14 riders racing on 13 bikes? Everything’s possible
On a windy Saturday afternoon, and with a turn-out impacted by the decision of half of A-Grade to take the 3 Peaks Challenge in Victoria, it was left to the Go markers of Dave Jenner and Karlee McMillan to show the field a clean pair of heels and ride the entire 30 km Dangarsleigh Road course unchallenged to claim a well-deserved 1-2 finish. Excellent effort guys – but, next time Karlee, don’t hesitate to go ‘round him at the end!
Not far behind our winners (evidence of another excellent effort by our expert handicapper) was the very fast moving trio of Ice-Cold Billy Mara, Luke ‘San Remo’ Milan and Dene ‘Rowdy’ Bourke. These three, starting at 9 mins, reeled in the 4 min and 7 min bunches without much fuss but managed to lose Brendon Cole (who switched race format and enjoyed a good time-trial) only to replace him with Chris Stace (who managed to succeed where Jo Waugh couldn’t … in boarding the train and not alighting untilafter the finish). The sprint for third place was sensibly aborted as a driver – who had chosen to overtake this group at the top of the rise – misjudged their vicious sprinting prowess and didn’t realise that slowing early for the 50km/h town speed limit ran the risk of Ice Cold and San Remo ending up in his front seat. Luckily ACC riders are stellar citizens and, after some words best left to the wind, calm was restored.
Mike Hoult was next across the line (looking race fit and taking fastest time) having collected Col Maciver – who had given himself ninety seconds to get that diesel engine purring before he was asked to Beone with the red machine – near the turn-around. The two of them worked hard to catch the 9 minute group but two against four (or three) was always going to be hard work and by the time Richard Wilkinson joined them in the rush down to the line, the first seven places had already been filled.
The highlight of the day was the finish of the first race outing for Phil Thomas (pilot) and Andrew Devenish-Meares (engine) who averaged a sensational 33.64km/h on their tandem. The rises and climbs on the Dangarsleigh course would have seen some interesting out-of-the-saddle action (how was the coordination gents?) and some hellishly fast descents into Powers Creek – please tell us the full story by ‘commenting’ below!
Honourable mentions to Wilf Keller who appeared to run out of steam as he neared the finish line (perhaps a strategic concession, for it is never good to suck the wheel of the handicapper) and again to Brendon who, despite his solo effort in menacing wind, was fast enough to post the median time.
Disclaimer: the author spent the entire race at the start-finish line and certain aspects of this account may be works of fiction. In such instances, any resemblance to actual events is entirely coincidental.
Technical notes: (i) if you need help with the split timer-printer-thingy, Deb McMillan is your woman. (ii) when putting out the ‘Caution: Bicycle Race in Progress’ beyond the 15km mark on Dangarsleigh, proceed down to Cressbrook South to turn around (rather than pull a u-turn at the top of the rise). (iii) give yourself at least 90 mins pre-race if you’re setting up for the first time and want to arrive at the start stress free. (iv) careful, the trailer rolls out of the container with some force, particularly if you haven’t made use of the bespoke ramp (v).
See you all at the crit next week. Go Armidale!
Note from ACC: Thanks to Phil Hess for this great write up as well as doing all the signs, timing and results. You need to do this more often Phil!
Note: RROTY League updates will follow in a day or two once we’re back from 3 Peaks and have access to the master list…
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