Anzac day 2008 bought a hungry field of Geelong’s finest to the quiet little country town of Maude all keen to seek glory through some of area’s infamous, hilly roads. A little rain and gathering winds dampened some spirits but still produced five strong bunches for the 60km handicap. There were some nervous discussion and a few backward glances, but each bunch took to road at their 6 minute intervals.

Scratch were looking strong with Paul Jane, Geoff Robinson (down from Footscray), Shaun Gilbert and Daniel Wilson all scheduled to ride. Geoff was feeling quietly confident that he could easily handle the mere three laps compared to Footscray’s usual four. But with Limit riders Felicity Wilson and Natasha Langedyk at more than 20 minutes it was always going to be a tough ask over the slow, undulating course.

Things started well for the 2nd Limit bunch who quickly caught the two limit markers halfway through lap one. Things were hotting up in the chase behind as John Burtt, taking maximum advantage of his soft mark drove his bunch along , dropping many of it’s riders on the hilly course. But despite the carnage 3rd scratch seemed to be making ground, taking a few minutes at the end of lap one. Meanwhile 2nd scratch with the likes of Simon Masters and Cam Stewart seemed to be struggling to work together with many of their starters shelled before turning to start their second lap.

As strong as scratch looked, things started poorly when it was discovered that Shaun Gilbert had forgotten his cycling shoes and had instead been relegated to marshalling duties. Things on the road got only worse when Geoff Robinson suffered a puncture on the first lap and was forced to abandon. The group was then reduced to one when Daniel Wilson dropped Paul Jane, just before turning for the lap two. The rest of the field had to take evasion action on subsequent laps to avoid falling into the hole that Paul had left in the middle of the road.

Come the end of the last lap, 2nd scratch was looking every bit the likely winner with Kerryn Charman, Stan Gregorio and Sebastian Melendez continuing to work well together. John Burtt’s effort off 3rd scratch was not paying dividends with some of their earlier gains lost. 2nd scratch seemed more content working for fastest time and looked like they had already given up the hunt for overall honours. Daniel Wilson, fresh off his 3rd place in C grade at the Tour of Coleraine was making inroads by himself, but with Cam and Simon working together ahead, it was always going to be a tough ask.

Turning for home and coming into the final few kilometres, Kerryn Charman and Stan Gregorio had made the final selection and were content to sprint it out. Kerryn opened it up through the middle of the road, 200 metres from the line and Stan quickly accelerated to level besides her. The crowd waiting at the finish line were treated to a long, painful sprint that would have brought a tear to eye to the likes of Eddy Mercks. Kerryn was the eventual winner by half a bike length over Stan.

The rest of the field, scattered widely across the remainder of course came limping across the line in ones and twos, a testament to the tough course. Daniel Wilson rode strongly to hold off 2nd scratch and take a much deserved fastest time.

• 1st Kerryn Charman
• 2nd Stan Gregorio
• 3rd Sebastian Melendez
• Fastest Time: Daniel Wilson  

Thanks to everyone that came out to race and marshal. Racing next week is on at 10.30 am at Paraparap.

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