Summer Series Heats Up

Road Race 42km, Paschendale Ave/6th St, Sunday 1 November 2009

Summer Series Heats Up

Mildura-Coomealla Cycling Club staged a 42 km graded scratch road race (32 km handicap for juniors) on its Paschendale circuit on the morning of Sunday 1 November 2009. Thirty nine riders, including seven juniors, braved oppressively hot, sunny and humid conditions. Temperatures ranged from 28 degrees at the commencement of racing to 33 degrees at completion. A light breeze was blowing from the north at between 9 and 17 kph.

Thirty two seniors contested the 8 lap graded scratch race today, with the field split into four graded bunches. The A grade group rolled off the line first with three new additions to the pack. Ian Beruldsen, Nathan Langley and Les Jordan, freshly promoted from B grade joined regulars Kev Tankard, Dean Taylor, Gary Henderson, Richard Hale, Mark Phillips and the intermittent Ben Nicholson for the day's contest. Apart from regular attacks from Tankard and even a few from the respiratory challenged Henderson, the group held together until a three man group consisting of Henderson, Langley and Tankard broke away on lap 5 and stayed away for one and a half laps before the chase group made the catch. The catch however did not include the illusive Tankard who decided to dig deep and stayed away to claim victory. The heat sapped chase group started to unravel as the pace lifted on the last ascent with Langley leading out Taylor and Phillips on the home straight. Taylor was not to be denied and outsprinted Phillips to claim second position.

The eight man B grade group were next off. The group was bolstered by four recently promoted senior riders in the form of Tom Athorn, Barry Pollock, Adrian Lloyd and Arthur Anderson. Also joining the group from semi retirement was Michael Murdoch. Regulars Jeff Mitchell, Rob Akkermans and Gary Pitt made up the rest of the field. Despite attacks from various riders, most notably Murdoch, the bunch remained intact until the second-last corner on the last lap. Anderson, in one of his trademark moves, went off the front before the hill which drew his fellow competitors firmly into the battle. Athorn eventually called it a day as the race intensified prior to the home straight. The rest of the field assumed their positions for a bunch sprint which saw Akkermans narrowly edge out Murdoch in a controversial lunge for the line to take the chequered flag. Lloyd crossed in front of Mitchell to take out third place.

Six riders lined up for the C grade race. Joining Harry Robbins, Dave Priest and Taryn Heather were three newcomers to the C grade ranks - Dave Digby, Rachel Hanlin and Chris Schilling. This evenly matched group kept the pace high and stayed together until the dying stages of the race where Priest lost contact with the group. The remaining bunch let the finishing positions be decided in a sprint finish with Robbins, Schilling and Digby proving too strong in the final run to the line, finishing in that order. As further consolation of what was clearly a hard fought battle, the C grade group also took the honour of posting a faster time than their B grade counterparts.

D grade were next off with the largest field of the day - nine starters. Included in the starting line up was visiting rider Michael Towart and new club member Terry Miller together with Peter Doody who has returned back to the fold after a long relaxing absence. The remaining starters were Ben Athorn, Brodie Athorn, Mick Allford, Ken Dean, Alison Curry and Jess Butler. Apart from the loss of Ken Dean after lap one, the group stayed together until the sixth lap. Ben Athorn executed his planned race tactics and turned the crews on the hill ascent in lap six. The bunch fractured leaving Towart, Allford and the two Athorn siblings in the lead group. The race then played out on the hill in the last lap with Michael Towart powering across the line for a clear win in front of Ben Athorn. Mick Allford, clearly at one with his new seat position, and Brodie Athorn soon followed and crossed the line in that order.

Last away was the seven strong junior field competing in a 32 km handicap event. Off limit was Bridget Hale, Martin Ryan and Lachlan Ryan. Six and a half minutes back was the sole rider Tyler Beruldsen. Off ten minutes were Nathan Jordan, Thomas Henderson and Thomas Allford. Lachlan Ryan was the first casually withdrawing from the race after the third lap. The remaining field came together on the last lap with Nathan Jordan proving too strong for Thomas Henderson. It wasn't to be Thomas Allford's day having lost contact with his scratch colleagues earlier in the race. Third place was settled after a sprint finish between Tyler Beruldsen and Bridget Hale with Tyler narrowly taking the honours.

Thanks to Penny Hale, Julieanne Ryan, Kevin Tankard and Michael Murdoch for helping out with race administration and set-up duties. The club looks forward to the full Hale contingent making the seemingly arduous domestic departure cut-off time for the commute to the next race. The next race will be a criterium on Melbourne Cup day at the Airport circuit at 6:00pm. Tom Athorn and Josh Grieger are on race set-up duty.

Results -

SENIORS 42 km
Position Name Total Time Avg Speed
A Grade
1 Kevin Tankard 1:05:07 38.70
2 Dean Taylor 1:05:19 38.58
3 Mark Phillips 1:05:19 38.58
4 Nathan Langley 1:05:21 38.56
5 Richard Hale 1:05:25 38.52
6 Les Jordan 1:05:41 38.37
7 Gary Henderson 1:05:51 38.27
8 Ian Beruldsen 1:12:17 34.86
9 Ben Nicholson 1:23:07 30.32

B Grade
1 Rob Akkermans 1:11:34 35.21
2 Michael Murdoch 1:11:34 35.21
3 Adrian Lloyd 1:11:34 35.21
4 Jeff Mitchell 1:11:34 35.21
5 Garry Pitt 1:11:36 35.20
6 Barry Pollock 1:11:39 35.17
7 Arthur Anderson 1:11:39 35.17
8 Tom Athorn 1:11:50 35.08

C Grade
1 Harry Robbins 1:10:30 35.74
2 Chris Schilling 1:10:30 35.74
3 Dave Digby 1:10:31 35.74
4 Taryn Heather 1:10:33 35.72
5 Rachel Hanlin 1:10:39 35.67
6 Dave Priest 1:10:50 35.58

D Grade
1 Michael Towart 1:19:43 31.61
2 Ben Athorn 1:19:47 31.59
3 Michael Allford 1:19:51 31.56
4 Brodie Athorn 1:19:52 31.55
5 Miller Terry 1:21:07 31.07
6 Peter Doody 1:21:55 30.76
7 Ken Dean 1:22:48 30.43
8 Alison Curry 1:24:30 29.82
9 Jess Butler 1:24:30 29.82

JUNIORS 32 km
Pos Name Total Time Handicap Actual Time Avg Speed
1 Nathan Jordan 1:10:36 0:10:00 1:00:36 31.68
2 Thomas Henderson 1:10:37 0:10:00 1:00:37 31.67
3 Tyler Beruldsen 1:10:56 0:06:30 1:04:26 29.80
4 Bridget Hale 1:10:57 0:00:00 1:10:57 27.06
5 Martin Ryan 1:11:48 0:00:00 1:11:48 26.74
6 Thomas Allford 1:15:20 0:10:00 1:05:20 29.39
DNF Lachlan Ryan 0:44:33 0:00:00 0:44:33 DNF