Luke “San Remo” Milan fittingly charged home to victory in the final round of the 2014 Road Racer of the Year competition to seal his place at the top of the table with a monster 137 points on Saturday. Conditions on the Dangarsleigh course were tough with temperatures reaching 35 degrees accompanied by a 28kph NW wind just to make it interesting and no one complained when the scheduled 30k race was reduced to 25k as a result. A quick shuffling of the handicap saw the 18 riders slotted into 5 groups led out by Jo who timed her puncture to perfection on the homeward leg before the hills and scored a lift home in air conditioned comfort as a result.

The 5 and 6 minute groups looked like the ones to watch and it was no surprise that the top 6 places went to these riders. Unfortunately, we’re lacking in a little detail on results although we do have a large number of pictures of the road surface at the finishing line which more than compensates. The top 5 places and therefore the RROTY points are not under question but thereafter it gets a bit vague. The general consensus was that the 6-minute group with San Remo, Paul Williams and President Tindale had a cracking race and working well together they swept up the 5-minute group on the way home. From this group Captain Creagan, Dene Bourke and Darren Schaefer latched on and the express train was formed. Back in scratch Dave Munday was in a destructive mood with an impressive effort that had most of the group just hanging on for the ride.  Clearly with his sights already set on the Autumn Festival Criterium he might be peaking a little too soon but despite showing great form, the 2 minute gap to block couldn’t be closed although fastest time would come from this group. On the line Paul Williams sensed a chance of victory but possibly went a little early and San Remo, by now an old hand at this stuff, waited and then made his move to take the 10 points with Schaef grabbing second, Paul third and PC getting up for his first bonus points of the season in fourth.

Thanks to Johnny for entering the shipping container (which was probably 50 degrees) to get the signs out, running the race and providing an unusual added dimension with the finish line photos which always makes the write up process more interesting. Maybe Santa will give us an automatic finish line camera (working on that) for next season!

The final 2014 Road Racer of the Year positions are now posted on this website and for those interested, the full week by week results for each of the 25 rounds are also available in PDF format here.  Well done to all our RROTY riders this season, it’s been a great competition which has really ignited the handicap series and is sure to be back next season.

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