We like to keep people guessing at Armidale Cycling Club and this weekend was no exception. Despite being advertised as the first 2018 Road Racer of the Year contest, Saturday afternoon racing turned out to be a regular handicap event. That didn’t seem to bother any of the 31 riders who rolled up on a wonderful warm autumn afternoon for the first road race of the season.

And what a race it was, won by Mick Hoult who broke the magic 40kph barrier on the hilly Boorolong course, taking 40s off his PB in the process, but even that Herculean effort wasn’t sufficient to take fastest time on the day. That went to scratch rider Mick Harris who beat Luke Milan’s 2014 course record by 1m:26s, averaging 40.91kph in his 44m:35s effort.

Harris charged off the line, a minute in arrears of Houlty with only visiting rider Riley Taylor for company. The pair caught the five Block riders half-way up Black Hill and from then on it was full gas to the finish. They collected and dropped the 10-minute group on the outward leg with only Johnny able to hold onto their wheel tracks before the charge home. By Dumaresq Station they’d charged past the remains of the 11-minute bunch and it was a wild ride to the finish from there for those that could sustain the pace.

With Col back in the handicapping seat, there was little sympathy for out of form riders and that showed with some significant time gaps in the lower half of the results. Those still building up some fitness were more than balanced by those who have clearly been working hard in the off season. Jason Simmonds had another great ride to finish just 3s down on the winner and take over 3mins off his previous PB. Similarly, newcomer Pat Ferris showed promise to jag a top 5 finish in his first ever road race having started as one of a dozen in the 11-minute group. Also in that group and racing on the road for the first time was Olive Tutt. In hindsight the junior rider probably should have been a group or two ahead but she toughed out the hilly course and even managed to overcome a couple of stragglers at the end to sprint across the line in an excellent first road racing effort.

There were also PBs for Tom Simmonds, Dave Harris, Angus Apps, Holly Harris, Chris Belson, Sam King and Carl Hooton and a warm welcome for another new club member Matt Pott. Check out our Race Results page for more details.

Congratulations to Mick Hoult on a well-deserved win and many thanks to Chris Belson for being on sign duty and to Col for running the race. Keep an eye on the calendar for the real RROTY start date but it is likely to be around a month away.

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