Tthe 2009 ACC championships began on Saturday 13 June, with Round 1 a 30km race on Dangarsleigh Road.
Mitch Bullen took out the main A grade race, while Bill Mara won B grade with Dave Rubie victorious in C grade.
The majority of the A grade field arrived at the finish together, with most riders content to let Mitch Bullen and Mick Hoult set the pace. Andrew Kirk put on a good surge over the top of Knobs Hill, but the attack of the day was started by Phil Hess who set off down the hill from Petersons, quickly building up a good lead.
Unfortunately he didn’t have the legs to last to the finish and it came down to a bunch sprint, which was always going to go in Mitch’s favour.
In the final washup, the placings were: 1st Mitch Bullen, 2nd Mitch Sozou, 3rd Mick Hoult, 4th Andrew Kirk, and 5th John Scott-Hamilton.
B grade produced a competitive finish with Bill Mara taking the win after young Harry Michel of Gunnedah started his sprint from too far out. Harry nevertheless hung on for second in front of Phil Thomas.
Club championship points were: 1st Bill Mara, 2nd Phil Thomas, 3rd Lachie McPhie, 4th Nick Myhill and 5th Cody Burton.
In C grade Dave Rubie was too strong, soloing to victory almost from the start. Jo Benham also rode well, while Gary “sit-on” Sisson lived up to his name by wheel sucking for most of the race before passing Jo on the line. It was good to see Geoff Allan back in the saddle after his recent fall, while Karlee McMillan tried hard all day.
C grade points were: 1st Dave Rubie, 2nd Gary Sisson, 3rd Jo Benham, 4th Geoff Allen, and 5th Karlee McMillan.
The next event in the series is a 15km time trial on Dangarsleigh Road on 4 July.