Graded scratch
On a beautiful sunny afternoon, not much wind and 11 degrees, 36 riders turned up to race. Some grades like C (11 racers) and E (8 racers) had good numbers while some other grades need a few more for a good competitive race. The course at Dalton is not a climbers course but offers enough up sections to test the riders and talk after the race was that it was hard. From the point of view of those at the finish it was a peaceful afternoon, we even had time to help a local lady search for a missing ferret.
A and B Grades raced together, with the exception of Steve Crispin who went off the front and won by over 4 minutes, an impressive effort. When I plug his numbers into my calculator it says average speed 41kph, not bad. Sean Ifland and Dave Mullins were second and third in A Grade. Roger Northcote was the winner of B Grade from Anthony Meredith and Mark Stevenson, but all the A and B Graders finished in a bunch except Steve Crispin off the front.
C and D also raced together with just 47 seconds separated the 14 riders at the finish after the long slog up the hill from the pub. Damien Copeland won C Grade from Seymour Savell-Boss and John-Paul De Sousa. Ian McVay won D Grade, only 11 seconds behind Damien.
E Grade was set up for the swoopers, David Gunther, Russell Marston and Neil David poking their noses into the breeze 50 meters from the finish after Kirsti McVay and Janette Koehler set the pace most of the way up the hill.
Polly Templeton won F Grade in a small field of four and Bruce Jones went around on his own in G Grade.
Congratulations to all who turned up and raced. By all accounts a nice day’s racing. A lot goes into organising these races and getting approvals, so let’s get out there and make all that effort worthwhile. Thanks to marshals David Steward-Thomson, Richard Hedley, Paul Welsh, Dougal Torrance, John Thorn, Alain Arbaut and Jim Cruden.
Steve Schwenke
