actionpactpix: Heyfield Race 10th September 2011

Shane and I bundled off to Heyfield to the Timberline store for graded racing today and it was exciting to see a group of LCCC riders who had made the trek to Heyfield to make the A grade a different race (where were most of the WCC A graders? Must be all Collingwood supporters!!....or perhaps Hawthorn supporters afraid to face the public!). Shane on hearing how Big Jim served it up to everyone by riding his ITT bike (his weapon of choice!) in the Audax Licola ride last weekend begins to get a little nervous about the A grade field and murmurs something about riding B grade (although with club handicapper helping to take entries...no chance!}.Chris Joustra was also showing off a footy medal .....I never got the full details of what that was about.....I think it was his secret weapon for today's race!

Race Organiser, Ben Dowsett arrived at his obligatory 5 minutes before the race start, but luckily through a twist of fate had organised Grant Smith to run the race (somehow I know Kevin Read was involved in the Dowsett "transaction"...not sure how much cash changed hands??)

The back roads of Hefield, just beautiful (just a little bit windy and cold today though).

So with a few A graders, not many B graders and then everyone else in C grade the races commenced. I promptly drove 15km into the course and finally saw the A graders ride past all together other than Thommo who got caught out having raced this morning at Warragul as well (and apparently planning a race tomorrow morning.......that is how you get RACE FIT, and Glenn Schoer who was just hanging off the back of the bunch). Sam Beveridge was reported to have done a lot of work and attacked the bunch a lot, but from all accounts it seemed that A graders just kept attacking hard the whole race. Mike Renehan, Chris Joustra both did their share of work in very windy and testing conditions

LCCC riders Chris Joustra and Sam Beveridge ready to lead the attack

B and C grade rode past as one group and unfortunately numbers meant that it was easier to start them together but they are two different races and this then presents issues (that is not really the point of my blog entry here so enough said)........Nick Jehu was at the front towing the group past and it looked like Thommo had found a new position sitting on the back . Tunksy and Ready were off the back and from all accounts not really enjoying the blustery weather.

Mike Renehan rode really well showing his great form

On the second lap, I got to the top of the hill AND I was surprised to see Ben Dowsett had made a break and was powering up the climb with the rest of 'A' bunch still intact as one group trailing behind. I decided to follow A grade and get to the finish to see if Shane had managed to stay with the bunch till the end!. The A grade bunch were doing it hard up the climb and most riders looked like they were getting that lactic feeling!

John Taylor and Paul King looking like they are having heaps of fun.......????

Following the riders I could see Ben was flagging and the bunch soon caught him. I hear that Brett VanBerkel, Mike Renehan and one other rider then made a break but were chased down by Sam Beveridge who towed a group of LCCC riders with him and before the finish Chris Joustra rode away from the front of the bunch and managed to stay away (thanks to magical powers of a footy??medallion?? - my theory only), riding to victory ahead of Sam Beveridge who only just out sprinted Shane to the finish.

Chris checks on whether he has the bunch in tow....and for now HE DOES!

Now the B grade story has a twist, apparently Simon Whitford had a mechanical (dropped his chain I think), and the others waited for him up the road by riding slowly and he didn't catch them, he just sped past them and broke away......although this was not the race winning move......I then hear that Nick Jehu made his big move with the tailwind, to finally have Olivia towing Simon back to his wheel, and to cut a long story short Simon broke away to win by a good margin to Jehu and finally Olivia in third place.......

Simon yells out "That's one for the "FAT BOY" and pumps the air as he arrives at the finish line....Pretty Funny!

In C grade, Ready didn't finish the second lap (told me he has done too much time on the windtrainer!...I think he was exhausted from arranging a race organiser for today!), and Tunksy enjoyed a scenic ride with Thommo, but John Taylor and Paul King both had a mean ride with the winner decided in the final sprint to the line (and they win best face pulling competition!).

So Tunksy was it a race for one lap and a catch up with Thommo for the other?

Great job by Grant to organise the race....Ben is extremely grateful!!! All others for helping, John Verey for signs and actionpactpix for photos and crappy reporting!

If you want to see more pictures, look at actionpactpix site. There are 50 photos being downloaded there and I think I have captured everyone at the race!

WCC next race is Saturday afternoon at 2pm at Maffra Cemetery, should be great fun as it is a fantastic course and with the warm weather coming, it is a great time to get your racing gear out and racing face back on and ready to gear up your fitness!