2 Dec 2009
Racing last Wednesday was again at the Kolodong venue. With excellent numbers signing on again, Criterium racing is proving to be very popular in the Manning. Our junior contingent raced their usual three lap handicap & Emma Sewell proved she is capable of showing the boys the way home. With 31/2 minutes start over the scratch riders, she covered the distance in 9 minutes & forty five seconds. Second place rider & starting only 30 seconds behind Emma was Zane Dawson with a time of 10 minutes & 10 seconds & third was Bayden Macintosh-Clinch who started alongside Zane with 10 minutes & twenty five seconds. Fastest rider in the race for the second week in a row & starting from the scratch mark was Baxter Pattison. He burned up the course in a time of eight minutes & fifteen seconds for an average speed of 29km's. Pretty good stuff from the young'un. Ben Cross also riding from the scratch mark was only 25 seconds slower, another top effort.
A Grade was first of the senior grades to race & Dan Aldridge again took the top honors with another fast finish in a bunch sprint. However the the surprise of the night was newly promoted Daniel Clinch. Daniel finished second from Lloyd Ninham in third. With a little bit of rough tactics leading into the sprint, regular top finisher, Josh Blick found himself at the back of the bunch for his lowest finish this season. I'm sure he won't be caught out again. Michael Cross was fourth & Glen Mathiske fifth.
B Grade was a little tamer this week with the aggressive Justin Woolard on Maternal duties & fewer attacks as a result. However a fast start saw Greg Walmsley dumped & a failed to finish recorded on the result sheet. Shane Dowsett was the new boy in the Grade, having been promoted after several wins in C Grade. He rode well to finish in the bunch but missed a podium position. Wayne Callaghan proved to be the worker on the day, spending plenty of time on the front & finished well for fifth place. Brett Provost came home the fastest though to beat Nathan Loreton & Paul Nixon in third. John Corbett again figured in the result with fouth place.
C Grade was an attacking race with Alex Cudlin, Grant Melzer & Kurt Sadler not content to roll around & play into the hands of the sprinters. With a strong headwind up the finishing straight. it was going to be hard to break away. Troy Unicomb again had an honest race & did plenty of work as did Don Worger. In th esprint lap, ther was some excitement as Unicomb clipped a witches hat sending it under the wheels of Ian Budden. After having to slow, Budden chased down Russell Davis & took the win with Don Worger getting his best reult in second place & Davis in third. Michael Godwin finished fourth & Grant Melzer fifth. David Cowley was the newly promoted rider in the grade after having four wins in D Grade. He finished in the pack but found the C Grade sprint a little bit quicker than D Grade.
D Grade was taken out by race secretary Robert Alley. After almost not starting after being affected by the heat at work, he came through in a tight bunch sprint in which four riders were side by side to the line. Richard Parvin came in second, Tyler Nicholson third, Peter Bird fourth after leading out the sprint from the bottom corner & Darren Harvey fifth. Last weeks winner, Wilf Alley faded to ninth place. Alicia Norris, the only girl in the field, finished in eigth place but had a real go in the race to try & break up the field.
E Grade was again dominated by three new boys. Ben Haywood, Jack Renneberg & Jake Schumacher broke away from the first lap with only veteran rider, Bob "is the money on" Ryan able to go with the break. The chasing bunch missed the efforts of the absent Caroline Pattison who usually does a lot of the work. The race finished with Haywood winning from Renneberg & schumacher third. The wily Ryan who thought he had there measure, came up short when the much younger riders climbed the hill with plenty of energy. Ryan was fourth with Matty Blick taking the final points in fifth.
Thanks to Kirsty Steep for Traffic Control, Sue Hart ( Don Worger's other half) for sign ons & the great job on judging the finishes.
Next week we go to Old Bridge Road at Coopernook. Jason Parker is the Traffic Marshall, Matt Worth is on Trailer duty & Amber Piper is the Chief Commissaire. Start time is 6.00pm. A reminder that if you are riding home from Old Bridge Road, you will need lights. Club Bunch rides are still at 7.00am Sunday morning from Martin Bridge corner & 6.00pm Monday & Thursday from the Aquatic Centre.