Major victory in cycling summer series

Kidman posts fastest time with another strong ride

The sixth race in Mount Gambier Cycling Club’s Summer Series was a 36km race along the familiar Caves Road course. Some riders were unavailable but 16 riders still signed on to participate in the racing, and were divided into five groups by the handicapper.

The junior riders competed in their 10km handicap first, with Glenn Tye given an eight minute advantage over Ethan McKenny at the start. Both riders continued their learning about racing on the road, thanks to the chaperones who rode with them, and enjoyed a tailwind for the first 5km before working harder back into the wind on the return leg. Glenn managed to remain in front of Ethan all the way to the line, with Ethan finishing one minute behind.

At the completion of the junior race, the senior riders prepared to begin their race. With the increased distance, the time between each of the groups also grew, such that the fastest rider needed to wait 26 minutes from the start of the race for their chance to begin their chase. First riders away were Dianne Major and Jason Buckland, in their customary role of providing something for everyone else to try and chase down. They enjoyed a 12 minute head start over the next group consisting of Jen Buckland, Ethan McKenny (backing up after the Junior race), Ainsley Curtis and Dave Delaland. This group had a further six minute gap to the next bunch which included Gerard Coote, John de Pree, Elmer Buckland and Spek Peake, with another seven minutes elapsing before Jami Buckley, Patrick Langsmith, Malcolm Tirabassi, Craig Andrae and Matthew Opperman started their chase. Finally, Nick Kidman was given his opportunity to chase everyone down one minute later.

Speeds were high as the riders made their way towards the border with the wind at their backs, and the groups were working hard to maintain their buffer over the chasing riders. As the first riders turned around and began the hard slog back into the wind, they were also able to see how much of their lead had been erased by the chasers.

Surprisingly, the gaps were still high, but the strength and durability of the chasing riders would come to the fore as the combination of the longer race and headwind would slow down other riders.

Still out in front Di and Jason were trying to maintain their pace, and turned onto the final 4km straight with a sizable gap to the chasers, before Jason dropped off the pace leaving Dianne to strike out for the finish line solo. Behind them Gerard and Elmer had caught and passed the group ahead of them, and Nick had caught the group ahead of him, with some riders slowly dropping away from their group as fatigue claimed them.

With the finish line in sight, Dianne Major was waiting for the sprinters to come by, but they were still too far behind and she duly took the victory, with Jason Buckland arriving one minute later in second place. Just behind and closing rapidly, Elmer Buckland took the third spot on the podium, just five seconds shy of finishing second, followed by Gerard Coote.

Eleven seconds later Jami Buckley sprinted over the line ahead of Matthew Opperman, Craig Andrae and Nick Kidman, then came Ethan McKenny, Dave Delaland, Jen Buckland, Ainsley Curtis, John DePree, Malcolm Tirabassi, Spek Peake and Patrick Langsmith.

SENIOR PODIUM: (Above top) Nick Kidman (Fastest), Jason Buckland (2nd), Di Major (1st)& Elmer Buckland (3rd)

JUNIOR RACE: (Above bottom) Chaperone Matthew Opperman looks to set off with Ethan McKenny