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By Malcolm Sawford
Rain threatened throughout the morning, but thankfully never got any worse than a few light drops. Humidity was off the chart however, with many riders arriving at the circuit looking like they'd just finished racing!
The Club's in form rider, Hilton Clarke (SBR), had suffered minor facial and hand injuries after an altercation with a car during the week, and observers noticed he had been much less active than usual on the Saturday morning epic 'Hell Ride'. Would today be the chance for a new set of legs to climb to the top of the podium?
The pressure was on as usual from the start, with Lee Godfrey (VIS) the first to test his legs off the front of the hard chasing bunch. Warren Knevitt was also keen to show off the new O'Mara Cycles strip and his new bike, making a brief effort off the front early on.
The first attack to really threaten saw Australian Under 19 World Road Championships team member Jonny Clarke (ProMotion Cycles/VIS) joined by Brendan Rowbotham (Fitzroy Cycles) and Simon Walker. The trio left the peloton at the 24 minute mark, and was not recaptured until a little over the half way point. An attack over the top of the regrouping by Godfrey, new Navigators signing Tom Leaper (ProMotion Cycles), Hayden Mead and Thaddeus Roos (Bicycle Superstore) stayed away for around 10 minutes, before the bunch came together for good.
Things got a little hectic in the closing minutes, as the B Grade bunch reverted to its bad habits and refused to let the A Grade boys go clear, and for a number of laps the 2 bunches see-sawed past each other, before A Grade was given 3 to go and accelerated away. At the finish, Hilton Clarke, who had kept out of trouble the entire race, was too fast and took yet another win, ahead of new father Thaddeus Roos, Shaun Boschert and Lee Godfrey.
B Grade raced at a furious pace for almost the entire hour today, making life tough on the unfortunates who started at the rear of the big field. The lack of wind contributed to speeds over 50km/h down both straights, lap after lap. At such high speeds, few had the legs to attempt an attack, and those who did were soon swept up.
Finally, with around 15 minutes to race, a couple went clear, and was soon joined by two more, with Chris Boon, Garron Buckland, Simon Clarke and Simon Hurren combining well. At that point the A Grade field caught the bunch, and for a while it seemed that the drop in speed letting the Elite go past would allow the break to succeed. It was not to be however, and a few laps later things were back together.
Once the A Grade bunch was off the circuit, it looked like things were set for a bunch finish, but Mick Jamieson had other ideas. After having done a lot of the work to bring the break back, and despite having done more than his fair share of the early pace making, he attacked with Fast Eddy Perez and the pair managed to hold off the fast charging bunch, with Fast Eddy having to settle for second for the second time in a week. Simon Hurren took third with a late move, inches ahead of wily Chris Boone who lead home the pack.
C Grade once again came down to a bunch sprint, in another race ridden at a good speed throughout. Masters rider Marcel Musco was too good in the finish, from Steve Di Tullio and David Wilkinson. Judges could not pick out the 4th place rider in a tight finish, and no one came forward to claim!
Russell Collins took his first win in the D Grade event with a good sprint ahead of youngsters Lachlan Hay and Ryan Murphy. New comer Steve Martin snuck in for 4th place with a good ride. Race officials neutralized the first 20 minutes of the D Grade race today as part of the Club's continuing rider education program, and with the extra attention to safe cornering techniques and pace line riding, the bunch completed the race without any incidents.
Narelle Peterson (Giramondo) took the honors in today's Women's racing, with a good display of strength. She contributed to the pace making in B Grade all day, and was good enough to hold her position in the wind up to the sprint, to finish ahead of Rebecca Cleveland (Fitzroy Cycles), Rebecca McConnell and 'trackie' Louisa Hamilton-White. Natalie Saunders made a successful racing comeback, narrowly missing an outright place in the D Grade finish to take Women's line honors on the day.
A Grade (1 hour + 3 laps) 28 starters 1 Hilton Clarke (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Thaddeus Roos (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Shaun Boschert (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Lee Godfrey (Geelong West CC) B Grade (1 hour + 3 laps) 45 Starters 1 Mick Jamieson (Blackburn CC) 2 Eddy Perez (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Simon Hurren (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Chris Boone (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) Women 1 Narelle Peterson (Coburg CC) 2 Rebecca Cleveland (Brunswick CC) C Grade (45 mins + 3 laps) 23 starters 1 Marcel Musco (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Steve Di Tullio (Northcote CC) 3 David Wilkinson (Darwin CC) 4 unclaimed! D Grade (40 mins + 3 laps) 19 starters 1 Russell Collins (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 2 Lachlan Hay (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 3 Ryan Murphy (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) 4 Steve Martin (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC) Women 1 Natalie Saunders (Balance Carnegie Caulfield CC)