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REPORT
Sixty three riders, including Juniors, turned
out for racing on a beautiful sunny day. Can’t have everything
however and the wind was so strong that the usual dog walkers seen
about were carrying their pouches apparently not willing to risk
walking them on their leashes.
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A Grade in the main stayed together for the
entire race. It would have been a really fit rider to get
away in these conditions. Regular Dulwich Hill rider, George
Papas tested them during lap 2 but didn’t remain out there too
long before returning to the peleton.
(Click on images for larger view)
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George takes the A Grade bunch up one of the
sharp climbs at Heffron. George was awarded the "King of
the Pimple" award. |
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Clive Hamerson, obviously pretty happy with
himself as he leads the A grade bunch.
(Click on images for
larger view)
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The men in black. Randwick Botany's Chris Jenkins does a
turn at the front of the A Grade field. Fellow RBCC
Junior member Robbie Cater can be seen tucked in at the back. |
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The B grade race saw Sydney
Club take control of the race. There were plenty of attacks
and the Sydney riders made sure that they made RBCC and other
club riders chase down the breaks. Quite a few of the B
graders went “out the back” due to these tactics. (Click
on image for larger view) |
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Eventually, despite the valiant efforts of
big Michael Murdoch who chased down many of the breaks, Paul
Rigby from the Sydney Club managed to get away and was joined
by John Mackenzie of the Eastern Suburbs Club. |
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The two riders managed to stay away so
the race came down to two sprints, one for first place and the
bunch sprinted for third. Paul Rigby managed to hold off John
Mackenzie in the sprint and take first place. The peleton sprint
saw Michael Bolt from Bicisport take third place.
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The early laps of C grade saw Randwick
Botany rider, Joanne Hall “rip the legs off” the opposition
(according to reports from her fellow riders after the race).
Jo must have done too much work early though as she faded
during the later stages of the race and lost touch with the
peleton. |
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Picture right shows Jo Hall just starting to lose touch with
the C Grade bunch towards the end of the race. Thanks
also to our safety marshal, Mark Robertson, also in picture.
I think Mark would still have a smile on his face if he was
hit by a bus. |
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Janelle Lindsay, in her first ride in C
Grade, rode very conservatively and just sat in the bunch and
evaluated her opposition. An attack late in the race saw 3 riders
get away but with the assistance of her fellow Randwick Botany
team mates, Scott Rice and David Jenkins-Flint, they were able to
work together and get the three riders back. John Revesz caught
them all napping when on the bell lap he used the momentary
confusion as B grade passed the C grade bunch to get away and
obtain a good break. After the race, Janelle said, “As B Grade was
passing us I thought that it would be a great time to make a break
and while I was thinking about it, one of the riders did it.”
Eddie Bosch from the Sydney Club and resident Randwick Botany
female Track star, Janelle Lindsay tried to chase Revesz down but
that’s how they finished Revesz first, Bosch second and Janelle
third.
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It was good to see RBCC member Herve Boutin return to racing
after a bit of a break due to work commitments.
(Click on image for larger view) |
Without the obvious
fitness of the higher grades, The D Graders found the windy
conditions particularly difficult. I think Mark Murdoch’s
quote reflects this point pretty well. Mark called out to me,
“It wasn’t very enjoyable today.” There were lots of
retirements in D grade. Randwick Botany rider Liam Fletcher
broke away about 1 kilometre.
Karl Bellamy stayed with him and the two
sprinted it out. In the end it was Liam first over the line
with Karl second. It was good (and pretty amazing) to see Karl
back on the bike having only recently recovered from some
pretty serious injuries. |
The action was fast and furious in the E Grade
event with constant attacks from both Norman Jew and Kev
Blanchfield. In the end, the judges were unable to decide the
winner and so gave them a dead heat for first.
The Junior events were pretty exciting. I had
to have a double take at the stop watch when Robbie Cater came
around recording a 3 minute, 1 second lap (on his first lap of 5),
in the unbelievably windy conditions.
The Handicap event saw scratch marker Robbie
Cater catch most of the field but just fail to catch the first and
second place getters. The final results were Thomas Murdoch
first, Andrew Young second, Robbie Cater third and Belinda Angwin,
fourth.
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 or website
www.randwickbotanycc.com.
Race report prepared by:
John Buckton ( Sorry - Tony had another engagement - again !!)
Pictures, movie and web layout
by John Buckton
Webmaster
Randwick Botany Cycling Club
Tony Horneman:
communications@randwickbotanycc.com
John Buckton:
webmaster@randwickbotanycc.com
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