100 Year Centenary Event

An absolutely glorious day greeted us when we arrived at the track at 7am. We set about erecting tents and banners, PA equipment etc and in almost no time the Centenary event was upon us with the first race, the Under9 / Under11 handicap kicking off on schedule at 10.30am.

Under 9's on the line. The 11's started 1.5 minutes behind and so had to gain 30 seconds a lap if they were to get accross to the flying under 9's.

It wasn't long though before three of the under 9's pictured left ( Brett Meindertsma, Michael Docker and Jordon Wilson) started working together to keep away from the hard charging U11's.

	Left, Randwick Botany hopefull Elliot Doughty blasts off with the other Under 11's needing to pull back a minute and a half on the Under 9's. Unfortunately not many of the riders worked together and the race became very fragmented.
The U11's unable to reel in the U9's who worked fabulously together, swapping turns like pros. Under 11 rider, Phillip Arias almost did it but had to settle for 4th place. Phillip did post fastest time however.

In the Under 13/ 15 handicap things were a lot closer. The 15's had to make up 30 seconds a lap over the four lap race. Left, the Under 13's on the line with Randwick Botany stalwart Adriano Maradini and riding in her first ever open for RBCC, Emma Jones

Luke Davison (Randwick Botany) and Nicholas Spratt (Penrith Panthers) caught all of the U13's bar the three winners. Left, Spratt turns up the pace and looks behind to see whos still there. Shadowing him closely was Randwick Botany's Luke Davision. The elastic began to stretch however and gaps started to sho back to Matt Guillan (Southern Cross) and Randwick Botany's Tom Patton.

Next up was the Men's U17 Scratch race. Many of these boys know their way around Heffron. Some are Ex RBCC juniors, like Keeghan Aitchison riding for Southern Cross and Andrew Young riding for Eastern Suburbs. Others are regular visitor like Chris Guillan (Southern Cross) OUr only RBCC hopeful in this race was Tyron Bicknell.

The Southern Cross boys certainly knew their way through the infamous Heffron "Squircle" (Square circle). Here Chris leads Keeghan out of the final right hander.

Eventual placegetters Anthony Bennett from Grey Bear and Chris Guillan. Prime winners (right column)

The Randwick Botany Centenary Race Day and Gala Celebration Dinner was a truly great event. The seven-event program has attracted over 200 junior and senior riders competing for over $5,000 in prizemoney.

Notable riders included Kate Nichols (St George) 2003 Australian National Road Series Champion; Shaun Higgerson (FRF Couriers/Randwick Botany) Australian U23 Time Trial Champion; Natalie Bates (Parramatta CC) Australian Time Trial Champion and NSW Roadwoman of the Year; Peter Milostic (FRF Couriers) Australian Time Trial Champion and NSW Roadman of the Year and Rodney McGee from the NSWIS-FDJeux.com team. The King or Heffron Park - Anthony Spurgeon (Team Caravello) also raced.

Racing was followed by an a fully catered Centenary Celebration Gala Dinner under a huge marquee immediately adjacent to start finish line of the Heffron Circuit. Some 120 guests enjoyed a fabulous evening. Special guests included Australian and Olympic cycling champions, SBS Sport Presenter Michael Tomalaris, Phyllis Gilbert, the daughter of Snow Wilson, the longest serving Club Secretary who served as Club Secretary for 34 years from 1934. . Rob Bates the President of Cycling NSW, Alex Fulcher past president of Cycling NSW, Tom Skulander State Manager of Cycling NSW, Ron Peak past president of Randwick Botany Cycling Club, to name but a few. The master or ceremonies for the evening was club member Chris White.

The event was proudly sponsored by the Newington Inn - Petersham, DS Labels, Cheeky Monkey Cycle Company, FRF Couriers, Probikekit.com, Jan and Cohen Real Estate, Caravello Joinery, Kellogg's, Swift Solutions, Cadbury Schweppes, Europa Cycles and Phyllis Gilbert.

Randwick Botany Cycling Club is proudly sponsored by Newington Inn – Petersham, DS Labels – Marrackville and Cheeky Monkey Cycle Company, Pitt Street Sydney and Velomax Wheel Systems.

Randwick Botany Cycling Club conducts racing at Heffron Park, Maroubra NSW each Saturday throughout the year. Juniors start at 1.00pm and Seniors 2.30pm. For more information please contact the club secretary Helen Vella on 02 9667 3307 or email secretary@randwickbotanycc.com