Lindemans Kermesse 2009

Graded Scratch Kermesse, Lindemans Winery, Sunday 29 November 2009

Lindemans Kermesse 2009

Mildura-Coomealla Cycling Club staged a graded scratch kermesse at Lindemans Winery located at Karadoc, south of Red Cliffs on Sunday 29 November 2009. Thirty two senior riders were split into four starting grades and raced 15 laps (40 km) on the service roads within the grounds of the winery. In addition, 9 juniors contested an all in scratch kermesse over 8 laps (22 km) of the same course. The highlight for many riders was the 250 metre covered loading dock "tunnel" where the start/finish line was situated. Fortunately the rain held off which allowed for a safe passage through the concrete floored shed. Gusty south westerly winds kept temperatures at around 17 degrees for the event.

The nine juniors got underway first. The field included Thomas and Bevan Henderson, Lachlan & Martin Ryan, Thomas Allford, Nathan Jordan, Megan Hale, James Burge and Tyler Beruldsen. The first lap saw the first casualties with Bevan, Martin & Lachlan loosing contact with the group. The remaining six settled down for a couple of laps. Next to succumb to the pace was Megan followed by Tom Allford. Tom found he needed a little more time to adapt to his new bike geometry resulting from the careful modifications made by his father the previous day. Good effort Tom - and don't worry, Christmas isn't far away!

Despite many attacks from the remaining lead riders nobody was able to stay away. The final sprint was closely contested by Thomas, James, Nathan & Tyler with Nathan claiming a strong victory closely followed by Thomas and James with Tyler a distant fourth. Not far behind was Thomas Allford, Megan, Lachlan, Martin & Bevan, finishing in that order.

The first senior group away was A grade consisting of Kev Tankard, Richard Hale, Dean Taylor, Mark Phillips, Nathan Langley, Les Jordan and Gary Henderson. The pace was on early with Taylor winding it up on the fast tailwind section on the back of the course. The elastic band snapped for Phillips and Jordan on the corner prior to the guard hut on the second lap with both riders settling in for a training ride for the remainder of the race. The closure of a spirited attack from Henderson in lap three was the signal for Tankard to make an early move. The rest of the group watched on as he disappeared into the distance. The chase group tried to keep the pace high with Taylor and Langley pushing hard on the tail wind section. This was proving to be too little, too late, as Tankard kept a comfortable margin and time trialled his way to victory. The chase group rounded the corner into the shed for a sprint finish to sort out the remaining placings with Hale out of the saddle early through the corner. Taylor responded and moved past Hale to take second position with Hale, Langley and Henderson finishing in that order closely behind.

Next away was the B grade group of Adrian Lloyd, Arthur Anderson, Gary Pitt, Jeff Mitchell, Tom Athorn, Barry Pollock and Rob Akkermans. Akkermans went hard from the start and was joined by Mitchell up front with alternating accelerations. Lloyd was in trouble by lap three and dropped off the back of the group. Pollock felt more at home on the Lindemans track and launched several attacks but was pegged back by the group on each occasion. Pitt made his move and joined Akkermans and Mitchell at the head of the field. At about the mid point in the race, the trio took advantage of the congestion caused whilst overtaking C grade at the guard house corner and put the hammer down causing the group to split. The 30 meter gain by the exit from the corner was enough for the three leaders to quickly formulate a winning strategy with Pitt calling on Akkermans and Mitchell for more speed to consolidate the gap. The rest of the group tried in vain to recover the lost ground over the next lap, but gave it away and settled into a rhythm until the final lap. The leading group of three stayed together until entry into the shed for the last time with Akkermans taking victory in the sprint to the line from Mitchell and Pitt. Meanwhile, Pollock attacked coming out of the tank farm onto the exposed hairpin with Athorn answering the challenge on the downwind section only to find himself on the front of the group and having to defend to the line. Athorn managed to hold off Anderson and Pollock long enough to resolve the remaining placings.

A strong field of C grade riders were away next. The grouped consisted of Taryn Heather, Andrew Ryan, Dave Priest, Rachel Hanlin, Greg Scott, Matthew Cottrell, Harry Robbins, Dave Digby and Dene Carruthers. Priest fell victim to the early pace and parted company from the group in the first lap. Ryan proved too strong for the group, doing the majority of the work on the front until the group cracked in the fourth lap. Ryan, Robbins and Heather managed to work together to consolidate the break. Digby and Carruthers put the pressure on the chase group but were unable to rally the troops to bridge back onto the leaders. The placings were decided in a sprint finish with the young legs of Ryan too quick for Robbins and Heather on this occasion.

