SCC

Waggrakine Individual 2/3 lap Event.

Sunday 24th Feb.

Two or three laps of the 8.6 km Cooper Road circuit in Waggrakine was all the choice that Spokes Cycle Club riders had to make for the individual road race held on Sunday 24 February.

Sponsored by Pawz-4-Thought Home & Pet Minding and with a cold, blustery south easterly wind blowing, 30 riders headed off at 8 a.m. in what was to prove a ‘character building’ event.

The pace was on from the start for the more accomplished riders & some very competitive riding was displayed with Hagan Keating, Jonty Clader, Darryl Sheilds and Max Nowajee being the lead bunch through the first lap in less than 15 minutes. Paul Hearne was expected to dominate the race but had a puncture very early on & his chances of finishing up the front were over. However he still gave a very impressive display of power riding once he was back on the road.

Alex Godley, Mike Reymond, Dean Carroll, Reg Salmon, Tim Glenister, John Tamm, Mark Hollander, John Andrews and Kylie Crabbe were also a hard riding bunch that found the conditions and hills trying and by the third lap had split into smaller groups.

The lead bunch worked and raced together really well with Jonty Calder winning a sprint finish from Nowajee and Keating in a time of 44 minutes 23 seconds with a average speed of 35.5kph.

Rhonda Bradley, Mitchell Crabbe Barb Glenister, recovering from injury Julie Firth, and first time rider Marissa Gillies, also completed 3 laps in times just above or below the 1 hour time proving that riding is as much about testing yourself as much as it is about beating some one else.

Sherry Obrien & Markku Laine (also first time riders) hammered them selves for one lap and Sarah Armitage was the first to finish in the 2 lap category with a time of 32 minutes and an average speed of 32.8 kph. She was a convincing winner in front of Simon Fenby and Brad Ewings who were only seconds apart.

Club stalwart and publicity officer Jennie Haste showed good form returning from injury to finish in front of the improving Julie Wilton and relatively new rider Ros Ewing. Neal Robson proved to all that if he had made the 8 am starting time that he would have finished well up in the field instead of giving everyone a 5 minute handicap.

Morning smoko of slice and cake and water melon was enjoyed by all in the aftermath and a discussion on rehabilitation of the club bike trailer also ensured.

Spokes’ woman champion Julie Firth commented that she was really looking forward to the anticipated challenges with Sarah Armitage and the rapidly improving Kylie Crabbe in future events as everyone’s fitness improves.

Life Member Darryl Sheilds was also heard to state that there are a number of riders in his sights as he continues to improve his fitness and reduce his weight. BRING IT ON BIG FELLA!!!

Spokes Cycle Club and Dragon Fly Media will present the Barb Glenister sponsored ‘Light My Fire’ event of 32 kms starting 8 am Giles Park Moonyoonooka Sunday 10 March 2013.