Rob Vernon Memorial Hcp - Race Report

It was a picture perfect day, that cyclists dream of. Not too windy, not hot and not too cold, somewhere in the Goldilocks zone. With 138 starters, the race attracted riders from Victoria and interstate, including a strong contingent of ProVelo riders in Scratch and Chop groups. My club Brunswick CC, was one of the most strongly represented clubs with 13 starters across the breadth of the field.

23min bunch pre-race

Scratch Aston KEY

5 Minutes Taj HINDELL, Leo WORSAM and Nicholas MAHONEY

11 Minutes Patrick RUGGLES

17 Minutes Lucas FITZGERALD and John Adrian D'ALFONSO

23 Minutes Michael KANIZAY, Andrew GANNON, Stewart HAY, Jeremy HINDELL and Max MCKAY

30 Minutes Karla BELL (best placed, 11th overall)

Handicaps have a habit of bringing out the optimist in me. I quietly had confidence in the 23min bunch of 27 riders, the largest of the race being able to catch the groups in front and hold off those behind. The group spanned in ages from 16 (Bendigo's Sebastian Freer) to 62 (Brunswick's Andrew Gannon). Brunswick was certainly the best represented in the group. Jeremy Hindell is a well respected open B grade rider and we were grateful for his pace making and leadership from the front throughout the race. When Paul Kelly sang about Don Bradman, he described him as half the side, let me say that Jeremy's efforts were equal to half the bunch. On the first climb at Sutton Grange, Jeremy drove the pace hard and this was the beginning of the unravelling of our bunch as we lost a few.



The bunch rotation dropped off and it became a case of 5 or 6 riders rolling turns, while the rest just hung on. Jeremy constantly applied the pressure. If no one was going to work with him, he would simply ride off on his own, which he almost did a couple of times. We picked up or passed riders in ones and twos. Somewhere around the halfway mark we got a time call that the leaders were 6min ahead and then 5min with 30km to go. The maths of catching one minute per 10km, did not compute. The downhill course and the tailwind was too much for us and a bunch of 13 riders from the group who started 7min in front of us finished just over 3min ahead and averaged 38.8km/h.

Credit must go to the handicapper, with 88 riders finishing within 5min of the winner. Thanks to the 23min bunch for leaving it all out there on the road. We averaged 39.6km/h and climbed over 900m over the 99km course in just 2h:29:13 and just held off the scratch riders by 32 seconds..  My optimism for a strong result was confirmed.

Thanks to the sponsors of the race, the Bendigo and District CC for running a fantastic event.and the small army of volunteers and commissaires who ensured that all riders safely made it around the course. Thanks to Braide's Tavern Strathfieldsaye  for putting on a great spread after the race.  Races like this are the backbone of our sport and should be valued for their place in the cycling calendar.  It would be wonderful to see the numbers grow over the next few years. 

Video of the last minute of the race for the 23min bunch.


Race Results

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