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Results and Reports for June 22-29, 2002

Australia

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Murwillumbah Cycle Club

Murwillumbah, June 22, 2002

Bald Mountain takes its toll

Report and results courtesy Patricia Ruge

A bright and sunny afternoon was on hand for the 60 riders who turned out to compete in scratch road races held by the Murwillumbah Cycling Club on Saturday 22 June 2002.

This week's course was Bald Mountain which covers a distance of some 56 kilometres and takes riders to Bald Mountain and then across to Numinbah before returning to finish at Dulguigan. Narrow roads with plenty of short but reasonably steep climbs make for some challenging racing where success depends as much on tactics as it does on strength and speed.

E Grade were first to start this week. This group of 9 riders faced a shorter distance of 45 kilometres to Bald Mountain and back. Some determined riding kept this group together for the first part of the race but they split up on the climbs up to Bald Mountain. This left just 4 riders in contention who worked together on the return leg of the race to set up a sprint finish. First in this race was Stan James with Ken Smith second and Melanie King third after a great ride.

D Grade were the next bunch away with the 12 riders in this race wasting little time in getting down to business. The quick pace began to take its toll once into the serious hills with riders being gradually dropped as the race wound its way from Bald Mountain across to Numinbah and back towards Chillingham. With all of the remaining riders willing to work the pace was kept high on the homeward run. This left a group of 8 riders to fight out the finish where Tom Allen used his sprinting abilities to great effect to take first place just ahead of Fred Mason second, Rolli Tombilis third and Bill Mustard fourth. Ros Powley was the first female rider in sixth place.

A large group of 25 riders started in C Grade. This bunch kept pretty much together despite a fast pace and the flurry of attacks which began as soon as the road went upwards. Whilst some riders managed to get away none of these attacks were successful apart from dropping a couple of riders. The bunch settled somewhat on the homeward run until several riders tried to avoid a sprint finish by launching further attacks over the last few kilometres but to no avail as the bunch was not letting anyone go at this stage of the race. A chaotic bunch sprint followed which saw every inch of the road used up as riders tried desperately to get a clear run at the finish line. Stan Brims used all of his considerable experience to thread through this mayhem to take first place with Shane Conlon, Sara Rota, Tim Beck and Jerome Carrigan hot on his heels to take out the subsequent placings from second to fifth spot.

A and B Grades combined this week for their race. The 14 riders enjoyed the great afternoon for the first part of the race but decided to get serious once into the hills. There was one attack after another as riders tried to break free of the bunch but determined riding saw each one brought back again. Jeff Collier was finally able to get clear after Chillingham on the way back and he was joined by Ian Russell a short time later at Boat Harbour. Although these two riders only had a lead of several hundred metres the chasing bunch never really got organised enough to bring them back. Jeff and Ian worked well together to maintain their lead over the last part of the race to take first places respectively in each of their grades. The subsequent sprint saw Chris Selden take second place for A Grade with Paul Martin, Phil Knowles and Graeme Harvey finish in that order to take out the minor placings in B Grade.

Racing next week is the first of the Johns Cyclesport Cup scratch races for this year. The entry fee is $10 per race with entries taken on the day. Start time will be at 2.00 pm from Pat Smith Park, Dulguigan. Further details are available on (02) 6672 3487 or 0412 823 103.

Results

A Grade, 56km
 
1 Ian Russell (CATS)              1.29 (37.75 km/h)
2 Chris Selden (Gold Coast)
 
B Grade, 56km
 
1 Jeff Collier (Murwilumbah)      1.29 (37.75 km/h)
2 Paul Martin (Gold Coast)
3 Phil Knowles (Gold Coast)
4 Graeme Harvey (Murwillumbah)
 
C Grade, 56km
 
1 Stan Brims (CATS)               1.33 (36 km/h)
2 Shane Conlon (GoldStars)
3 Sara Rota (CATS)
4 Tim Beck (Murwillumbah)
5 Jerome Carrigan (CATS)
 
D Grade, 56km
 
1 Tom Allen (Murwillumbah)        1.39 (33.75 km/h)
2 Fred Mason (CATS)
3 Rolli Tombilis (Murwillumbah)
4 Bill Mustard (Murwillumbah)
6 Ros Powley (GoldStars)
 
E Grade, 45km
 
1 Stan James (CATS)               1.27 (31km/h)
2 Ken Smith (CATS)
3 Melanie King (Murwillumbah)