Perfect cool and cloudy weather greeted a fantastic turnout of riders who were tuning their race form ahead of the next round of the regional InterClub Crit race series in Tamworth the following day. The club also welcomed new racing member Jock Mcorist who has recently moved to the area, and rumour has it that Jock will give some of the club TT stalwarts a run for their money this year!

With the aim of building race form, the grades were run over the championship timings of 30 mins + 3 laps for C grade, 35 + 3 for B grade, and 40 + 3 for A grade. Riders self-selected into their grades, and Jock jumped straight into A grade as they were first of the line. He might have been regretting that move within the first lap, as Missile Mick Harris made an early pre-emptive strike on the bunch, and by the time he appeared at the top of crit hill he was riding solo and appeared to be on a mission to imflict as much pain as possible!

Things were more civilised in B & C grade as they rolled through the opening laps, with a solid pace being set in both groups as riders worked hard and rolled turns to great effect, and junior rider Bernie May did a great job again rolling a few laps with C grade – well done Bernie!

As the clock ticked down on C grade and the bell rang out for the final the group had thinned to a strong core of 5 riders were still pushing the pace. And in the final sprint it was Emily Meehan who took the win by a bike length from Isabella Hosking, with Wilf rolling in behind for 3rd.

B grade also saw a close finish as the group remained intact until the last lap, and in another close sprint it was Toby Inlgies who took out the win, with Clint Bourke in 2nd, and Archie Chick in 3rd.

Meanwhile in A grade Mick Harris had kept the hammer down, and by the end of 40mins had put lapped everyone in the bunch to already have the win in the bag, and after taking a quick breather with the leading group, he turned the heat up again on the bell lap to surge clear and take a clear win for the sprint aswell, with Ollie Marshall coming in second just ahead of a strong return to racing for Dave Munday to round out the podium.

Well done to all riders for some strong racing, and thanks to Col for helping run the race.

Don’t forget we have a presentation tomorrow 6pm Tue 25th February at Armidale Services Club from Cycling NSW, and we’re back at the TEC for crit racing next Saturday.