Condie wins final race ... Bakker does enough to take series
The sixth and final race of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club Winter Road Series saw 11 riders line up at the start line on a beautiful, still, sunny afternoon on Saturday the 27th of August. The still conditions meant the outmarkers were favoured to take the win.
First away were Tony Morris and Di Condie as the Limit group off 10 minutes. They were followed by Tony Williams and Geoff Jones off 8 minutes; John Lithgow off 4.30; Tim Ross off 3.30; series leader Darren Bakker and Andrew Pettenon off 2 minutes and Scratch saw Mauro Brega, Tom MacMunn and Bruce Halket start last.
The big movers early were Jones and Williams who made up the two minutes to Condie and Morris by half way. Condie was dropped by the three blokes in her new group but dug very deep to hang on for the tow back into town.
Further back, Ross was caught by Bakker and Pettenon before the turnaround and this enabled them to stay away from Scratch until three quarter distance. The group of six finally managed to catch the lonely Lithgow just before the finish but they made no impression on the leaders.
Up the front, Jones was the diesel on the front, doing most of the work. This allowed Condie to 'sit-on' to the finish. She timed her sprint to perfection, taking the win from Morris with Jones in third. Williams didn’t contest the sprint, content to take fourth, just five seconds further back.
Bakker managed to get over his domestiques, Halket and Brega, to take fifth. Halket rode fastest time of 40.48.
The seven points for Bakker’s fifth place meant he finished on 59 for the series win, ahead of Tony Williams on 49. Brega finished thrid on 37 ahead of Morris and Halket tied on 36.
Many thanks to our volunteers and officials: Jenni, Annie and Ray. Many thanks also to the new club handicapper, Di Condie, for organising the Winter Series. The winter races saw a consistent entry list of about 10 each fortnight and a really high standard of racing. Hopefully these ‘hard’ club members will reap the rewards of their winter training with strong results in Spring and Summer. (Yes, that’s a little ‘dig’ at all the ‘soft’ MMBCC members who don’t ride much in Winter!)
Amy Gillet Foundation National Bike Safety Campaign update
In July, we reached out to the bike-riding community through our Bike Movement campaign to help raise vital funds to build our next bike safety awareness campaign following the continued success of the “A Metre Matters” message.
Over $25,000 has been raised so far by hundreds of new and existing supporters of the Foundation who share our commitment towards a safer bicycling culture. We'd like to thank each of you who have donated so far.
We have commenced a review of campaign concepts with government and bicycling stakeholders nationally, and look forward to sharing our progress over coming months.
We would appreciate your continued support in sending the link to www.bikemovement.org.au to your friends, colleagues and family.