Nowra Interclub Race Report – by Terry Wall

Nowra interclub series. Sunday 13^th August 2017.

What a beautiful day to go for a bicycle ride. The circuit was around 800 metres in length, and a very quick circuit. Perfect conditions greeted the riders for what would be a hotly contested event, not only for the club title, but for the individual points leader competition.

The first race for the day was Division 2B.

In this race, we had 2 ladies competing, Kym Daly and Joanne Vanderstock. The race was over 25 minutes and 2 laps.

As the race started we had plenty of ICC riders cheering the ladies on as they challenged for the win. The course had a slight rise after the start, and a very quick run down to the final corner. It was a circuit that if you weren’t in the top 3 hitting the last corner, victory would be hard to achieve.

As the minutes ticked by, Kym and Joanne were right in the middle of the pack. They did an excellent job mixing it up with the other riders who once again, outnumbered the ICC riders in this race. With 2 laps to go, Kym was running about 4^th wheel and Joanne about 6^th. As they rounded the final corner and into the finishing straight, the mad dash was on. Kym was just pipped for 5^th place, coming in at 6^th, and Joanne finished 9^th. Considering a lot of the riders in Div. 2B, have a wealth of racing experience, the ladies showed impressive improvements in all aspects of their racing today.

The next race was Div. 2A.

I had one goal in this race, and that was to beat Michael Gleeson of the Macarthur club. Why, because he was running 2^nd in the points for individual interclub champion. Jason Hogan from our club was on top of the leader board, and by beating Michael, would enhance Jason’s chances of overall success. Also, that meant he would have to shout beers after the Southern Highlands interclub, and I love a free drink.

Our race was 30 minutes and 2 laps.

In our race, we had myself and Adrian McMillan. Nowra had 9 riders, Macarthur had 5 and Goulburn 3. We were once again outnumbered. During our race, there were plenty of attacks from the Goulburn and Macarthur guys, only to be shut down each time by the Nowra club. No one could get away in this race until 2 laps to go. On the back straight Richard Vitello of the Nowra club jumped away with 1.5laps to go. 3 Nowra guys got on the front, and no one was prepared to chase him down. I waited for another club to do the chasing, but that was a bad move so close to the finish. I could see with 1 lap to go the race for 1^st was over.

I came into the final corner in 5^th place, and that is where I would finish over the line. Adrian rode a strong race and was always up near the front putting himself in a perfect position throughout the event. Adrian came 14^th. Next time we come and race the criterium in Nowra, we know where to position ourselves coming into the final corner.

Division 1B. Race of the day. Jarrod Williams wins.

Now this was the race I was waiting for. We had several ICC riders in this event, and more importantly the current points leader for the interclub series, Jason Hogan. This race was over 40 minutes and 2 laps.

From the start of the race there was plenty of action with riders getting off the front of the bunch, and staying away for a lap or 2, only to be chased down by the peloton.  After about 20 minutes into the race, Jarrod got away with 2 Nowra riders. Seeing how Jarrod rode at Wagga earlier in the year, I thought he was in with a great position to win. I knew he had a great sprint, and would be hard to beat in a dash to the line.

With Jarrod up ahead, the gap was at about 200 metres back to the chasing group. There were times when our ICC riders would go to the front to slow the chase down to ensure Jarrod would not he caught. Jarrod was doing his share of the work up front and looked stronger as the race went on.

As the race was approaching the 40 minutes Mark, Jarod and Steve Crossman from the Nowra club were about 100 metres away from lapping the field. With the 2 lap board out, I had my money on Jarrod. Still there was plenty to race for in the chasing bunch. Jason and David had to get points, and they had plenty of guys to help him. Andrew Smith was on the front with 2 laps to go, followed by Jason, David, Mark and Lou.

As Jarrod rounded the final corner, it was going to be a sprint to the finish. Jarrod came around Steve with 150 to go, and was never challenged to the line. What a terrific result for Jarrod and our club.

As the group came hurtling around the final corner, riders were all over the road. As the finish line got closer, I could see Jason coming around Charlie Parr and take out 4^th place, followed by David in 7^th, Andrew 8^th, Mark 9^th and Lou 10^th.

This race was a fantastic result for Jarrod and all our ICC riders on the day.

Last event: Division 1 A. 45 minutes and 2 laps.

In this race, we had Aiden Kampers, Merrick Law, Nick Burke and Rod Latham.

This race was on right from the start. Attacks were going off the front of the bunch all throughout the race, and Cameron Roberts and Aiden were making life very tough for all the other riders. No one could sustain a break that would take them solo to the finish line. At times Aiden got away, only to be reeled in by the chasing Nowra riders.

As the laps passed by, still the riders were together. The pace was high and there was no let up. The lap times were close to the 1-minute mark throughout the entire race, compared to Div. 1B and Div. 2A, who were around the same time of 1 minute 10 seconds a lap.

It was obvious this race was going to end in a mass sprint.

With 2 laps to go, Levi Johns and Cameron Roberts were on the front of the bunch. Merrick was right on their wheels and looked strong as ever. As the bunch rounded the final corner the positions were the same for the front 2 guys. Levi Johns overpowered Cameron Roberts, and that’s the way it would be at the finish line. Aiden was only a bike length behind, taking a solid 3^rd place in the race.

Merrick finished a creditable 5^th, considering he had stepped up from Div.1B. Nick came 6^th, with Rod finishing 7^th.

To all our ICC riders, a big thank you for attending the Nowra leg of the interclub series. Our next interclub race is at Bundanoon 16^th September 2017. Entries close 2^nd September 2017. We are only 8 points behind Nowra for the best club in the interclub series, so come along and enjoy a great race in the Southern Highlands. Remember, it could be Jason’s shout.

Results;