As the 2019 road racing season draws to a close, it was time to contest the Club Championship to determine the Grade champions, aswell as the overall male and female club champions.
The warm weather and the promise of cold refreshments at the finish lured a large contingent of 25 riders to the Long Swamp start line, with 10 A grade riders, 7 B graders and 8 C grade riders. And with 45km of racing ahead it would be thirsty work for all the starters!
A mass start saw a fast pace from the gun, a wobbly wheel knocked ice-cold Billy Mara out of the race in the first descent of the day! As riders settled into groups an early break saw Ollie Marshall & Holly Harris off the front, and at the end of the first lap they held a slender 10 second lead, while the chasing A grade group were still getting their act together. B grade riders were scattered all over the course by this point, with the noteworthy exception of Nick Plummers who was holding his own in the main lead group. Behind was a trio of B grade riders, and Alex Thomas, Richard Wilko, and Dene Bourke would join forces on the second lap in a bid to hunt down the front of the B grade race. C grade was working well together at this point, with Emily Meehan also onboard this group.
As the race wore on, the 45km championship distance started to take its toll, and by the second turn an 8 strong A grade group had coalesced after reeling in Hollie & Ollie, while Nick had been jettisoned and was riding a solo TT to try and hold off the 3 musketeers chasing him down. The main C grade group had slimmed down to 6 riders, with Jacqui King losing touch, and Olive Tutt calling an early end to her race and practising her celebration for next year instead!
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As the finish approached 7 riders remained aboard the A grade express, and it would come down a battle on Dump Hill. As the first riders crested the top a lead trio had emerged, and in a tight finish at was Jason “Chairman” Simmonds who took out a well deserved A grade win, and the title of Men’s Club Champion for 2019. Well done Jason, a great reward for a fantastic year of racing! Ollie took out second place, with Paul Williams rounding out the A grade podium in 3rd place. Hollie Harris came home in 6th place to take out the Women’s Club Champion for 2019 – great work Hollie!!!
In B grade, Nick Plummers managed to hold off the chasing riders, to take out first place in B grade – well done Nick. Alex Thomas came home second, with Richard Wilko rounding out the B grade podium in 3rd place
C grade was also a closely fought affair, but in a close sprint finish it was Andrew Swann who took out the win just ahead of Emily Meehan in second place, with Captain Creagan coming home further back in 3rd place. Well done Swanny, Em, and PC!
It was cold beers all round at the finish, as riders reflected on another great year of club road racing, and our new Club Champions celebrated their hard-earnt success.
Thanks to Col for running the race, and Ken MacDonald for manning the turn. Also thanks to all the riders who raced with the club today and throughout the year.
Next week we take a break from racing with a social club ride (see calendar for details), and we then have the postponed Club TT Championship the following weekend.
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