The club championships were held for two grades. The course took riders from Morwell out to Tyers and then onto Glengarry where the riders made a left turn and headed to Toongabbie. Once at Toongabbie a left turn was made and the riders headed towards the finish just prior to entering the Cowwarr Weir park area. The race suits the sprinters normally as the roads are quite flat and it is hard for breakaways to succeed.
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A grade had six starters however was reduced when Ben Gloede decided that the pace was a bit fast. Rob Reid made a few early moves but was very closely marked. With the wind on the riders backs, the pace was very high. As the riders turned at Toongabbie, the pace dropped a little and gave some relief. Inside the last 3 kilometres, Gray McLaughlan launched an attack from the back of the field and was keen to go on to the finish but Reid was vigilant and brought the race back together. Within sight of the finish line the pace slowed and riders jostled for position, the attack came from Chris Kypriotis who had been enjoying an easy ride on the back and tightly stuck to his wheel was Glen Gibson, The remaining riders, Rob Reid, Peter Verhagen and Gray Mclaughlan had their work cut out as they scrambled to catch the flying Gibson and Kyproitis, Within 200m from the finish line, Reid had got up to speed and was making a run for the line. Showing an awesome display of power, Reid managed to get past Gibson with little more than a few inches to spare proving that he is the inform rider.
Reid is in preparation for the Skilled Bay Cycling Classic Series which takes part from the 2nd to the 6th January. The week after the Skilled Series, Reid will compete in the National Time trial championships in Ballarat and then attempt to gain selection to ride the gruelling Tour of Tasmania from the 27th Feb through to the 3rd March.
B Grade had a more sedate start to the race after watching the A Graders disappear into the distance. The pace soon hotted up with Dave Gafa attacking on every small hill which was really taking its toll on the bunch. An early attack into Tyers saw a breakaway by Gafa , Draper and Pace, but some hard work by Peter Tsebelis and Vic Spunner saw them back on before the bunch hit Glengarry. With Dave Gafa desperately trying to split up the bunch with some very aggressive riding the other four in the break were very content to sit on his wheel and let him dictate the pace . Within 5kms of the finish the paced slowed but everyone was waiting for the last hill into Cowwarr and sure enough the move came from Gafa once again and the race for the line was on with 200mtrs to go. Draper, Tsbelis and Bill Pace were neck and neck and only in the last few metres did Pace edge into the lead and take a good victory with Tsbelis 2nd only half a wheel back and Ian Draper 3rd . Dave Gafa after doing most of the attacking finished 4th and Vic Spunner 5th.
The race was sponsored by E.J STEEL and the barbecue meat supplied by Cattanach Butchery in Newborough. These events could not be held without the support of local businesses.
Results:
| A Grade | B Grade |
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