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Mildura-Coomealla CC
February 1, 2004
By Peter Winton
On one of the best Sunday mornings that only Sunraysia can produce, 22 riders got together for a Club race at Mildura's "Dolfen Drive" circuit.
21 locals and one visitor from the Riverland of South Australia, according to the official start sheet as Angus. Hmmm? Can he/does he play a Gibson SG guitar? Does he have a penchant for nomenclature about electrical currents? We'll never know. He came, he raced and he's gone. Well he didn't win. That honour went to our very own "George Dubya" Mark Busch.
Handicapper, Barry Pollock, did a marvellous (as in Richie Benaud speak) job this morning with the handicapping. What a difference it made when the front 3 groups were always in sight of each other and then to have the chasing bunches behind them less than half a lap away. Scratch managed to only grab the leading riders within the final lap on this triangular shaped network of roads.
No punctures today for anyone although there were 3 "DNF's" recorded. Good racing witnessed by the dedicated small band of helpers, officials and onlookers. President Mulhearn included in the aforementioned collective. Peter Mills also spotted lurking amongst the spectators.
A "kick-up" the order today for Scott Giles into chopping block didn't hurt him as he managed to keep it together to finish 6th. Dion Bassi-Anstee was one that copped a bit of a caning in his first race for a while. Starting in the Giles bunch he suffered and finished back in 14th place. Ian Beruldsen also struggled with the tempo after capture by the scratchmen. The "A team" of McNally, Tankard, Busch and Summerhayes saw to it that the winning groups average time was in the "o-zone" of 42km/hr. No thanks. I can't do that. I might have a pair of Zipp wheels but it's still the same tired engine driving them.
Peter Doody enjoyed his hit-out on his brand new Teschner, with Euros wheelset. Perfectly balanced, he was a tad hot into a corner or two this morning and his front tyre rubbing shoulders with the rear of Mr Liddle's. No falls were observed (only rises in heart rates!).
The Priest combo of Dave and Sam did Werrimul proud this morning by hanging on when the Tolkien like "wring-wraiths" swooped on their prey, well done. I wonder how many other country cyclists travel 150kms (round trip) on a Sunday morning just to get a 40 odd minute race into their legs? Ohh, that's right, cheap petrol out there! Or perhaps the smell of wheat (or red dust).
Steve Fenwick is another who found himself up a level or two today and didn't let the handicapper down. All concerned had a lovely day, thank you for asking, and we'll do it all over again this coming Tuesday at the same location with party games scheduled to start at 6pm.
Enquiries about Mildura cycling may be extracted by telephoning Kristen on 0350221700 (Bikes & Trikes, Mildura) or e-mail peter.winton@dipnr.nsw.gov.au
Results, Handicap Criterium, 40 min + 2 laps
1 M Busch 2 K Tankard 3 N Summerhayes 4 R McNally 5 S Fenwick 6 S Giles 7 B Liddle 8 Angus (no, not Young) 9 B Pollock 10 P Doody 11 A Lloyd 12 D Priest 13 R Hale 14 D Bassi-Anstee 15 S Priest 16 P Winton 17 M Shipsides 18 R Akkermans 19 I Beruldsen DNF K Cerini DNF G Scott DNF A Wightwick
