MANSFIELD Mt Buller Cycling Club came together for its first hot evening of racing on Thursday. In line with what seems to be the warm spring season it’s turned out to be. This week saw the racers line up for the 23 kilometre course two - an out and back starting at the Mansfield Commercial Complex, turning around in the dip between Hearns and Buttercup Roads and finishing on the Mansfield-Woods Point Road about halfway up the airstrip. At 6pm when the flag dropped it was still a solid 30 degrees. Any wind throughout the day had dropped to a gentle nine kilometres per hour WNW which I feel had dropped to nothing by the time we were out near Glenroy Road. Of the 19 starters we were set off at various times that represent our levels and abilities. The handicapper has an immense job of determining this but it is not an exact science as external factors such as non-starters, bad days and just ‘not feeling it in this heat’ take their toll on the race outcome. Each group had good numbers allowing everyone to do a bit of work on the front. Di Condie, Micala Jacobs and Judi Duke were able to stay away until the turn around. The steady long incline up to Hearns Road either offered the chance for some stronger riders to ‘blow up’ their fellow contenders while others worked together to overcome the gaps and catch the little taillight glowing in front. It’s all racing. Coming back in from Hearns Road riders engaged the big gears, got in ‘the drops’ and turned the legs hard to try and make up for the slower accent. Many riders dug deep. You know the handicapper is doing a good job when the time gap between the first and last rider has the entire field crossing the finishing line in a four and half minute window. Andy Garrett (Euroa) who got sent off solo as Scratch, 12 minutes and 30 seconds after the first riders were set off, was able to lay down the fastest time of the evening of 36 minutes and 51 seconds. Craig Wilson was able to bridge the gap to Di and Micala and took them all the way to the finish line, in that order, in a time of 42 minutes and 35 seconds. That’s two in a row for Wil! The top 10 across the finish line looked like this: 1. Craig Wilson 2. Di Condie 3. Micala Jacobs 4. Oliver Hall 5. Adrian Dowd 6. Janine Appleton 7. Steve Curnow 8. Ryder Chadd 9. Dave Bock 10. Jarrod Appleton See you all next week for the Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap.
