The Juggernaut Dominates
The last few weeks of racing have been some of the best this season, with racers coming into good form as summer starts to slip away. The MMBCC were back on course 9 for a handicap race with 18 riders setting off in stormy conditions. You could feel the nervous tension in the air, one would have thought it was because of the storms rolling past Mansfield but in reality, I think it was more to do with the windy conditions that riders would be facing. Did someone say strong headwinds for the Coombesberg?
On the start list, there were some strong groups, but they would have to ride smart and as a team if they were going to hold off the Scratch and Block. First off, the line was David Bock 13.30, then Ian Conrick, David Jagger, Craig Wilson, John Finlay, and Wayne Arazny at 8.45; and then Belinda Cipa and Janine Appleton off 7.00; and then Rob Skinner and Mike Pearce 4.00; then Tom MacMunn, Darren Bakker, Steve Duke and Matt Hoskin 2.30; then the block group of Steve Brown, Dave Moore, and Liam Delaney 0.45 and finally Josh “Juggernaut” Hopwood of scratch.
Riders would enjoy a great tailwind off the start line to the turnaround and it was Belinda Cipa, Janine Appleton, and Josh Hopwood that would make the most of it. After the turnaround riders were greeted with a cross headwind and it didn’t stop there, it continued well into making the left turn into Barwite road. The race was well in its groove and riders would need to work together to have any chance for the win.
At the head of the race, Belinda Cipa and Janine Appleton had been caught by the fast-moving group of Ian Conrick, David Jagger, Craig Wilson, John Finlay, and Wayne Arazny. This was looking like the winning group for sure.
Meanwhile, Josh “Juggernaut” Hopwood was causing all sorts of damage to Block and bridging from group to group. Liam Delaney tried to go with an attack from Josh Hopwood but fell mercy to the crosshead wind and dropped back to his group. Riders were starting to make their way to the hardest part of the course “the Coombesberg” and to make it more interesting, mother nature was dishing out a brutal headwind.
Josh Hopwood could now see the small but strong group going over the Coombesberg and he would need to continue his charge over the hills to catch the front group. The leaders of Belinda Cipa, David Jagger, Wayne Arazny, John Finlay, and Janine Appleton were holding off Josh Hopwood until the last 1.5kms where he flew past them and onto his first win of the season, Janine Appleton came in second then Belinda Cipa in third.
Thank you to the officials and volunteers for an awesome race and to the Mansfield Hotel for their generous sponsorship. Thanks to Tony Copland for sharing his race photos.
Dirt Crits
Dirt Crits roll off again on Tuesday 1 March. In other news, we look forward to the race summary from Dave Impey and Alex Green from the huge efforts of all the MMBCC riders that took part in the Nationals.