Already crowned as 2016 Club Road Racer Champion last weekend, Wild Man Wilkinson put the matter beyond any question on Saturday afternoon with another strong showing on the punchy 30km Boorolong course – the final RROTY round of the season. Finishing second behind the re-emerging Cannibal powerhouse he was part of a 5-strong 3m:30s group that played together and stayed together, catching leader Peter Creagan with 5km to go and just holding off the mighty Block duo of Ironman Mick Hoult and Hugh Sprintmonster Munday who came from nowhere at the end to very nearly spoil the party.
Captain Creagan certainly seems to be enjoying his spell in the Go group and this week he had another familiar face back into the mix for company. Chris Stace did well to hang with him until the top of Blacks Hill but by then PC was stretching his legs just a bit too much and off he went. Behind Wilko’s group on the road at 9 mins Alwyn Miller (Inverell) and Phil Hess were looking useful, keeping Houlty and Hugh at bay for the time being but those guys clearly meant business. With a 2 minute advantage on Dave and Sam Munday, they knew their best chance was to go hard and stay away and that they did, only giving 10s to the Scratch pair by the top of Blacks Hill on the outward leg.
Up front PC was now solo and going well, as he turned he still had just over a minute on the chasing group and with favourable conditions on the downhill return he backed himself and took on the challenge. At the turn the 3 pairs of chasers were making ground with Hugh and Houlty most likely to catch but still 1m:40s in arrears, Scratch a further minute back with the Hess/Miller duo sandwiched in-between.
In the end the bigger bunch did catch the Captain, on his climb up from Dumaresq station. He managed to tag onto the back and then it was a bit of cat and mouse for the six riders, not wanting to do too much work on the front but recognising the danger behind. Bourkey was rolling turns well and supporting The Cannibal who seemed to find himself on the front by default as the finishing line approached. As they hit the final kilometre Sprintmonster Munday could just be seen emerging in the distance following a brutal effort with Houlty over the closing stages. Up-front, Johnny was winding it up and while Wilko gamely chased his wheel, he didn’t have the power to mount a challenge. All six riders just made it home before Hugh blasted through, into the bunch just over the line and with a deficit of just 3s on the winner and almost 1m:30s ahead of Scratch.
And as the curtain came down on the 2016 RROTY season, the final table shows Richard Wilkinson the clear winner on 108 points from 19 races with Dave Munday the nearest challenger on 88 points from 17 races, followed by Michael Hoult on 82 points from 17 races. Congratulations to Richard, a worthy winner for 2016 and to all riders on another long and well fought season-long contest.
Well done also to our winner on the day, John Scott-Hamilton and many thanks to Dave and Lisa Harris for running the race, especially given the demands of the Evocities MTB marathon on the same weekend. This coming weekend is the rescheduled Club Road Race Championships – sure to be an exciting race on Long Swamp over 45km, see you all then!
[table id=179 /]