. Erica Deery was on scratch and had to chase down over a lap start for some riders. By bell lap, the margins were shrinking but Stephen still had a small lead. Trent Beggs had dropped brother Ryan and was also pedalling well. Into the final straight on the industrial estate, it was Stephen first round the last bend but Bastian Jefferies was soon following and a sprint to the line followed. Bastian crossed the line a wheel ahead to take the win from Stephen in a time of 11.14 min. Kate Geary raced all the way to score 3rd whilst Erica finished 4th and fastest in a time of 10.59min. That was the same time as Renee Hardacre for fastest time last week. 5th went to Trent and Ryan was 6th.
After a rest and some talk about the race the riders fronted up for a 3 lap scratch race – Trent and Ryan having a mountain bike event with the other 4 in the racing bike race. Trent showed the best pedalling to take the win from Ryan. In the other race, Erica raced away at the start and opened a good lead which she held all the way to the finish to claim he first win on the road. Bastian Jefferies raced in for 2nd whilst Kate collected another 3rd and Stephen in 4th.
Next weekend it is again at the industrial estate and we are happy to have some more riders on Mountain bikes. The following weekend on April 7 the riders will have a ride out the rail trail from Koonwarra to Meeniyan and back with a BYO BBQ after – all part of the John Sauvarin ride day.
Cycling club members – keep the date free – Sat Oct 19 for a 60th anniversary dinner dance.
Lindsay
updated 8am 2nd June
