Introduction To Wild West

Course gets the thumbs up…………….

The Spokes Cycle Club Introduction to Wild West on Sunday 28th August 2011 was ridden by five teams and one solo rider who just wanted to 'check out the course'.  The Club was thrilled to see a junior team compete and the combination of Lucas Meyer, Bryce Meyer, Cameron Draper, Jonty Calder and Jacob Lee set off at a rapid pace which they managed to retain for the whole 100km, despite their restrictive gears. This team finished in an impressive time of 3:36:20 averaging 27.7km/hr.

Club stalwarts Tim and Barb Glenister were joined by friends Paula Purcher and Reggie Richardson as the next team to depart with Tim looking quite pleased to be surrounded by ladies for his ride into the countryside.  Peter Johnson rode as a solo and set off some 6 minutes after the Junior men's team.  He cycled well to catch them and then rode with the team to the finish line supporting them across some of the more interesting terrain.

Spokes welcomed the team of Matthew Johanson, Chris Worthington, Ken Smith and Steve Kang to their first Cycle Club event and it was evident that this team had been training hard for the upcoming WWBT in September.  The gentleman rode well and used the event to hone their tactics and gain valuable course knowledge.

Andrew Outhwaite, Johny Barber and Reg Salmon were led by Julie Firth and with a 12 minute handicap this team showed their strength by catching all those in front of them whilst also staving off a fast finishing run by Paul Matthews, Megan Dunphy, Dave Rakuscek, Paul Burkinshaw and Jarrod Bell. Just 47 seconds separated the two teams across the line, however on corrected time Matthews' team were just over two minutes ahead.

All cyclists agreed that the course is fantastic and it bodes well for Stage 1 of the WWBT in September.  The unsealed sections of the course provided a challenge for each team and offered variety to the event.

A full list of results is below.

Many thanks to Ian Andrews, Andrew Toovey, Mike Reymond and Eddie Muller for their event management.

Spokes next event is a Teams Ride from Binnu to Giles Park - this is another excellent opportunity for teams to train and work on their combinations and strategies.