Club Team Series Race 1
21 Eureka Riders made the trip down the Midland Hwy to Paraparap near Geelong on Sunday for the 1st of the new Team Club Series Races and firstly let’s congratulate Geelong & Surfcoast Cycling Club on hosting a terrific day that had some exciting and enjoyable racing. The numbers were very strong with 93 entries with over half of this representing Geelong. An outstanding achievement by those members and Club organisers that cannot be understated given participation has been challenging over recent years.
Clearly first race honours go the Geelong amassing an enviable total of 207 points. Eureka came in second with a total of 62 points and Northern had 40 points. There is a distinct home advantage when it come to participation, but the more away participants we can encourage, the less of a gap there is likely to be at the end when it really matters, so we have some work to do.
There are some people we should acknowledge. Graeme Parker, Bill and Lois Goldfinch gave up their Sundays to make the trip down to Geelong and help out with proceedings, and that dedication should not be forgotten or glossed over. Your dedication to our Club and the sport is admirable and appreciated. Also, thank you to the families of the riders who made the effort to come down to race. We appreciate that it takes up most of the day so thank you for being so understanding. A special mention to Wendy Knipe who had her a birthday on Sunday and she came down to watch James race, so thank you and happy birthday Wendy (apologies if I’ve missed any other special days). Lastly thank you to those members, new and old who made the effort to come down to Geelong to race. You punched above your weight on the day and from all accounts everyone rode well above themselves.
In unfortunate news, there was an accident on the day in B Grade with a number of riders coming down with 2 Eureka Members getting caught up in things. Lindsey Burgoyne and Steven Crowe both came down heavily with Burgs remounting and finishing the race after losing quite a bit of bark and Steven went to hospital with a suspected Collar Bone that turned out to be a popped AC joint and 4-8 weeks off the bike. Speedy recovery to those two warriors. A reminder it can be a dangerous sport and care and attention is critical to keeping safe.
The results of the day have been posted by GSCC and you can jump on their facebook page and website for details but some notable performances include Jason Hendry riding a very smart race to take the win in A grade, Jeremy Humber only just getting pipped on the line for 2nd place in C Grade and the old fox from Bacchus Marsh, Terry Collie using all his years of racing knowledge to outsmart and out gun a stacked Geelong Field in F Grade to take the win after committee member Julie Connellan pulled a mega turn on the front to lead them out for a 3 kms along Nobles Rd. Also, a notable ride by Roger McMillan who was a lone member for Eureka in his grade and he managed to finish high in the points taking 4th place. Well done to all of those riders along those who played a role sacrificing their race for the benefit of others. Your efforts are appreciated.
Overall, the feedback from the majority of people I spoke to was very positive toward the format. Everyone enjoys racing with bigger field and apart from the incident in B Grade all other grades ran without any issues. The general sense that I found when talking to members from all clubs was that this was something missing from the calendar since the merger with AusCycling and it was fantastic to see it return with the day being conducted in a spirit of competitive fellowship.
ENTER NOW - Our mission from here is to have as many riders sign on to race in Melbourne on Sunday 19th March which is a scratch criterium format. Numbers may well be limited again, so to ensure we have solid Eureka representation across all grades, please enter now at https://entryboss.cc/races/13828
This weekend we race the club Criterium Championships on Monday 13th at Victoria Park. Get your entries in via Bunchuer (or click here), or text message to the handicapper by Sunday afternoon. Entry is free but you will need to have raced/marshalled at least 5 times over the last 12 months to qualify.
Stu Brien - President