Europa Café
W.A.R.S. – round 4
Handicap – 17 July 2016
Windmill, 54 km
Greg Leys it on the line
*Round 3 of the Europa Café 2016 W.A.R.S. was cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions.
With the reduction in total races for the series from 7 to 6,
the aggregate will now be decided using the best SIX race results of each rider.
In the event of a tie, placings will be determined using a count back system.
In what has become his trademark move, Greg Ley (pronounced LEE) risked it all and skipped off the front 1.5 km from home.
This time he held off a large chase group, just, to take an impressive win in round 4 of the W.A.R.S.
On a grey July morning with a descending fog, a total of 18 riders, including 5 first-year veterans arrived to do combat. A stiff northerly blew across a circuit that is largely north/south…either as a tailwind or a headwind, it was going to be decisive.
John Faulkner was first away, this week riding solo with a 15:30 minute head start on the next bunch. It takes a special kind of discipline and an iron will to ride solo with the whole field chasing. John had fully committed to the race, knowing that his chances were almost zero if he got caught. A strong ride from John, on fully inflated tyres, he only came into sight on the climb to the turnaround, by then the whole field was almost on top of him but he had acquitted himself well and should be satisfied with his race.
Off 9:30 minute a rag tag bunch of injured old stagers whose baselayers consisted of bandages, voltarin and linament were careful to keep the bunch together for as long as possible until the legs warmed up properly.
Birthday girl and this year’s Braszell winner, Jude “Xena” Jonasson continued her run of rare form with yet another head turning performance. Not many can take a 15 minute savaging off their mark and still be competitive! Jude made it look easy though and when the bunch was caught (first by the 7 minute bunch then by the 4 minute bunch) she stepped it up, gritted her teeth and persevered, even working turns, much to the surprise of all. It finally took a sustained 500 kW effort by the 4 minute boys to drop her on the run home.
Also performing well was James Gretton. For such a large guy you hardly notice him, smooth turns, no theatrics just a honest racer, doing his bit. The hills and the wind proving his downfall, oh and the chasing bunch smashing their way through.
Terry Collie was as frisky as the spring lambs startled in the paddock, eager to roll through and take his turn on the front and springing up the quarry hills, again it was the step up in pace that saw him come undone.
The core of this M.A.S.H unit was Scott Denno, Peter “Fifi” Livitsanis and Danny “Fidel” Whelan, tendonitis, broken bones and torn muscles, they were “visiting” the front marker bunch as they return to racing with varying levels of success. Danny fought on bravely but was shelled on the run out to the turnaround and Scott succumbed as the bunch was caught but heroically rode out the race.
The crusading Bob “Muncher” Morley and his two acolytes James Knipe and Mark O’Callaghan, were hard at work whittling away the 2:30 minute gap to the bunch in front. Bob was serenely dispensing racing scripture to his two Gregorian rookies, and as thanks for Bob imparting nearly all his wisdom (he’s got to keep some things up his sleeve!) James and Mark responded with a solid and almost disciplined chase. They timed the papal blessing to the last third of Cricks Hill, a turn of holy acceleration ensured that only the strong and the righteous made it to the high alter, by Glendaruel only the meek, bowed-headed Jude and Fifi remained of the 9:30 bunch, the rest dispatched like heathen, strewn back over a kilometre.
With Jude and Fifi converted to the new doctrine, the combined five started to work turns to haul in Faulks on the devilish climb to the turnaround. John came and went nearly as fast as the traffic cone at the turnaround. Plummeting down the hill it became apparent that the gaps to the chasing bunches had collapsed significantly and that success was going to depend on a strong tailwind and strong legs.
Then divine intervention, the clouds parted and the glorious 4 minute bunch of Rick “Sudso” Calvert, Greg Ley and Peter Kiel descended upon the riders. Demanding nothing less than a sprint from any wanting to stay in the cabal. The energiser bunny Peter Kiel was fully charged today, not only had the three of them caught the front of the race by the turnaround, they had held off a chasing scratch bunch twice the size. Now a Zen group of eight in full chant, with the breath of God solidly behind them, the race was at their mercy.
Past the wineries, down into Coghills Creek, the crusaders coursed, they were well clear rounding the right hand corner and continued their charge for glory. Into Donovans Road and Rick, Mark and Greg all surged out of the corner to see who they could catch out.
Up the rise at full gas, Rick found that his amplifier does go up to eleven…he attacks and opens a small gap which Mark and Kiely close down. Then the counter attack and yes, Greg had jumped off the front.
Kiely wasn’t keen to close this one down too, but nor was anyone else, the hesitation and the tailwind giving Greg the space he needed.
Over the top into the downhill race for home and Greg was starting to come back. Then, Rick lit up the sprint (from too far out), the rest of the chasing bunch in various levels of disarray and distress looked certain to contest for the minors only. Greg turned himself inside out to hang on by 10 metres to a fast finishing James Knipe with Fifi sneaking in to pinch third from Bob. Mark was closed out on the inside and had to settle for fifth on the line.
Given the windy conditions and the talent listed on the whiteboard, scratch were firm favourites today, and they left nothing in the tank. The first leg breaking lap saw them take a big chunk of time out of the field, however the bunch gradually started falling apart after Dean Griffin punctured less than half way into the race. The extra efforts started to take their toll, resulting in Matt Bowman and then Dean Wells successively succumbing. This left only only Phil Cartledge and Rob Ellis to continue the chase and/or sort out fastest time. The odds were against them with a fair tail wind and the larger combined bunch up the road – but chase they did. A concerted effort saw them both finish within a minute of the placegetters.
Phil has developed his sprint in the past couple of years and now trusts it enough to wait, and when the time arrived he opened it up and surged clear of Rob for fastest time.
Results:
1st – Greg Ley (4 minutes)
2nd – James Knipe (7 minutes)
3rd – Peter Livitsanis (9.5 minutes)
4th – Bob Morley (7 minutes)
5th – Mark O’Callaghan (7 minutes)
Fastest Time – Phil Cartledge (Scratch) in 1hr 29min
A happy Ley family post race.
Europa Café is located in the Ballarat CBD at 411 Sturt Street.
Europa Café is open every day from 7:00am for breakfast and lunch.
Europa Café is a spacious, inexpensive family style café, offering a range of tasty treats, hearty meals and scrumptious snacks.
We thank Kathryn and Jason for their ongoing support of our club and the Winter Aggregate Race Series.
The winners of EVERY race in the 2016 W.A.R.S. receive a Europa Café voucher.
www.europacafe.com.au
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