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THANK YOU:
Thanks to Helen Vella our Chief Commissaire
on the day, and Principal Commissaire, Joanne Buckton. Thanks to
our safety marshals,
Will Gray, Maria and Richard Jenkins. Thanks
to Richard
Jenkins who deployed and retrieved all the safety equipment. Thanks
to Roy &
RJ
of the St John Ambulance. Thanks to Fred Vella who manned the
canteen
REPORT
Hot, was the appropriate word
to describe conditions at Heffron Park, Maroubra NSW on Saturday 18 January 2003.
To be more accurate, "very hot" as the temperature hovered around the
39 degree celcius mark at race time. Despite the searing
heat some 55 brave souls turned up to do battle with each other and
the elements including the wind which never takes a rest at Heffron.
The A Grade race was pretty
eventful. The Tuesday night Summer Series Yellow Jersey holder,
Robbie Cater attacked on lap 2 and got away some 50 metres from the
peleton with George Papas. Nothing unusual here as we have all
become very used to Robbie's style of racing which includes attack
after attack. He makes me mindful of the great
Bernard Hinault
who said, "As
long as I breathe, I attack."
Lap 3 saw Matt Lucas chasing down the break and by lap 4 the peleton
had come back together. Lap 5 saw Shaun Higgerson stir things up
with an attack. Shaun was followed by Robbie Cater and Dave
Stewart from the Eastern Suburbs club. The attack got some 200
metres on Matt Lucas Aaron Castles, George Papas and then a further
break occurred with Chris Jenkins, Mark Robertson and Clive Hammerson
behind them.
By lap 7 the race had come down to a 3 man event with Robbie Cater,
Dave Stewart and Shaun Higgerson swapping turns and building a huge
lead in front of what was left of the A grade peleton. By lap 10
Dave Stewart realised that it was not at all comfortable being away
with two Randwick Botany riders as Robbie launced attack after attack
and Shaun sat on Dave's wheel and made Dave chase down the breaks. It
was quite unusual to see our other time trialing State champion, Shaun
Higgerson, sitting on and drafting. It paid out in the end
though as Robbie led out the sprint. David put in a powerful
sprint only to be shadowed by Shaun Higgerson who stayed right on
Dave's wheel right to the last minute. As David started to fade
as he approached the line. Shaun pulled out and rolled past Dave to
take the win. It was excellent team tactics from the boys and
commiserations to Dave who did however take out a well deserved second
place.
The B grade race was pretty
action packed also. On lap 3 Michael Cohen got away some 70
metres from the peleton and held that lead for nearly two laps.
On lap 7 Chris White lifted the pace and the B grade field was
strung out. I saw lots of people squeezing hard on their biddons
as the pace settled back down.
|
.jpg)
Jacko begged me to take a picture of
his huge calves. |
No
sooner though than after we had all gasped for air and attempted
to quench our thirsts, David Jackson put in a big effort and got
out to about 50 metres from the peleton. I tried to surprise
the bunch and sprinted from the back in an effort to break from
the peleton without taking any passengers to get across to Jacko
(David Jackson). When I looked behind me I had big Murray Walsh
from the Sutherland club on my tail. All I can say about
Murray (who eventually won the race) is that he must accelerate
like a 300 kilowatt HSV
Commodore. |
Sorry Jacko but I only brought
one across. Didn't do us any good though as eventually what was
left of the chasing peleton managed to get us back again and by lap 12
the remaining field now down to about half the starting number, rolled
around thinking only about the bell and their position for the sprint.
In the end though it was Murray Walsh who powered home to take the
sprint with Michael Cohen second and David "Jacko" Jackson third.
The C grade race saw
Chrispin Arnell of RBCC, attack from the start and string the C grade
bunch out. By lap 2 Anton Rivera from Easts attacked and again
kept the pace high. In fact C grade caught sight of B Grade and
got very close to catching them before B grade turned up the wick.
C grade then settled down and the peleton reformed, the heat
apparently getting the better of them. The Bell lap saw B Grade
and C grade pass the start/finish line together and Commissaire Helen
Vella gave C grade the bell. B Grade immediately went into a
neutral lap to allow the C graders past so as not to upset their
sprint. There was a lot of confusion however as I heard riders
singing out, "There's one more lap to go", "she's got the lap count
wrong", and the like. Hey guys and girls, the sprint lap
is the lap after the Commissaire rings the bell. Doesn't matter
how many laps you have done, it's the Commissaire who makes the call
as to when the race ends.
Randwick Botany
rider Tony Aitchison set the
pace early in the D Grade race. The heat must have got the
better of Tony however as he was out of the placings. Johnathon
Hoggard was first followed by Greg Smart and Lindsay Monks of the
Dulwich Hill club third.
Six junior riders competed in
the two events including Time Trial and an all in 8 km handicap race. Juniors
registered included Thomas Murdoch, Andrew Young, Matthew Fortuna (St
George), Tom Patton (Manly), Tamas Bykerk and Elliott Doughty. Placings and times are listed
in the column at the left of this
report.
Coverage of local cycling
results can be heard on Sydney’s Eastside Radio 89.7FM “GAME ON”
program, hosted by Brad Cooke, each Saturday morning from 10am.
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
Race report prepared by:
John Buckton
Webmaster
Photos by John
Buckton
Web page layout & editing
by John Buckton
Webmaster
Randwick Botany Cycling Club
communications@randwickbotanycc.com
webmaster@randwickbotanycc.com
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