12 June 2010
Manning Valley Cycle Club held Graded scratch races on the Upper Lansdowne road last Saturday afternoon. Cool Winter conditions made it hard as to how much to wear to stay warm during the race. Being a long weekend, many members were away, leaving some grades low on starters. A,B,C & D Grades travelled two laps of the course for a distance of 54km's while E Grade did just the single lap. Six starters in A Grade still made for good racing. Troy Croker felt the pace early & could not maintain contact as did Tai Piper with both riders off the back by the end of the first lap. Dan Aldridge, Phil Grenfell, Glen Handford & Jack Steedman fought out the positions with Aldridge just holding out Grenfell with Glen Handford third & Jack Steedman home in fourth.
B grade seems to be struggling for starters lately & with only four combatants it was not the best race for those that did start. Wayne Callaghan was again the class of the field with Silas Sutherland & Greg Walmsley doing their best to stay with the powerhouse. Mal Saad found the pace too fast in the early stages & dropped to the back of C Grade to watch proceedings & contemplate what might have been after winning the previous weeks event. Callaghan won the sprint from veteran rider Greg "Pop" Walmsley with Silas Sutherland in third.
A much better field of eleven riders started in C Grade. Stephen McInerney was the red hot favorite after winning last weeks event but the return of Phil Mitchell & Michael Gilbert would mean that he would not have it his own way. Ben Hayward was an early retirement with a broken chain & Sean Sadler was another surprise d.n.f. when he was dropped & withdrew from the race at the half way mark. Don Worger surged to be first over the climb on the first lap but also faded to be another who failed to finish. The remaining riders rode as a bunch for the second lap with only Phil Mitchell & Stephen McInerney attempting any type of breakaway. In the sprint it was Ian Budden who found his sprint to win from Michael Gilbert in second & a close head to head finish between Russell Davis & Phil Mitchell with Davis taking third by the width of a tyre. Graeme McGechan rode a quiet but solid race for fifth place.
D Grade was a race where the younger brigade gave the old hands somewhat of a hiding. Jake Schumacher, Tyler Nicholson & Chris Bryan were much too good for Robert Alley, Gary Piper & new club member Barry Lambert. These three broke away on the climb on the first lap & were only ever going to be fighting for the podium positions amongst themselves. Tyler Nicholson was the favourite but Jake Schumacher found a sprint in his tired legs to take the win form Tyler & the inexperienced Chris Bryan in third. Gary Piper came home in fourth, Robert Alley in fifth & Barry Lambert sixth.
E Grade was the old Hubbard’s event with the exception of Paula Callaghan who adds the beauty to the grade. Darren Harvey & Max Eden were favourites for the event with Al Provost also capable of winning. However it was the good Doctor, Stephen Nicholson who won the sprint from Graeme Budden in second & Darren Harvey in third. Al Provost came home in fourth & Max Eden in fifth. The fast finishing Brian Louden could not survive the climb at the outer end & was not in the sprint. Paula Callaghan stilled finished despite being dropped.
MANNING VALLEY CYCLE CLUB