Congrats to:
Gary Argyle
Congrats to:
Gary Argyle
It was a great night for the final race of our series. Warm and sunny, the wind died down as the race started. 15 racers took the line for the final race. Among them were both James and Kevin, with only a single point separating them for the lead in the series they were ready to fight it out.
The race started with two neutral laps at the request of senior rider Norm Thibault.
With the neutral laps done the pace picked up sharply with lap times dropping to a minute and half. The bell was rung for the first prime on lap 8 as I stood by the lapboard holding a bottle of Whitesails Snake Island ale in the air. The thirstiest rider to pay attention was James Grant who easily took the sprint while the rest of the pack continued on at pace. From there several attacks were launched but were all quickly pulled back into the pack. No one wanted a repeat of the race where they let 4 riders get away and lap the field several weeks ago.
The second prime was on lap 19. Surprisingly Sean Lunny and James Sage took that sprint by a substantial margin. I say surprising because they typically wait until after the sprint to attack when everyone is coasting through to recover. Kevin Park was third over a second back, pushing furiously to keep in contact with James and Sean. He probably didn't want to contest the sprint, but with only 1 point separating them in the series he couldn't afford to let them get away.
On lap 30 newcomer Tim Butler put in a serious attack on the pack opening up a six second lead on the main bunch which he held for 2 laps.
At three laps to go Sean Lunny came to the front and turned up the pace trying to create a separation for James to get away but the pack remained close together.
On the final lap it seemed that everyone sat up to let James and Kevin fight it out on their own as the two of them rolled into sight with no one else around. But Kevin had the kick left in his legs to take it to the line getting the win.
Full race Results can be found here.
Series Standings can be found
Huge thanks to our volunteers for making this happen. Without these boys and girls standing on the corners in the hot sun we couldn't have these events. Peter McCaffrey, Graeme Copp, Kirby Villeneuve, Stephen and Barb Mohan
We're back racing next on thursday with our 20km Club Challenge Time Trial
Followed by next Tuesday the start of our Arrowsmith Hill Climb series Witchcraft lake hill climb, more details to follow.
We had fourteen racers turn out tonight for the second last Crit of the season. We almost cancelled tonights crit as we only had two volunteers for the corners. At the last minute Jesse Manner stepped up and stood on the corner of Meredith and Tulsa in Iain Hays flip-flops to allow the race to go on. As thanks Jesse along with our other two marshalls, Graeme and Autumn, have all been entered into our Draw for some sweet prizes from our Sponsors. Prizes like an Easton EC90 wheelset or a shiny new matching set of Helmet and Shoes from Arrowsmith bikes or some snazzy Sugoi wet weather gear from Coal City Cycles.
The pace started slow with two neutral laps to ease into the race for the benefit of our Junior riders like Max making his first appearance this year. After that the pace jumped up sharply with lap times dropping from 2 min down to a minute 38 on our 1.1km course.
At ten laps in things got interesting with Iain Hay attacking off the front and gaining a 5second lead. He held the pack off for two laps before being dragged back into the bunch. Where he remained for another lap before flatting and having to abandon the race.
On Lap 17 the bell was rung for the prime which went Nathan Walsh from RDR with the Grant brothers, Mark and James, close behind him. While the pack did get quite strung out after the prime, they quickly regrouped with no one looking to take advantage and attack as we quite often see.
On Lap 21 newcomer Harry Reddin attacked off the front opening up a ten second gap. Sensing that he was no threat the rest of the riders let him sit out front in the wind by himself before slowly reeling him back in.
With 8 laps to go James Sage and Sean Lunney poured on the gas and with the help of Nathan Walsh opened up a sizeable lead pulling away a little further with each lap until they had a 20 second lead with four laps to go. Realizing what was happening the main bunch started working together to try and reel them in. With one lap to go the gap was back down to 4 seconds but by that time it was too late and the three riders were in the clear for a sprint finish which went to Nathan Walsh by less than half a wheel.
Thanks to all the riders for coming and thanks again to the volunteers who come out to make these races happen.
Next weeks race will be the final race of the season. Double points and double primes. Come out and race or come out and cheer. Either way Come out and have some fun.