Geelong Cycling Club host statewide race

THE Geelong Cycling Club are gearing up to hold their annual Ross Bush Memorial Handicap Race later this month.

This year, the event has made it onto the AusCycling Victoria Calendar, making it a statewide event for the first time.

Geelong Cycling Club president Kris Hinck said having people come from across Victoria for the traditional race was a big deal.

“Rather than just being our local racers that ride it – when it started it probably had 80 to 100 at its peaks – and now it’s got a statewide audience.”

The memorial race is a centrepiece event for the Geelong club and honours Ross Bush who was a national level cyclist and was entrenched in the local cycling community.

Mr Bush was hit by a car during a training event on the road to Anakie, and the race honours his legacy.

Mr Hinck said he was looking forward to Geelong hosting a big cycling event for participation level racing.

“It will probably be the biggest event that we’ve hosted for this level of competition.

“We’ve seen other clubs do it, particularly Bendigo – they host some really big events – and we aspire to have that level racing and that sort of profile and we think Geelong Cycling is deserving of it.”

The race itself is held just out of Geelong, with riders setting off from the Sutherlands Creek Tennis Club for the 98km stretch, finishing on Russells Bridge Road.

Mr Hinck said the difficulty and the terrain of the race was one of the highlights, as the area is a traditional training region of Geelong Cycling and Tour de France winner Cadel Evans was also known to do a lot of his off-season training there.

The Geelong Cycling Club is continuing to grow in the area and has a wide catchment of members, which includes a junior team.

For more information on the club and how to get involved, head to geelongcycling.com