CRITERIUM REPORT
The Crit saw some good numbers once again across all the grades. It was really exciting to see some new riders trying their hand at racing with D Grade having their largest field ever. Gary also brought some of his charges up from Brisbane to provide some unknown competition in A grade.
D Grade stayed together for the majority of the race with the exception of Matt who tried to stretch the legs on a couple of occasions to only pull up short with cramps. It came down to a sprint with Steve just edging out Mark V. and Lochie Head. It was also great to see Gabby and Eve stepping up from Juniors to run against the men.
C Grade held together for the majority of the first half of the race until a three man breakaway of Matt, Dustin and John took off at the 18min mark. This break was successful to the end with it coming down to the sprint. John was out of the corner early and was able to hold until the end. John was first in D grade last race, first in C grade this week lest see if he can take first in B grade next week.
B Grade was going to be interesting with some new faces showing up and it was great to see Charlie back on course to hopefully teach the young pups a thing or two about race craft. Andy broke away at the 11min mark only to be reeled back in but it must have been only to record an “effort” on his power meter. At the two laps to go signal Raph, Andy and Kent B. put a significant gap into the rest of the bunch and were able to hold onto it until the end. Raph won by a convincing margin over Kent with Andy easing up before the line almost losing third to Charlie who was powering in hard behind.
A Grade once again had a quality field and it was apparent from the early minutes that Gary had a plan in place. First to jump (6min mark) was Ben who had a sizeable lead only to go back to the bunch, then Jack (10 min mark) jumped only to come back and then it was Gary’s turn. Obviously there was a plan there for the three to attack the bunch. At the 38min mark both Gary and Ben made a short break. With 2 to go Macca made a break and it looked like it was going to succeed until Jacob and Alex closed it in but it was Seb and Pete who were able to reel Macca in on the bottom corner to both sprint for the line. Seb first Pete second.
A Grade
1 Seb Scott
2 Peter Collins
3 Gary Kristensen
4 Dan macpherson
5 Damien Nielsen
B Grade
1 Raph Vainikka
2 Kent Baeur
3 Andy Gordon
4 Charlie Bennett
5 Simon Genrich
C Grade
1 John Sleman
2 Matt Haswell
3 Dustin Van Nek
4 Graeme Fulton
5 Kent Wright
D Grade
1 Steve Heatherall
2 Mark Vainikka
3 Lachlan Head
4 Duane Parkinson
5 Adrian Koelmeyer
Juniors
1 Tom Haswell
2 Jack Armstrong
3 Eloise HEad
4 Cam Kristensen
ROAD RACE
It was always going to be possible that there would be small numbers for the Road Race on Sunday with the Bris to Gold Coast ride on the same day. Only the diehards were in attendance and the usually tough course was only made tougher with strong breezes blowing over it.
Two C grade riders were elevated to B grade to combine the races due to short numbers. The riders were to do 3 laps of the 17.5km course. Both times through the start finish line Raph was in the lead with Ashley close behind. The first time through the bunch were still fairly well together but the second time through it was definitely splintered. Raf once again proving he’s too strong.
A grade were in for 4 laps of the course. Macca came through the start finish line with a 28 second lead over the following four riders. Kiwi and Seb weren’t with the group at this stage and were to come in and retire 5min behind Macca. Second time through Macca had a lead of 40 seconds over Pete and Gary and to the spectators shock Gary retiring with a strained back. Jack and Ben came in some minutes after only to withdraw as well. With only two riders still on course a message was sent to the riders to inform them that the race has been reduced to three laps. Macca started to tire and this allowed Pete to catch him. It came down to the sprint finish with Macca deservedly taking the win.
A Grade
1 Dan Macpherson
2 Peter Collins
B Grade
1 Raph Vainikka
2 Ashley Seawright
3 Andy Gordon
D Grade
1 Phil Leyden
2 Gabby Vainikka