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Multiplex Criterium Series #3
Perth, Western Australia, November 29, 2005
Meyer time
By Lord Byron Davy
Last night was the third instalment of the Tuesday twilight crits out at the AHG driving centre and again there was a strong turnout for both grades.
It was a bit chillier than the past two weeks though our old mate, the screaming westerly, was again there to remind us that this course is not a cakewalk. There was a great turnout for A Grade.
Apart from the absence of the Parker and Goldy Holden boys, all the big guns were there; Dawson, the Meyer tag team, Brad Hall, Jonesy and Riggy. It was a steady pace at the start.
The past two weeks a break has gone within 10-15 minutes and it felt like everyone
was waiting to see who would make the first move. A few attacks went off the
front but nothing was sticking with only 1-2 people into the headwind on the
back part of the course. About10 minutes in the first serious breakaway occurred,
with about 7-8 riders. It stayed away for about 3-4 laps until the group got
angry and decided that it was time to come back (Ok, Peter Dawson did most of
the work...). It was in this break that Jayden decided
to run into the back of someone elses wheel and make a right old mess of his
frontwheel, shearing two spokes in half! Well done to keep it up Jaydo!
Once it all came back together the tentative feeling reappeared. A few winsome attacks occured, just testing the group, and then around the 20 minute mark it picked up and the group was blown apart. It was about this time that your scribewas dropped and had a great view of the rest of the race!
A strong group took to the front. The tagteam of the Meyer brothers, Riggy,
Hall, Dawson and David James, who has had some good form the past month. Behind
them it was carnage. small groups of 3-4 all over the place. The strong westerly
was taking its toll. As Daniel Vogels said wearily after the race "There is
nowhere to hide on this course". After about 35 minutes it was obvious that
this front group
was not going to get caught. Around the 40 minute mark the Meyer tagteam went
into action and started lauching attacks. A small group of Riggy and the Tagteam
went off the front with Dawson, Hall and James chasing. It was now that the
tagteamstarted turning the vice, repeatedly attacking riggy and making him work
very hard for his dinner.
Meanwhile, Dawson was turning himself inside out to bring it back and with about 5 to go it was back together. It was now that Cameron showed his class and lauchedoff the front, quickly gaining a sizable gap. With a lap to go he had an insurmountable lead with the 5 behind playing cat and mouse. on the last lap, Cammy passed Wayde Kaiser who said that he wasn't even breathing hard. I can vouch that on the finshing line he looked fresh enough to do repeats up welshpool.
The fight for second came down to a group sprint. James went early and then Riggy came off his wheel. He almost held off the chasers but was pipped on the line by Dawson and Hall.
Based on the carnage of dropped and spent riders littering the course during and after the race, it was a honest night of racing and this course is quickly getting a reputation as a great place to test your racing form.
Hope to see you all next week!
Results
A Grade 1 Cameron Meyer (WAIS/MidlandCC) 2 Peter Dawson (Peel) 3 Brad Hall (Riders Choice) 4 Jason Rigg (Northern Dist) B Grade 1 Kim Ford (Melville/Freo) 2 Scott Ayles 3 Simon Mattiaccio (Melv/Freo) 4 Mark Sullivan
