Veteran riders took out first place in three of the six grades of the Ramblers Cycling Club graded racing on Saturday afternoon held from the Arohanui Christian Centre in Havelock North.
With the A to D grades racing 74km over the demanding and hilly Kahuranaki Road/Middle Road course, combined with warm weather and a stiff head wind down Middle Road, only Andrew Yates in C grade managed to break the veterans' domination of this longer race. A large field totalling 109 riders registered for this final race of the 2004 Spring Series which decided the series winners in B, C and D grades.
With the A grade title and second place already decided, third-place contender Andrew Townsend, riding his new EMC2 bike, was one of the early pace setters. However, yellow jersey holder Kerry Harford was not to be outdone and put in a blistering solo effort early in Kahuranaki Road which was pulled in by the peleton just before the main Kahuranaki Road climb.
On the major hill climb, Jason Kelly established a small gap and was soon joined by his brother Patrick. Easing up on the downhill, they were joined by Townsend, Gavin Povey, Darryl Strachan and Andrew Pollock. Pollock did not last long with this bunch and the remaining five riders quickly established themselves into an effective working bunch. Working together from about the 20km mark, they worked hard together for the remainder of the race with no rider able to establish any clear dominance. In a slow motion into-wind-sprint for the line, Townsend took first place and third place for the series with Povey ruing yet another missed opportunity of securing his first A grade win by coming a close second. Patrick Kelly was third, Strachan fourth and Jason Kelly fifth.
The main bunch was unable to work together and dissipated into small groups of two or three riders. Mark Matthews, Mark Coombe and T Taufale worked together until Taufale faded. Coombe and Matthews were then left to battle into the headwind by themselves with Matthews ultimately securing sixth place. The sterling efforts of the leading five riders was highlighted by Matthews' finishing approximately seven minutes down on the lead bunch. Harford, paying for his early efforts, finished further adrift.
In the B grade, Bruce Galloway confirmed he is A grade promotion material by riding away from the bunch up the main climb and securing a deserved victory. The remainder of the bunch remained relatively intact with Robert Taylor taking second place, David Joyce third place, Grant Nicoll fourth, Richard Brough fifth and Kevin Burgess sixth. The results sees Sam Baudinet win the series with a five-point margin over the second-placed Peter Gavin with Bruce Galloway in third place, a further four points adrift.
With the C grade title wide open, the highest-placed contender was Don Kennedy in fourth place which was enough for him to secure the series title by three points over the second equal series riders Vince Costello and Susan Tunnicliff, with Costello not finishing the race and Tunnicliff finishing outside the top five.
A break was established across the top of the Kahuranaki climb but this was absorbed by the main peleton. While the first rider across the line was Rowan Smith, he had hitched a ride with B grade to catch the front C grade group and then won the sprint so was relegated to last in the bunch. Andrew Yates, returning for just his third race of the series, was awarded first place with Martyn Wallace second, Hamish Johnson third, Neville Redman fifth and Ivan Smart sixth.
Gavin Bush, Craig Wallace and Mick Cull continued their D grade tussle with Bush proving to be the best on the day by winning his second race in a row and securing the series title in the process. Wallace and Cull finished second and third respectively in both this race and the series while Gary McFadyen came fourth in both the race and the series. Paul Andrews secured fifth in the race and visiting rider Peter Pryor secured sixth place.
With E grade completing 45km to Camp David and return, a blistering early pace with the aid of a tail wind was set. Sean Joyce made the most of the conditions to win the race with Peter Bartle securing second, Rosemary Weskett third, Mark Todd and Pauline Summers on their tandem fourth, visiting rider Jonathan Pooch fifth and Stephen Ford sixth. Jed Usherwood took out the series with Sean Joyce second and Ben McFadyen third.
Racing over 25km to Blind Road and return, under 15 rider Ella Sadler-Andrews, riding down from her usual E grade, was first across the line with Colleen Youngquest second, David Kelly third, yellow jersey holder Sam Riddell fourth, Sarah Watson fifth and Kirstin Hartley sixth. Riddell takes the series by ten points over Watson with Youngquest a further four points back in third place.
Next Saturday there is no club racing due to the Masters Interclub Trophy being contested in Bunnythorpe on Sunday. However, a group social ride will leave from Puketapu School at 2.00 pm.
CYCLING: Yates breaks veterans' domination in final race
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