Waggrakine 15.5km Individual Time Trial

Spokes Time Trial 15.5km Waggrakine August  12^th, 2012

Strong winds and the promise of rain did not deter sixteen riders seeking  the lactic pleasure of a fifteen and a half kilometre time trial in the dramatic landscape of Waggrakine. Two laps of the Collins, David,  Cooper  and Hall Road circuit were on offer, for a heads down, grin and bear it race against the clock.

Riders self-selected their starting order and set off in one minute intervals, with exception of  Peter ‘Johnno’ Johnson placing himself as last starter by virtue of his just-in-time arrival at the start line.

Juniors’ Mitchell Crabbe, Hayden Nicholas and Jonty Calder were the first three riders off the block, giving it heaps from the start to finish. Jonty  hammered the first lap to match many of the ‘experienced’ riders.

Junior Triathlete Hannah Laurent, daughter of Gerald, started fourth and looked very comfortable at the end of her one lap training ride. Nice work Hannah.

Next to go was Duanne Crabbe who had to work hard to hold off Rhonda Bradley. Starting one minute later, Rhonda was only four seconds behind Duanne’s finishing time.  Well done Rhonda, your burst of latent speed unleashed  along Hall Road did not go unnoticed.

Bradley Ewing, looked good on his new Azzurri and put in a great performance, to only finish one second behind fast starter Mike Reymond, who himself was only one second short of Julie Firth.

Richard Houwen  and Tom Thujis both rode hard with quiet determination. Tom , took a lap to warm to the task improving his time as the race went on.  Reg Salmon, on his smoothly lubed sparkling yellow curvey Corima, with saddle bag swinging and arms pumping  rode consistently on both laps, warmed up pre-race by a cup of tea.

Gerald Laurent, aboard his Specialized black stealth, took to the tactic of going hard on the first lap and hanging on in the second lap to secure third position overall.

Mark Adam, started behind Gerald and flew on his blinged-up triathlon-converted Giant road bike. Missing the turning on the first lap, he lost vital time as he turned back around and rebuilt speed up Collins Road.  Max Nowrajee resplendent in skin suit and with deep dish wheels went like a rocket from the start in the task of chasing Mark Adam.  Johnno took off another minute later with a poetic chorus of sweetly timed gear changes.

Unfortunately Johnno punctured on his first lap, and was effectively out of the contest, despite a fast second lap which was the best of the race. Max holding the promise of a good time went hard, on the bike, but could not match the overall speed of winner of the day, Mark Adam.

Great effort by all riders. Thanks to race marshals Paul Dodson, Richard Quinlan and Johnny Barber.   

Apologies from Johnny  for a  slip up in timing for riders who started in race order fifth onwards. They should have been credited with an additional one-minute correction to finish times. This changed the final finishing order for the Juniors announced on the day. Still the Juniors are on restricted gearing,  so us older riders better make the most of it while it lasts.