Dirt Crits No 3
The first handicap XC race of the ‘summer’ at Rifle Butts MTB Park saw Ryder Chadd take the win ahead of Spencer Carman, Dave Bock, Leo Fermor and Cruz Archibald.
Here are the full results. Next week it’s back to Gravity Enduro. And many thanks to Damian and his minions for a great night!
Hot racing on a cool evening
By David Jagger
The cool weather is persisting this spring and is slow to transition to Summer. A stiff south-westerly wind was blowing and initially assisted the riders as they headed North on the Whitfield road from the Botanic Park. The turnaround at Long Lane brought the wind head on and would continue for the rest of the race.
First to head off from the Botanical Park was Micala Jacobs and led the handicap race for the first leg to Long Lane.
The two Daves (Jagger and Bock) were keen to set a good pace and clipped in quickly to chase down Micala and establish a lead.
Tim Hall was in his first race after a winter hiatus and was unsure how he would perform. Steve Curnow accompanied Tim and was looking forward to the ride up the Coombesberg Hill as he is a good climber.
Tim Ross also back to race for the first time this year and headed off with Adrian Dowd.
The Sprint King (Darren Bakker) and Ryder Chadd were the last pair to head off and had the potential to mow the riders down if they got the chance.
The wind is a fickle phenomenon when riding, it can be a great ally or a bit of a devil. Tonight, the wind favoured the early starters, or so they thought. Starting last was a zephyr in the form of Ruby Dobson. She quietly headed down the Whitfield Road catching the riders unaware as she slipped past them. Darren and Ryder thought that they were in for a chance until she caught them at the start of the Coombesberg.
She powered up and over, passing Tim, Steve then Bocky. Jagger had the last corner in his sights with no one between him and the finish when the zephyr casually passed him to take the win.
Bocky rolled in for third, thankful that there was no one near him as he didn’t have the legs for a sprint. Darren led a sprint to the finish with Ryder hot on his heels, but the canny youngster was able to just get a few centimetres ahead.
The Mansfield Hotel prize for the night went to a non-starter for the first time. Selina Green had a crash before leaving the house and had to go to Wangaratta for X-Rays. We hope she is OK and will be back on the bike soon.
Thanks to everyone who helped on the night to put together an enjoyable Thursday night race.
Here are the results and as usual, many thanks to Tony Copland for the following images.
Next week is the Individual Time Trial on Chapel Hill Road, Booroolite.