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Orange CTC/Bathurst CC/Lidcombe-Auburn CC
City vs Country Handicap - Blayney, NSW, April 8, 2006
By Steve Isaksen
In NSW, the annual City vs Country Rugby League clash is a long standing tradition and eagerly awaited each year. Well, now cycling has its own version. Bathurst CC's dynamo Mark Windsor planted the seed several months ago to replace the previous annual club combine Orange to Bathurst Handicap. Orange CTC, led by Mark & Julie Chapman put their hands up as promoters and the venue was the nearby town of Blayney Country was represented by the CentralWest clubs of Bathurst and Orange. City was represented by Sydney's Inner West and Greater West club of Lidcombe-Auburn.
Rugby League uses the jargon of "Mate vs Mate, State vs State", so along those lines we jingoed this race to be "Mate vs Mate, Gate vs Latte" (Sydney's Inner West prides itself on its abundance of cafes and coffee). So the stage was set for the historic, inaugural City vs Country Cycle Race. Blayney has a reputation for being a cold, windy place and it didn't disappont - it was cold and windy and blazing sunshine all over, a brisk westerly keeping temperatures down around the 13 - 14 degree mark, and with the out and back course to Trunkey, the cross winds were sure to have a huge impact on the race and final result.
The race format was a 70km graded handicap, 5 grades, with limit, "E" grade receiving 34minutes from the A grade scratch bunch. Headlining the 15 strong Scratch bunch was recent Drapac-Porsche Team signing and local Bathurst hard man Dean Windsor, Australian Rep Mitch Chapman (Orange CTC), LACC's Alex Arias and ex-LACC rider David Whyman (Trek-Clarence St Cyclery) were the best credentialed city riders. The hilly course, dead roads and strong cross winds all added up to a very tough cycle race. Even in the first 15km the E grade race leaders (34min) were down to just three - all LACC riders; Steve Shelley, Sharon Hughes and junior Phillip Arias, and these three were to play a major role in the final stages. Looking good on the start line was the 28min group of D grade, with experienced local Geoff Ryan expecting to marshal the troops in a team time trial to the finish. The D grade challenge ended prematurely after about 10km with a fall causing a splintering of the bunch into several groups of twos and threes and unable to get back together.
On the hard 35km journey to the Trunkey turnaround, all groups suffered from attrition with only the strongest surviving. The scratch bunch had split into 2 groups with Windsor, A.Arias, Chapman and Whyman forcing the pace and causing the damage. The B (10m) and C (22m30s) bunches had got together to form a "super group" with their main drivers being Michael Buttsworth (BCC), Kev Berkely, Steve Moon, Tony Hogan (all BCC) and Gil Carver (LACC). Also in this group were leading Women riders Jodie Martin (BCC) and Kate Charge (LACC) still with form in the legs from the Geelong World Cup round - looking at the race from the side of the road, this group were starting to emerge as real contenders and were setting themselves to hunt the race leaders down
Time checks from out on the course were few, but at the half distance mark the 3 E grade limit riders had a time gap of 15minutes over the supergroup - actually not so super now as they had been whittled down to only 14 riders, there being many victims of the race spread back along the road - will they be caught? Just as we were re jigging the betting market on the race, the Scratch bunch came charging down the hill to the U turn in Trunkey, led, predictably enough, by Dean Windsor. A quick check of the clock showed they were only 1 minute behind the ex supergroup and had them well and truly in sight as they turned up the hill for the long grind out of town. The racescape was about to change dramatically. Within a kilometre, Windsor, Chapman, Arias, Whyman and co had cut a swathe through the field - anyone with any strength left scrambled for wheels in an attempt to cling to the scratchies as they powered along.
Once to the front of this main group, Windsor and Chapman drove hard, forcing at first a small gap over the rest, with only Arias and Whyman able to pull themselves clear. A 3rd group also emerged from this mad struggle - this contained local hardmen Charlie Gascoyne, Mal Haig (Orange) Tim Guy, Blair Windsor (Bathurst) and Nelson Santos (Classic Tiles-LACC) but all they could do was ride hard, as the gap to the other four was increasing already. A classic chase began over the picturesque, but bone dry hills and plateaux of the Central Tablelands. Firstly it was the battle of the scratchies - two country boys giving it everything to keep away from the two city riders. The gap was 10 seconds. Over the next 15km Windsor and Chapman inched ahead; by 20sec then 30sec. Another crucial point was at Hobby's Yards, with a left turn directly into a 30km/hr block headwind. Arias and Whyman still had plenty of chasing energy and were not giving up, but as the gap went to 45seconds then a minute, it was now apparent that despite some terrific rides from these four, the two local boys would stay away.
We hadn't forgotten the three lead riders from the E grade limit bunch of Shelley, Hughes and Phil Arias either. A time check at Hobby's Yards with about 15km to go revealed a gap of eight minutes, and this group, although obviously slower E graders, they were sharing their turns smoothly! Both groups of scratchies continued to chase hard up and down the relentless hills and exposed landscape. Cresting one of these hills, in the distance the flashing orange light of the lead car could be seen, the time gap now about 4 minutes. In the lead group, Phillip Arias' young legs had got the better of his co markers and he was soloing towards the finish. Over the final crest (4km to go), Windsor and Chapman finally caught Hughes and Shelley and set sail for the downhill, but cross windy run to the finish. It was all in doubt until just before the bridge, only 1.5km from the line when the two scratch riders finally caught Phil Arias and swept past, crossing the line almost together, with Windsor just in front. Arias held on for 3rd with Shelley and Hughes 4th and 5th, only a minute behind the winners. The city scratchies Alex Arias and Whyman came in just 50 seconds later for 6th and 7th. The largest finishing bunch of seven riders came in 5 minutes behind the winners, led by Charlie Gascoyne (Orange) Mal Haig (Orange) and Blair (Ted) Windsor (Bathurst) rounding out the top 10.
Sharon Hughes was first of the women to finish from Kate Charge and LACC's social secretary Katrina Haddrill. A really classic road handicap and a fitting start to what will be an annual city versus country event. Despite their best finish of 3rd place, it was city winning the trophy with 30 points, just in front of country on 25 points.
Results
1 Dean Windsor (Drapac-Porsche/Bathurst CC) 2 Mitch Chapman (Orange CTC) 3 Phillip Arias (Lidcombe-Auburn CC) 4 Steve Shelley (Lidcombe-Auburn CC) 5 Sharon Hughes (Lidcombe-Auburn CC) 6 Alex Arias (Lidcombe-Auburn CC) 7 David Whyman (Trek-Clarence St) 8 Charlie Gascoyne (Orange CTC) 9 Mal Haig (Orange CTC) 10 Blair Windsor (Bathurst CC) Women 1 Sharon Hughes (Lidcombe-Auburn CC) 2 Kate Charge (Lidcombe-Auburn CC) 3 Katrina Haddrill (Lidcombe-Auburn CC)
