Bootenal Five Stage Tour

Bootenal 5 Stage Tour

A very blustery morning saw 10 riders front up for 5 challenging stages around the Edward Rd and Georgina Rd circuit.  Two new riders, Andrew and David were welcomed.

In stage 1 Paul Matthews blitzed the field with a fast 5.44 mins with Paul Dodson 6 seconds behind, followed by Paul Baldock, new riders Andrew O….. and David …….  Julie Firth rode a rapid 6:48 leg.

Stage 2 was into a stiff easterly breeze for the first half and wind assisted on the return leg.  The mass start kept the group together into the wind until the turn around point when a break away group took the lead and spread the group out to the finish line.  Paul Matthews lead in Paul Dodson, Jon Tamm, Paul Baldock and Eddie Mueller.  Julie Firth was just behind Eddie finishing the leg in 13:36mins.

Stage 3 was a very quick wind assisted sprint for King/Queen of the Mountain.  The first four over the line were only 21 seconds apart.  Paul Matthews was first in 6:36mins, Paul Baldock, Reg Salmon, Eddie Mueler, Julie Firth and Paul Dodson were in the lead group.  The next set of riders of Jon,  Andrew, David, and Duane were spread out.

After a short recovery the steep hill into the wind was attacked for stage 4.  The group stayed together for  most of the hill until Paul M and Paul D broke away.  A game of “cat and mouse” emerged as all the riders tried to draught and conserve their energy into the wind.  The sprint finish was strongly contested.  41 seconds separated Paul M, Paul D, Eddie, Reg, Julie and Andrew.  The hill challenged Paul B, Jon, David and Duane.

Stage 5 was wind assisted with Paul D, Paul B, Jon, Eddie, Paul M, Reg, Julie, Andrew, Duane and David crossing the line in quick succession.

The complex scoring system brings out three categories of winners: fastest time with time bonuses allocated, top points and King of the Mountain.  Julie Firth won uncontested in the women’s section for all three categories and came fourth fastest overall with the men.  Paul Matthews was fastest man winning 4 stages.  Paul D, Eddie, Reg and Andrew took up the 5 top places.  Only 10 minutes separated the whole field.

On points Julie won with 25 points, Paul M, Paul D, Paul B, Eddie and Jon took up the 5 top places.

25 King of the Mountain points were shared by Julie and Paul M followed by Reg, Paul B, Eddie, Andrew and Paul D.

Well done to all riders in very difficult conditions.

Results from today's event are posted below.

Results - Bootenal 5 Stage Tour

Jandanol - 25km Individual Road Race

Jandanol offers a little something for everyone……….

The warm easterly breeze has been with us for some time now and it didn't disappoint  the seventeen cyclists who lined up to start the 5 laps of the Jandanol circuit on Sunday 27th March 2011.

Event Coordinator Bec Swan announced a silent handicap to all present and so a group start of both A and B Grade riders commenced at 8am sharp.  The circuit is a fantastic course of tight corners, fast descent and uphill climb and not surprisingly it was the climb that sorted placings out as the race progressed.  After the first lap Paul Hearne and Paul Matthews looked comfortable in front with Jarrod Bell having worked really hard to stay in touch with the lead pair.  They were followed by Julie Firth and Tim Glenister who supported each other throughout the race to keep the speed constant.

Duane Crabb and Darryl Sheilds cleared the hill shortly after with Paul O'Mara following.  Reggie Richardson remembered lessons from her last ride on this circuit to follow soon after and combined well with Patrick Bettridge throughout the event. New cyclist to Spokes, Matt Matiera rode his first event with the Club and bravely chose Jandanol for his maiden voyage.  Matt has obviously been completing some secret training and this combined with advice from Club stalwart Barb Glenister saw him gain momentum throughout the event and retain his position.

Peter Burchell supported Shannon Mitchell for the ride whilst Catherine Brosnan had Kylee and Mitchell Crabb chomping at her back wheel.  Shannon Mitchell and Catherine Brosnan have really improved since their first ride at Jandanol with Brosnan knocking over 2 minutes off her last ride time and Mitchell taking a massive 7 minutes off her time! 

Placings remained fairly steady across the 24km circuit with the exception of Darryl Sheilds who used his experience to reign in Duane Crabbe - Sheilds average lap times showed he is constant for the full distance.  Kylee Crabb encouraged son Mitchell throughout the event and Mitchell completed the full five laps of this demanding course.  Mitchell is riding very well for his age and will be a force to be reckoned with in future years.

Hearne and Matthews dropped Bell on the second lap and powered around the circuit, averaging 35.4km/hr for the event which is impressive given the rougher road surface and climb. The pair had a sprint finish with Hearne taking line honours just half a bike length ahead of Matthews. Jarrod Bell's commitment to training paid off with him finishing third across the line at an average speed of 33.5km/hr.  Bell was followed in by Firth and Glenister, and Sheilds and Crabbe.

In the B Grade results, Reggie Richardson powered to the line in a time of 52:51 which is also a fantastic improvement on her last ride.   Richardson had pushed Bettridge throughout the ride and was able to maintain pace to the line.  Third across the line for B Grade was Matt Matiera - congratulations Matt on a great ride and welcome to Spokes! Soon after Barb Glenister crossed the line with Shannon Mitchell, Peter Burchell and Catherine Brosnan jut behind.  Kylee Crabb paced son Mitchell to the line with the two dead heating at the finish.

The application of silent handicap provided an interesting slant to the results - handicap was applied by the timekeeper at the half way point of the event with time gaps between riders at this time then taken off at the end of the event.   A Grade remained fairly static on handicap however B Grade saw a shake up with Catherine Brosnan first on handicap and Mitchell and Kylee Crabb equal second!

A full list of results is available below and the Picasa photo stream on the right has been updated with pictures taken by Vicky.

Special thanks to all who assisted on the day, especially Vicky Sheilds for marshalling and taking photos and Terry Wellman for marshalling.

Spokes next event is the Bootenal 5-Stage Tour on Sunday 10th April 2011.