Nakara Farm to NWCHwy and Return

NUKARA FARM TO NWCHwy and Return

Sunday 13th May, Mother’s Day and Spokes Cycle Club decided to hold a short race across to the Northwest Coast Hwy and back, so that everyone could then spend time with their mother’s on her special day.  Little did they know.....................

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, there was  no wind and the valley was just starting to take on a green tinge after some recent rains and to top it off, lambs were heard bleating in the distance – perfect, or so thought the 17 riders who lined up for  the start of the race.

Mitchell Crabbe and Rhonda Bradley were the first to leave, however, Rhonda struck trouble just 500m into the event, when she changed gears 1/3 of the way up the first climb (did I mention the hills?) and a part on her gear changer broke, effectively ending her race.

  

Five minutes was to pass before the next group of riders, Cheryl O’Brien, Sharon Bell and Hayden Colum were waved away knowing that only 3 minutes would pass before Sonya Davies and Jonty Calder would begin the chase.

A great part of cycle racing is tactics.  Each race is different and each rider must work out how they are going to ride that particular race.  Sunday’ event was a ripper!  Within the first 500m, there was a mongrel climb (the first of many) and knowing that the waiting riders were watching their performances on the hill, had bearing on how the riders rode this first hill.  Some went straight to the small chainring to spin over it, while others slugged it out in the big ring.

Twelve minutes after the first riders had left, Julie Firth, Assa Kessler, Reggie Richardson and AndrewToovey,  took their leave.  The heat was now on as there was only a mere  4 minutes until Simon Mulligan, Max Nowrojee, Eddie Muller and Darryl Sheilds would join the race.

Twenty minutes into the event, the very fit looking pair, Paul Hearne and Andre Eastough started their campaign.  Their challenge was to catch al riders before the end of the race.  Hills or no hills, it was going to be tough!

At the front of the race, young Mitchell was giving it his all, he reached the turn around without being caught, however as he turned, he saw a fast approaching Hayden just 300m behind.  Hayden had ridden well, he had dropped Bell and O’Brien and struck out alone.  Meanwhile, O’Brien, (who was heard to say after the event: “I love that course”) had dropped Bell and was trying to bridge the gap to Hayden. Jonty Calder , having split from Davies was chasing hard, when he had to take evasive action as a sheep ran onto the road in front of him.  Settling himself down , it didn’t take long before he was back to business and fast approaching the turning point.  He was followed by Davies who was working hard to keep ahead of Firth.  The hills had taken their toll and there was a fair gap until the next rider, Bell, turned for home.  She was soon followed by Kessler, Richardson, Mulligan, Nowrojee, Sheilds and Muller.  The wait was not long before, the two scratch riders came into sight.  Hearne and Eastough turned and were heading for home.  The pace lifted as they started to catch riders, but still the hills took their toll.  Riders were now starting to fatigue and as each rider started climbing, gears changed and weary bodies were dragged out of the saddles, is it really only 13 kms from the turn around to the finish?

The clock was ticking, the timekeepers and Rhonda Bradley, who had now taken on the roll of photographer gathered at the finish line and in the distance, two, no four riders were now in view.  Firth was in front working hard to keep a fast approaching Mulligan at bay, but it was Hearne and Eastough who were the real threat...would they catch Mulligan and then Firth?

With just metres to go, the sprint was on, but it was Firth who managed to hold off Mulligan by half a wheel.  Meanwhile, a second battle was taking place between Hearne and Eastough, who were only metres behind Mulligan, with Hearne narrowly nudging out Eastough to finish third and post the fastest time of the day.

Nowrojee was next to cross the line after another sprint to pip Calder, the first junior home, by 4 seconds.  Less than 2 mins later, Colum crossed the line to take second place for the juniors, whileSheilds was a further 13 seconds back.  A steady stream of riders were now approaching the finish line, Muller, Davies, Kessler, O’Brien and Richardson.  Crabbe, who had ridden a brilliant race, mostly on his own crossed the line in the very creditable time of 1:11:34.  As the last riders crossed the line, Andrew Toovey was heard to say: “ I’d rather ride the Mingenew, than that!”

Photos taken by Rhonda are now uploaded to the Picasa Photostream.