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West Coast Masters Cycling Club
Wandi, WA, August 14, 2005
To say the least, this was an interesting day and one of attrition that quietly reduced the fields in all divisions. However, it was more the result of the puncture bug than of surging and burning off the opposition, for out of 38 starters, almost half the field suffered that dreaded fate - some riders experiencing that sinking feeling more than once. The problem was the wet roads at the start of the race on the flint-afflicted roads, a deadly combination on the Wandi circuit as riders well know. The younger 35-47 year division of 11 riders saw five puncture victims and one with deflated legs, though the pace of the survivors was hot, with Matt Poyner winning the 'combatative' prize of the day, being away with George Miller for the first two laps and with Dom Bruehwiler for the last three of the seven circuits. With his sprinting power and experience it was almost a foregone conclusion that Matt would take the sprint, which he did in fine style, though Dom was delighted to finish second alongside such august company. The remaining trio of George Miller, Matt Tognini and Gary Wright were almost a minute behind, with George and Matt fighting the sprint as if it was for a 'Tour' stage win. The verdict went to George by a quarter of a wheel, while Gary was content to freewheel over the line for fifth place.
With only eight starters, the 48-57 year division saw serious depletion as four riders were eliminated with punctures. Among the ranks of the unfortunate were two brand new members, Chris Hunt and Carl Mathison, who hopefully didn't think this a norm for our activities. This left the action to Dave Townson, Bill Mentor, Gary Boterhoven and Steph Ratcliffe, though the latter was both unfortunate and fortunate - unfortunate when puncturing with three laps to go but fortunate in that sponsor and puncture victim Wayne Lally was close to the spot and handed Steph a wheel. In the three-up run to the line, young Townson had the audacity to pose for the camera as he crossed the line ahead of Bill Mentor and Gary Boterhoven who followed a few lengths behind, with Steph some 15 seconds to the rear after his hard chase.
The 58-67 year bunch had the largest field of the day and also had its share of victims, being six finishers out of 13 starters. Riding at a steady 15-15.5 minutes the survivors left the verdict to the finishing rise but no-one could come near the rejuvenated Colin Rossiter, fresh from his forays in Canada where he rode the World Masters Games and the World Firemans' Games with some success. Geoff 'Chopper' Marshall finished strongly for 2nd place just ahead of Bob Stephens and George Fyvie freshly returned to the racing ranks, while Paul Crespi scored an honourable fifth place in that bunch. Kevin Hart was the other survivor and he ploughed on alone to get into the prizemoney, a just reward for his resolute doggedness over the season.
The 'old fellas' (apologies to Sheona!) were down in numbers with only six starters, and were soon down to five as Jack Iveson suffered the fate of many others despite riding what he said were his tractor tyres. Riding at about a minute per lap slower than the 58-67 year division the group got to the finish together to treat the masses gathered at the line to some sharp sprinting. There was no surprise when Roy Swift kept up his recent good form when crossing half a bike length ahead of Larry Ross and Denis Robinson, with Derek Myall and Sheona also close in contention. Denis, along with Colin Rossiter had contended in the World Masters in Canada, and he also rode as one of two Australian riders in the ICF World Titles in Belgium - an experience that he described as 'interesting'.
As is usual in our racing programme, the race was conducted in glorious sunshine that soon dried out the roads. Thanks to the generosity of Wayne and Trelma Lally, 'Lakes Bikes', every finisher received a cash prize, and there would have been even more cash distributed if the puncture bug hadn't have struck.
Results
35-47yrs - 63km (7 laps) 1 Matt Poyner 2 Dom Bruehwiler 3 George Miller 4 Matt Tognini 5 Gary Wright 48-57yrs - 63km (7 laps) 1 Dave Townson 2 Bill Mentor 3 Gary Boterhoven 4 Steph Ratcliffe 58-67yrs - 54km (6 laps) 1 Colin Rossiter 2 Geoff Marshall 3 Bob Stephens 4 George Fyvie 5 Paul Crespi 6 Kevin Hart. 68yrs plus - 45km (5 laps) 1 Roy Swift 2 Larry Ross 3 Denis Robinson 4 Derek Myall 5 Sheona Clark