Another good field contested the D grade race with nine riders facing the start for the 15 laps. The field included Ben Athorn, Ryan Clifford, Barry Johnson, Terry Miller, Alison Curry , Alana Hale, Shane Martin, Ken Dean and Michael Allford.

The 3 junior riders all got off to a fast start causing Curry, Miller & Johnson to loose contact on the first lap. Ben Athorn attacked strongly on the third lap, but was chased down by Allford and Dean. Young Ben attacked several more times over the next 8 laps but was always brought back to the field by the remaining five riders. Clifford showed plenty of speed in the closing laps and was constantly on the front. All riders worked well over the distance and nobody looked like getting dropped or breaking away.

On the bell lap Alana Hale led the way from Clifford & Allford. On the back of the course Clifford broke away and looked like he would record his first win, however on reaching the shed for the last time he was passed by Allford who had Ben Athorn on his wheel. The final sprint saw Allford outsprint Athorn with Clifford, Martin, Dean, Hale, Miller, Curry and Johnson finishing in that order. Michael will be able to put his winnings into raising the home garage entry height to allow both car and roof mounted bike to pass more freely.

A BBQ was held adjacent to the cellar door sales area after the race for all riders and spectators during which the presentation of prizes to the winners and place getters in each grade was made. A special thanks to the Lindemans Winery, in particular Wayne Ellis, for permitting the Club to use the winery grounds for the event and for providing the race prizes. Thanks also to Michael Allford and Westpac for contributing to the cash prize pool for the day. A big thanks also to Jeff Mitchell for organising the event and to Harry Robbins for organising and cooking the BBQ (ably assisted by Scotty).

Riders are reminded that the wearing of properly fastened helmets is an important and compulsory Club safety requirement whenever the bike is in use by the rider - including warm-up activities. This applies to not only public road use, where it is law, but equally to closed circuit venues.

Thanks goes to Penny Hale, Julieanne Ryan and the Langley crew for race administration and set-up duties. The next event is a 24 km time trial on Tuesday 1 December at Riverside. This is the first “PB” night for the season, with bonus race points on offer to those riders who break their personal best time for the distance.

SENIORS
Position Name Total Time
A Grade
1 Kevin Tankard 0:52:55.7
2 Dean Taylor 0:53:31.2
3 Richard Hale 0:53:31.4
4 Nathan Langley 0:53:31.5
5 Gary Henderson 0:53:31.7
6 Les Jordan 0:53:05.3
7 Mark Phillips 0:54:45.0

B Grade
1 Rob Akkermans 0:56:41.7
2 Garry Pitt 0:56:42.7
3 Jeff Mitchell 0:56:44.5
4 Tom Athorn 0:58:13.2
5 Arthur Anderson 0:58:14.2
6 Barry Pollock 0:58:16.7
7 Adrian Lloyd 0:57:16.7

C Grade
1 Andrew Ryan 1:00:33.8
2 Harry Robbins 1:00:34.0
3 Taryn Heather 1:00:34.4
4 Dene Carruthers 1:03:24.1
5 Dave Digby 1:03:24.3
6 Matt Cottrell 1:03:24.6
7 Rachel Hanlin 1:03:28.2
8 Greg Scott 1:04:25.8
9 Dave Priest 0:00:00.0 No Chip

D Grade
1 Michael Allford 1:05:35.7
2 Ben Athorn 1:05:36.1
3 Ryan Clifford 1:05:36.7
4 Shane Martin 1:05:38.5
5 Ken Dean 1:05:48.8
6 Alana Hale 1:05:56.5
7 Miller Terry 1:07:56.7
8 Alison Curry 1:06:57.9
9 Barry Johnson 1:07:48.0

JUNIORS 20 km
Pos Name Total Time
1 Nathan Jordan 0:36:16.2
2 Thomas Henderson 0:36:16.8
3 James Burge 0:36:18.3
4 Tyler Beruldsen 0:36:21.8
5 Thomas Allford 0:36:56.7
6 Megan Hale 0:34:59.4
7 Lachlan Ryan 0:37:21.5
8 Martin Ryan 0:37:21.8
9 Bevan Henderson 0:38:46.0