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Murwillumbah CC John’s Cyclesport Cup #2

August 31, 2002

By Phil Ruge

The second and final round of the John’s Cyclesport Cup was held on Saturday 31 August 2002 by the Murwillumbah Cycle Club.

These races were designed to give riders the opportunity to compete over longer distances than the usual club races. The distance for A and B Grades was 80 kilometres with C and D Grades covering 70 kilometres and E Grade 60 kilometres. Whilst there were results for each race a points system was also used to determine overall placings for the 2 race series.

Warm temperatures and a gusty northerly wind combined to make conditions demanding for racing. The course for A and B Grades took them across to Tumbulgum before coming back and out to Chillingham and then to Bald Mountain and Numinbah before tackling Nobbys Creek on the way home. This course has plenty of hills!

The riders in A Grade set out a sensible pace into the wind towards Tumbulgum. Things soon picked up though when Rob Lyte broke away before the first turn and used the favourable tail wind to his advantage on the run back towards Chillingham. The remaining riders gave chase but despite their efforts Lyte’s lead continued to grow once into the hills. By Numinbah his lead was over 2 minutes on the chasing bunch and he was never threatened on the way to the finish for a well deserved first place. Second home and leading the sprint finish was Chris Selden with Ashley Bryant third, Brendan Egan fourth and Brad Connor in fifth spot.

B Grade set about their race at a sensible pace as well given the afternoon’s conditions but unlike A Grade kept things together. Whilst there were a number of attacks none were serious and the bunch regrouped each time. Despite this some riders began to feel pressure once into Nobbys Creek after several hours of racing and drifted off the bunch. The remaining riders shared the work to the finish where Ben Mockridge showed that he had the freshest legs to take the win with Paul Howard second, Luke Anderson third, Gary Parkin fourth and Jeff Collier fifth.

Both C and D Grades followed the same course but missed out on Nobbys Creek to give them 70 kilometres and several less hills to cover. C Grade had a smaller field of riders and got down to racing pretty quickly. This group was together for just 15 kilometres when Sandra Bury and John Anderson used the strong tailwind at this point to launch themselves off the front of the bunch. They worked well together and with the remaining riders reluctant to organise a chase began to build up a good lead.

This continued through the hills and by Numinbah Anderson and Bury had over 4 minutes on the bunch. They continued to swap turn for turn over the remaining 20 kilometres and by the finish had a lead of 5 minutes! First home was Anderson followed by Bury with Stan Brims taking out the bunch sprint for third ahead of Walter Perron with Lindsay Crisp in fifth place.

D Grade had 13 riders in their bunch. They worked well together through the first part of the race with most riders sharing in the work. Once into the hills the constant pace coupled with the heat and distance began to take their toll with several riders being dropped from the group. Tom Allen was unlucky to have a flat tyre soon after and he was also out of the race.

The remaining riders kept the pace up with Stuart McPherson and Dennis Brown doing much of the work on the way back. McPherson rode away after Boat Harbour but was brought back into the fold several kilometres later. The strong headwind made for slow going over the final kilometres but once near the finish several riders jumped away for a fast sprint finish. First across the line was Ken Smith after a great tactical ride closely followed by Frank Schirmer with Dennis Brown third, Stuart McPherson fourth and Phil Ruge in fifth spot.

E Grade faced a tough 60 kilometres to Tumbulgum before coming back to Chillingham and Bald Mountain and then home to Dulguigan. The difficult conditions kept the bunch together with a number of riders including Eric Hall, Dave Burns, Melanie King and Alan Hunt working well together. Young Lee Hall launched the only serious attack of the day but was soon brought back by the more experienced riders. At the finish Eric Hall again showed his racing abilities to take first place closely followed by the consistent Melanie King with Stan James third, Kevin LeRoy fourth and Alan Hunt in fifth place.

These results were combined with those from the previous race held on 29 June 2002 to give the overall placings for the series. The points system used gives 6 points for a start with 5 points for first place down to 1 point for fifth place. This is designed to encourage consistent participation by riders but obviously picking up a place helps to boost the score along!

Results

A Grade 80 kilometres
 
1 Rob Lyte (Murwillumbah)                     2:13 (36 km/hr)
2 Chris Selden (GoldStars)
3 Ashley Bryant (Murwillumbah)
4 Brendan Egan (Murwillumbah)
5 Brad Connor (Gold Coast)
 
B Grade 80 kilometres
 
1 Ben Mockridge (Gold Coast)                  2:22 (33.8 km/hr)
2 Paul Howard (Murwillumbah)
3 Luke Anderson (Gold Coast)
4 Gary Parkin (GoldStars)
5 Jeff Collier (Murwillumbah)
 
C Grade 70 kilometres
 
1 John Anderson (Murwillumbah)                2:00 (35 km/hr)
2 Sandra Bury (Murwillumbah)
3 Stan Brims (CATS)
4 Walter Perron (Gold Coast)
5 Lindsay Crisp (Murwillumbah)
 
D Grade 70 kilometres
 
1 Ken Smith (Gold Coast)                      2:07 (33.1 km/hr)
2 Frank Schirmer (Murwillumbah)
3 Dennis Brown (Murwillumbah)
4 Stuart McPherson (Murwillumbah)
5 Phil Ruge (Murwillumbah)
 
E Grade 60 kilometres
 
1 Eric Hall (GoldStars)                       1:56 (31 km/hr)
2 Melanie King (Murwillumbah)
3 Stan James (CATS)
4 Kevin LeRoy (Murwillumbah)
5 Alan Hunt (CATS)

Overall - John's Cyclesport Cup

A Grade
 
1 Ashley Bryant (Murwillumbah)                20 pts
2 Rob Lyte (Murwillumbah)                     11
3 Jon Guy (Lifecycle)                         10
3 Chris Selden (GoldStars)                    10
5 Jon Evangelista (GoldStars)                  9
 
B Grade
 
1 Paul Howard (Murwillumbah)                  21 pts
2 Gary Parkin (GoldStars)                     16
2 Graeme Harvey (Murwillumbah)                16
4 Jeff Collier (Murwillumbah)                 13
5 Ben Mockridge (Gold Coast)                  11
 
C Grade
 
1 John Anderson (Murwillumbah)                19 pts
2 Stan Brims (CATS)                           18
3 Sandra Bury (Murwillumbah)                  16
3 Wilf Hubac (CATS)                           16
5 Lindsay Crisp (Murwillumbah)                13
 
D Grade
 
1 Phil Ruge (Murwillumbah)                    15 pts
2 Dennis Burger (Murwillumbah)                12
2 Jim Higgins (Murwillumbah)                  12
2 Tom Allen (Murwillumbah)                    12
2 Gary Wardrop (GoldStars)                    12
 
E Grade
 
1 Eric Hall (GoldStars)                       22 pts
2 Melanie King (Murwillumbah)                 20
3 Stan James (CATS)                           15
4 Kevin LeRoy (Murwillumbah)                  14
5 Dave Burns (Murwillumbah)                   13
 
Racing next week is the monthly handicap on the ‘out and back’ Tyalgum 
course. Start time is 2.00 pm from Pat Smith Park, Dulguigan and riders 
should be early to assist the handicapper.